Cypress mulch as substrate?

Meela21

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Hello again.

Currently I have and have always used coconut coir 3" thick for the substrate in my indoor enclosure. Works great for a while but gets dusty eventually, like in between daily spray downs. It also seems almost hard to walk in. I just ordered a big bag of cypress mulch, I heard that helps hold moisture and maybe it will compact down enough to be easier to walk on....any suggestions?
 

wellington

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If your keeping the coir and putting the mulch on top, I would just try compacting it down some into the top of the coir. In fact, you could set down the coir quite a bit and then put the mulch on top and the wet coir, will help keep some humidity in the enclosure
 

TammyJ

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I like the idea of mixing the substrate, not necessarily together like maybe potting soil and moss, but having different surfaces in different areas of the enclosure, like using flat river stones in some parts, a piece of driftwood, some leaves, etc. I need to post some pics of my enclosures and get some advice too.
 

Nicole M

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I mix between 50/50 and 60/40 coconut coir and cypress mulch by volume (more coir than mulch) for my substrate and keep it between 4" and 6" thick. Works great for my Russian! It holds moisture well, even in my open-top enclosure setting! It's easy for my tort to burrow in, but it still lays flat enough that it's easy for the tortoise to walk around on. I just mix it around and spray once or twice daily (giving it a Nalgene water bottle's worth of water once a week, as well) to ensure that the the top layer doesn't get too dusty and dry.
 

Tom

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There is no need to mix substrates. Its not harmful if they are all good substrates, but I see no advantage to it.

If the substrate is dusty, that means you've let it get too dry. Spraying the top does very little. You need to dump water into the substrate. How much and how often depends on your house and enclosure.

Cypress can work, but fine grade orchid bark works best for young sulcatas. I don't like coir for sulcatas of any age because its too messy, which you have noticed.

Have you read these:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/
 

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