Bedding?

[Ohio animal lover]

I'm trying to get my new outdoor pen done for my box turtles and i want to know what kind of bedding i should use. I had topsoil last year and it would always dry out and some of it turned into big chucks even if i kept it wet, should i get topsoil and try it again or what should i use?

I need ideas for plants for the pen too

 

[leigti]

Get a bunch of dried leaves and mix it in. Make little piles of leaves in yard debris here and there. My outdoor enclosure base substrate was organic garden soil and Pete Moss mixed altogether. Make a little compost pile in the middle of the pen somewhere. Try hostas, grapevine. Put in some logs and rocks and bark and things for them to climb up and around and over. Check out the box turtle section for some ideas and pictures of enclosures. And we love pictures here so please include some of yours.

 

[Dean Wirth]

If drying out is a problem maybe it is getting too much exposure to direct sun. Try shade plants or add moss to the soil to retain moisture. Also a few pools around the enclosure might help. Posting pics would help.

 

[lismar79]

I have the worst soil where I live, its really hard and too many oak trees in the area kill patches of greens and grass..... so I mix pete moss and topsoil together for my boxie. I also added grapevine, hostas and rose of sharron. Keeps it shaded and softer to dig in.

 

[Nanchantress]

I live in the high desert of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and used to have trouble keeping my pens damp enough until I installed a drip and spray system that comes on automatically once a day. In the hottest summer months I set it to come on twice a day. In the winter I turn it off. I also covered half the lids with Aluminet shade cloth that reflects some of the heat from the sun but still lets diffused light through. The drippers also keep the water dishes filled, but I still have to scrub them out to clean them every few days.

 

[johnsonnboswell]

Compost. My most successful crop. Top dress the habitat with half finished compost. You don't have to dig it in or remove the soil or grass already there, just pile it on. Make a compost pile in it, too. Plant it, scatter seeds. Make it deep. Water with a hose in hot dry weather.

I water mine to bring the temps down, not because it needs more moisture. The finished compost holds moisture beautifully and still drains well.

 

[Yvonne G]

I'm trying to get my new outdoor pen done for my box turtles and i want to know what kind of bedding i should use. I had topsoil last year and it would always dry out and some of it turned into big chucks even if i kept it wet, should i get topsoil and try it again or what should i use?

I need ideas for plants for the pen too

My outdoor box turtle yards consist of the original soil that was there when I built the pen. Over the years, leaves have fallen, weeds have grown. I add garden trash to a pile that they hide in. I have never imported substrate into any of my outdoor pens/yards.

 

[johnsonnboswell]

My outdoor box turtle yards consist of the original soil that was there when I built the pen. Over the years, leaves have fallen, weeds have grown. I add garden trash to a pile that they hide in. I have never imported substrate into any of my outdoor pens/yards.[/QUOTE

The boxie pen is cinderblock walls on top of the driveway because that's where the sun and space are. So I had to use substrate there.The pen on the lawn has no added substrate.