How do you tell when it's time to clean it, and how often? Do you replace all substrate, clean the whole habitat, etc? I know they relieve themselves in their soaks, but what about the substrate? Thanks in advance!
Cleaning habitat
- Thread starter Belladannon
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Well I just spot clean the substrate every other day. So I pick out any food bits, poop, or if I see he has peed then I will scoop that area and the surrounding bits to make sure I get it all. Then once a month I change the substrate of completely. Except in my box turtle enclosures as their soil is bio active so I never clean it or change it.
Elsa often pees and poops in her food dish (blech 
), so that gets washed daily. I seldom find her poop otherwise. I am developing bio active substrate that has pill bugs and earthworms in it, since they eat plant debris and poop. If I see a poop, I pick it out. About every 1-2 weeks I'll change out the substrate in the corner where she sleeps because she'll pee and poop there a good bit. I'm hoping the pill bugs and earthworms will put an end to much cleaning for me!
), so that gets washed daily. I seldom find her poop otherwise. I am developing bio active substrate that has pill bugs and earthworms in it, since they eat plant debris and poop. If I see a poop, I pick it out. About every 1-2 weeks I'll change out the substrate in the corner where she sleeps because she'll pee and poop there a good bit. I'm hoping the pill bugs and earthworms will put an end to much cleaning for me!
I only change the substrate in full about once every three months. I spot-clean, I rotate the soil every couple of days to make sure it stays fresh and of course the water bowl is cleaned daily.
If Emrys were to be particularly messy, he'd get it cleaned more often, but it's a big enclosure and he's clean enough (though, unfortunately, not tidy!). His smaller enclosure would get a monthly clean, but it's not necessary in his latest one.
If Emrys were to be particularly messy, he'd get it cleaned more often, but it's a big enclosure and he's clean enough (though, unfortunately, not tidy!). His smaller enclosure would get a monthly clean, but it's not necessary in his latest one.
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Thalatte said:
I would love to learn more about your box turtles bio active enclosures.
Moozilion said:Elsa often pees and poops in her food dish (blech
I would love to learn about the pull bugs and earthworms.
There isn't much to say about the pill bugs and earthworms: you find them in your garden, add them to your tortoise enclosure and they are supposed to eat decaying vegetation and poop. They reproduce in the soil of the enclosure, hopefully establishing a permanent clean-up crew!
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Thanks we sure have our share of pill bugs & earthworms around here. Are pill bugs the ones that close up in a ball. We call them potatoe bugs so I was wondering if they are the same as the pill bug. Do you use dirt from your yard too ?
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I built the bio active substrate quite by accident. I had purchase a lot of earthworms and was feeding them two at a time to the turtles but didn't watch them eat them. Also fed them lots of mealworms in a shallow dish that some how escaped. One day when I was spot cleaning their tank I noticed there was hardly any left over veggies and when I dug through the soil I happened upon large earthworms and mealworm nests. They do a pretty good job of keeping everything clean and the soil no longer has as many wood mites as I had seen before and there is no mold. Plus if I need to leave for several days the turtles have a ready supply of food!
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Thanks I am looking into getting a box turtle this sounds wonderful what size tank do you recommend?
what size tank do you recommend?
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For a hatchling or an adult?
My 3 hatchlings are in a 20g long tank and then they will be moved to a 500g. Though a single adult or pair would be fine in something that is a 4x4ft floor space.
My 3 hatchlings are in a 20g long tank and then they will be moved to a 500g. Though a single adult or pair would be fine in something that is a 4x4ft floor space.
Thalatte said:
How deep do you keep your substrate in your tank? And what kind of substrate is it? I did have a 50/50 mix of coir and sand for a few months, but switched to 75/25 top soil and sand two weeks ago. My russians love the soil, but I think it's harder to clean than the coir and sand. I feel like I'm taking out a lot of dirt every day, at least!
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Each tank has atleast 3inches of substrate and my adult boxie set up has 4-7inches (it slopes up around the pond). Also it is a 75% peat moss 25% dirt mix. THen the boxies have orchid bark and sphagnum moss on top.
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