changing the substrate?

[danipaul71]

I've had my Leo 3 weeks now.
I'm wondering how often, everyone changes the substrate in their enclosed habitats?
Obviously, my first tortie... I planted some succulants, one he completely devoured, one didnt seem to grow well in the enclosure so I took it out... Still have an aloe and one other in there, but when cleaning food and water dishes tonight, noticed a bunch of miniscule BUGS!!!
What the heck??? Harmful?? What could they be? Kinda moved about like bugs on a bird outdide (don't ask how I know..) but sort of jumped like fleas too. I have a dog (bugless too, I may add) and do not want bugs in my house.
I have cedar in there - going in the morning to get stuff to clean and change the substrate. Leo seems totally fine. Haven't noticed any changes. Thankfully.
Has anyone else experienced this??

 

[Jodie]

Little bugs are common. Adding pill bugs helps. Cedar is bad though. I use coco Coir and change it once a year. Remove all of the bits and pieces of food and poo regularly. You can bake the substrate before using it to kill all of the bugs.

 

[danipaul71]

Why does adding bugs help, and why is Cedar bad? I thought cedar and coco coir were the best kinds? I will be getting coco in the morning. How hot and long should it be baked?

 

[Jodie]

The pill bugs eat the tiny fly things and the leftovers that attract them. I have not done the baking thing, but if I remember from other posts 250ish for several hours. Cedar has fumes that are not good for them.

 

[Tom]

Cedar gives off toxic fumes. Get him out of there right away.

The bugs you saw are substate flies. They are harmless detrivores. They come from the surrounding environment and our tortoise enclosures offer a great place for them to live and breed. To get rid of them you will need to boil, bake or replace your substrate every two weeks or so.

I ignore the flies. I spot clean my enclosures daily and as needed, so I never replace my substrate.

 

[leigti]

You don't have to bake the Coco coir, you can freeze the bricks. Then take them out and add water to them. I add very hot water. Some people say they add boiling water. Either way you should be good.

 

[David Harmon]

I use the coco coir and have been replacing this once the humidity drops to 65% so every 3 weeks or is this safe to keep using and just remove the food and spot clean as I do everyday? I also use orchid bark. Will I be ok just spraying water on this then to increase the humidity levels

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Cedar also contains oils that are very bad for tortoise to be in contact with.
The bugs look bad but are part of your little eco system.

 

[Jodie]

I use the coco coir and have been replacing this once the humidity drops to 65% so every 3 weeks or is this safe to keep using and just remove the food and spot clean as I do everyday? I also use orchid bark. Will I be ok just spraying water on this then to increase the humidity levels

For my young leopards I use coir and about every 3rd day I dump water in. Like I am watering plants. Some then mix it up. Mine is several inches deep, so I do not mix it up. I like it to remain packed down. I change it once a year.

 

[danipaul71]

I made sure mine is also quite a few inches deep. The petstore here didnt have bricks of it, instead had loosly packed bags (which I froze for a couple of hours). Usually he just gets uvb, since I dont live in an all around watm climate like some of you, but if was a perfect day and I thought to change his substrate outside.... so today, little fella got his daily 20-30 minute soak in the Nebraska sun
I think he (really, or she) loved it.

 

[johnsonnboswell]

I change it as seldom as possible. Could be a year, could be more. I spot clean & water it like a garden bed.

 

[mchong9606]

The tiny bugs are fine, they won't harm your tort. I don't change my coco coir either, just spot clean it. And warm water to moisten it up every few days.

 

[David Harmon]

Hello,
I was doing a spot clean today on my leos and adding water to my orchid bark and coco coir and noticed very tiny inspects on the base like little flies, is this normal because of the humidity levels or should i change the substrate asap?

 

[johnsonnboswell]

Normal