Greek Tortoise substrate question

[Lebtort]

Hello- First post here.

I have a one year old female Greek tortoise, that is native species here in Lebanon. They mostly live in drier parts of the country where humidity is about 50. I have her outside currently in a 5' x 2' enclosure and I am using soil which is quite rocky as the substrate. Play sand is not available to mix in. I can get regular sand but I am worried about the tort eating it. I was using aspen as substrate before and since I switched to soil, the tort has started shedding her skin.

Here in the city the air humidity in summer is 70-85. If the air is this humid, do I have to mist the soil at all? I plan to keep her outside year round since in winter the coldest it gets is 5 degrees Celsius. Thanks in advance.

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome. I can't help with temps and humidity, but I would suggest using a better water dish. A saucer that goes under flower pots work the best and bury it level with the substrate. You can mix plain dirt or coconut coir with the substrate you have, but I don't think it's needed. I would also add some more edible plants for eating and shade. Check out the tortoisetable.org for plant ideas.

 

[Lebtort]

Thanks for the tips. I just set up the enclosure yesterday and there's definitely room for improvement

 

[JoesMum]

Skin shedding is normal and it is probably just a coincidence that it has started showing badly now. All reptiles shed their skin. Snakes do it tidily in one go. Torotoises do it bit by bit ans sometimes look very tatty! The skin will rub off naturally.

We don't recommend sand of any type in an enclosure. It causes impaction if it gets eaten. Your soil in an outdoor enclosure shoudl be fine. If you can get some plants to grow in there to provide shade and food, that would be good.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi, and welcome to the Forum!!

You can buy any kind of hardwood mulch and mix it in with your soil. Here in the States I use Fir bark (orchid bark). If you have pet stores there in Lebanon, or you can even purchase it online...we also use coco coir to mix in with the native soil. It is manufactured as "Bed-A-Beast." Look it up on the computer and maybe you can buy it through Amazon.

 

[Lebtort]

Too bad I couldn't find any coco coir locally. I only found some sphagnum moss and aspen that is safe for use. I thought about about ordering coconut coir, but settled for the soil/dirt that we have locally which is what they would live on in the wild. My thinking is the closest to its natural habitat, the better.

I've read that Greek torts need humidity of between 30-50. These coming months are going to be quite a bit higher than that. I haven't been moistening the soil because I am worried of the effects of too much humidity.

 

[Vickie]

Too bad I couldn't find any coco coir locally. I only found some sphagnum moss and aspen that is safe for use. I thought about about ordering coconut coir, but settled for the soil/dirt that we have locally which is what they would live on in the wild. My thinking is the closest to its natural habitat, the better.

I've read that Greek torts need humidity of between 30-50. These coming months are going to be quite a bit higher than that. I haven't been moistening the soil because I am worried of the effects of too much humidity.

I know its almost impossible also to find in our area as well. However, I have found some in the gardening area (inside stores) of some Home depots etc that are all organic and not to bad in price. The last few I found was in one local Home Depot by the plant seeds. You just have to make sure that the ones in that store are organic ones. Gl

 

[Lebtort]

I'll do some more research on coco coir and see what effect humidity levels would have. Thanks!

 

[Lebtort]

I am gonna dig around some more for coco coir or order through amazon as a previous poster suggested. The soil I am using, I collected from a building site. I have found some softer soil at supermarkets but they include organic fertilizers. I am assuming that the fertilizer would be harmful for tortoises. Are the soil you guys use fertilizer free?