coir and other substrate workable?

[shelloise]

I have been using only coir with my russians as they love digging into it all the time. The only problem is that it is super messy, I am always finding the food bowl dumped out and the water dish turned over by their digging. I am going to be having them in a bigger enclosure, hopefully today I can get it done, ..so my question is, can the enclosure have one end for coir and digging and the other end have some other substrate other than coir? I would like to be able to have the water bowl and food dish not be full of coir all the time..
thanks,
Connie

 

[kanalomele]

Some people have success with dividing up the enclosures but i never worry about it. If it really bugs you you could also try putting the dishes in a bed of river rock. Hopefully most of the substrate would come off before they got to the water or food. But trust me, as much as you don't like the mess the torts could not care less.

 

[shelloise]

I think some river rock in a section is a good idea. Are they flatish rocks that are not real small or like the picture I attached?

Some people have success with dividing up the enclosures but i never worry about it. If it really bugs you you could also try putting the dishes in a bed of river rock. Hopefully most of the substrate would come off before they got to the water or food. But trust me, as much as you don't like the mess the torts could not care less.

 

[yellowfoot]

I use mulch with my russians. They burrow in it and it's not as messy. I am not sure what to do about the water bowl.

 

[shelloise]

I bought cypress mulch here that I am sure was rebagged. About half the bag had med to large bark in it. It was really expensive here. I would worry about them ingesting some of the med pieces. As far as i know i cant buy it anywhere else here. To ship would add on too

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This was the bag of mulch

 

[biochemnerd808]

Coconut coir is great stuff! I mix it 1:1 with play sand (by dry weight... so about 2.5 cups of sand per brick of coir).

The "hot" end of our enclosure has slate tiles and other large flat rocks in it. That's also where I feed the torts. Feeding them on a flat rock has the added advantage that it helps wear down their beak. Except when they go on a wild spree of furniture-rearranging, the rocks stay put, and the coir stays out of the food.
I've tried building a small partition to further separate the coir from the rocks/food, but that wasn't great.

I have been using only coir with my russians as they love digging into it all the time. The only problem is that it is super messy, I am always finding the food bowl dumped out and the water dish turned over by their digging. I am going to be having them in a bigger enclosure, hopefully today I can get it done, ..so my question is, can the enclosure have one end for coir and digging and the other end have some other substrate other than coir? I would like to be able to have the water bowl and food dish not be full of coir all the time..
thanks,
Connie

 

[lynnedit]

I had success using coir mixed 1:1 with organic topsoil on one half. Seems to keep the coir under control, lol.
I used an irregular line of large rocks along the middle and then have cypress mulch on the other side. Of course it does not stay perfectly pristine, but fairly well separated.
I also surround my water dish with smaller rocks; seems to work.
I have a small second level with tiles where I fed him. It has a small incandescent bulb on it to help brighten it up and keep it warm on one end.