Cypress Mulch and Coconut fiber bedding?

[Weloveourtortoise]

We are currently using a mix of Cypress Mulch and Coconut Fiber for Charlie's bedding. However we are now seeing that bits of the bedding are getting caught in the corner of Charlie's eyes. Matt is concerned that it will have an adverse effect on the little guy. Has anyone else seen this and should we be concerned about the health of his eyes.

 

[Yvonne G]

Quite a few people really swear by the coconut husk substrate. I don't like it for the very reason you say. That and the strings. For my tort tables I like to put down a layer of clean potting soil (with no perlite) then top that off with cypress mulch.

 

[moswen]

i was concerned about the coconut coir hairs when i first got my babies, but i used to mix it with sand and it wasn't good. now i put the coir in the bottom and cypress mulch on the top and i lightly rake my fingers through the mulch to mix it up a bit.. haven't had a problem since. but my babies don't dig, and they don't use their hides, so they just stay on top of the cypress mulch. i love it.

 

[tortoisenerd]

I didn't personally like the coir either, but others love it so I include it in the list I'll post of substrates. Use what works best for you and don't be afraid to experiment with all the safe stuff. Different owners and torts like different things, as are some cheaper and/or easier to find. For my Russian, aspen works great. I don't personally think that a Russian needs a humid substrate although yes its probably better if you can (didn't work for us due to a damp climate).

 

[Weloveourtortoise]

Thank you for the advise-- now we have a couple more options to try!!!

 

[TylerStewart]

I'm one that loves the coconut coir.... The problem with the strings usually is one that comes from certain sources. If you buy it in "brick" form, it has lots of the strings. The place I get mine from, I make them filter (sift) it twice to get rid of the strings. The bricks generally come from Asia. The strings do get annoying if it has them, but the stuff itself is great, and doesn't cause problems in the eyes, even if it gets in them. Like any other substrate, I don't feed directly on the substrate to keep eating of it to a minimum, but it's not big enough that I've ever had any impaction problems. I don't really care for it being used dry (it blows around with breeze or wind), but used moist with things like baby redfoots, yellowfoots, elongateds, forstens, etc there's nothing I like better than clean filtered coir.

It works best when used thicker, at least 2" for babies. If it's too thin, they can't dig into it, and it dries out fast. We keep it thick and mix/clean/water it every few days and it lasts a long time (with groups of tortoises - with individual tortoises in a coir lined enclosure it should last forever).

 

[ChiKat]

I also like the coconut coir. I mix it with topsoil and it works great for my Russian.

 

[Missy]

I also like coir mixed with loam and some sand.