is coco coir ok for a greek? how moist should it be?

[yankeeslover]

I will admit I purchased my greek from petsmart. As from my previous post I built 4x3 enclosure. Finally got the heat right. Using 160 watt mvb for basking and 100 watt blue day light for other half. Temps finally ranging from 75 all the way to 94 under mvb. His hide though still concerns me as only 65 since in shade. Anyways now on to substrate, petsmart told me to use reptibark. I decided though to use full coco coir instead because i heard its better. Is this ok? I spray it down everyday and humidity is around 45.. its 60% in hide. Im concerned though because care book I purchased says to only use a very dry substrate for greeks. We think its the normal variety flowie Greek that petsmart sells. Should it be very dry? Or am I ok? Thank you

 

[theelectraco]

Since it probably already a few years old minimum, your humidity sounds fine to me. Coco coir is definitely a better choice in substrate. As you have probably realized from reading other threads about PetSmarts Greek tortoise, 90% chance they have worms. Was your tort dewormed prior to purchase or are you going to take it to the vet?

 

[yankeeslover]

No. I didn't read that about worms. How do I deworm for safe measure? Im three hours from nearest reptile vet in upstate ny. Also, how do I know how old he/she is? The shell is roughly 5 inches long and 3 inches wide. Thank you

 

[MasterOogway]

I will admit I purchased my greek from petsmart. As from my previous post I built 4x3 enclosure. Finally got the heat right. Using 160 watt mvb for basking and 100 watt blue day light for other half. Temps finally ranging from 75 all the way to 94 under mvb. His hide though still concerns me as only 65 since in shade. Anyways now on to substrate, petsmart told me to use reptibark. I decided though to use full coco coir instead because i heard its better. Is this ok? I spray it down everyday and humidity is around 45.. its 60% in hide. Im concerned though because care book I purchased says to only use a very dry substrate for greeks. We think its the normal variety flowie Greek that petsmart sells. Should it be very dry? Or am I ok? Thank you

Does your tortoise have a black spot on the back of its tail?

 

[theelectraco]

Does your PetSmart have a Banfield inside of it? I would tell PetSmart you noticed that it has worms, and they should either pay for vet to see it and deworm it or return it to them and they will take to vet and resell it to you. If they have a Banfield they can easily do a fecal test to confirm the worms and Banfield almost always has Panacur as one of their different dewormers. Quite a few other members here got PetSmart Greeks that had worms, and my store is also deworming two that we got in that ended up having them, so Im pretty sure yours probably does, not to frighten you. If you approach PetSmart about it they should help you out and take care of it for you without a hassle.

 

[biochemnerd808]

To answer the original question, YES, coco coir is an awesome substrate. However, you don't want to have the hide on the cool side of the enclosure be moist - I actually let the coir in there dry out quite a bit and add some aspen. Then I have a second warm and humid hide closer to the basking area.
For tortoises, cold + humid = bad... but warm + humid = good. I try to provide different microclimates in the enclosure (which is definitely easier, the larger the enclosure is). So there is the dry and hot area immediately by the basking area, then the warm and humid hide, then the cool dry area in the hide house. The tortoises self-regulate where they want to be.

Petsmart/Petco are an OK source for tortoises, you don't need to justify getting your tortoise there. I do agree that having it checked/treated for worms is a good idea.