First time tortoise owner Help please!! (adding hay to substrate?)

[Luke1027]

Hi all,

I have my horse field tortoise on soil indoors and was wanting to add some hay for her to hide in as I have heard and seen some good things about it, I have also heard that hay should not be added. Please help as I’m confused to if the hay will be an help or hazard to my tortoise.

 

[Tom]

Hi all,

I have my horse field tortoise on soil indoors and was wanting to add some hay for her to hide in as I have heard and seen some good things about it, I have also heard that hay should not be added. Please help as I’m confused to if the hay will be an help or hazard to my tortoise.

Russians are not grass eaters, so hay serves no purpose and is a mold hazard. It doesn't keep an ectotherm warm. No point in it.

Read this for current and correct care info:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Luke1027]

Wow that was a very fast response. Thank you very much for you help. I won’t be adding it.

 

[Yvonne G]

If you're looking for something he can burrow down into, see if you can find some edible leaves, like grape leaves or mulberry leaves. As the leaves die they're still good to eat, and generally speaking, they don't mold or cause problems. I hibernate my Russians in piles of mulberry leaves inside their hibernaculum . . . but then, It's totally covered and doesn't get wet at all.

 

[Luke1027]

Brilliant. Thanks for the advice.