Is this substrate mix good for my Redfoot tortoise??! please?

[tyler0912]

Tommorow going to buy All natural compost/soil (no pesticides etc) and play sand for a 50/50 mix plus sphagnum moss for around the water bowl and in hides.... is this okay?
Going to be a complete tortoise Home re-vamp!!
Im going to sprinkle, redclover seeds,dandelions seeds,grass seed, cabbage seeds so he can eat the shoots does this sound okay?
Please help all appreciated please and thank yous' all around...
Tyler

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Much appreciated....xx

 

[Tropical Torts]

Your substrate sounds great, you may even put some cypress mulch over the soil/sand mix for added humidity.

As for the seeds, I would recommend planting them in a plastic container such as a cat litter box or something of that sort. Let them grow outside and then when they are grown put the container in Tiago's enclosure. If you did plant the seeds in the enclosure he would just eat them to the ground, they would never grow, and then the tiny plants would eventually die.

 

[tyler0912]

okay thanks,

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i might do boths seeds in enclosure and in pots just for a back up plan?

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I was also thinking apple and pear seeds? just for the shoots?

 

[bobbymoore]

do not use cypress mulch i tryed it with my red foot and she started eating it was not a good couple of days.

 

[tyler0912]

Okay thanks x x

 

[jackrat]

do not use cypress mulch i tryed it with my red foot and she started eating it was not a good couple of days.

Forgive me for hijacking the thread,but you had trouble with a redfoot eating cypress mulch? That's a first for me. Never had that trouble before. Interesting. Is your redfoot all right?

 

[Tortoise]

Not sure about apple seeds as they have a bit of cyanide in them-not a big deal to us perhaps but I would be worried about them eating them if they ever found them.

Sounds like a big renovation coming up
I was wondering about cypress mulch too.Interesting one would eat it, not sure now what to use
Spagnum moss good in hides-keeps nice and most.

 

[terryo]

I sprinkle cypress mulch all around my indoor inclosures and also my outdoor ones. I love it, and have never had a problem with any tortoise or turtle eating it. That's strange to hear, because lots of people use it. I put frog moss, Irish moss, or Scottish moss, all around the water dish, and in the hides, or on one side of the enclosure, I put the sphagnum moss for them to dig into. I'v tried putting the sphagum moss around the water dish, but eventually they drag the moss into the water dish and make a mess, so I use the other moss. Post some pictures when you're done.

 

[bobbymoore]

yes she was fine i noticed she wasnt eating very much then the next morning i i woke up turned on all her lights and seen her in her hide out eating the mulch so i picked her out of the mulch and checked to see if there was maybe some food in there that she could of draged in but didnt find anything. so a couple of days passed and she was not walking around at all not eating basically non responceive so we took her to the herp vet around here and she had to stay a couple days so they could keep an eye on her

 

[tyler0912]

Would honeydew melon seeds be okay? and i though apple seeds would be okay?

 

[Madkins007]

Many largish, hard-shelled seeds pass through a Red-foot's system and can still germinate afterwards- in fact, Red- and Yellow-foot tortoises are probably rather important animals for distributing seeds. I am not sure of this would apply to apple or melon specifically, however,