Ed, yeah, I use cypress for my larger Platynota since i don't worry so much about them eating it. I've used organic soil as well, but it gets really dusty if you don't keep it really moist, so the coir works best with the younger tortoises. They really get down into it and if they ingest any of it, no big deal.bigred said:They look great and very beautiful. I just changed my substrate and mixed sphagmum moss and cypress mulch just to try some different things