Moving turtles outside! Best "bedding" for large 10x10' area?

taymag

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Our tortoises are past due to get outdoors now being over the size of my hand, I was just waiting for these last few 30 degree cold snaps (odd for Florida).

Obviously the Alfalfa stuff I use is out of the question cause it costs too much for that area and absorbs water so rain will ruin it.

The main thing for me is drainage (I plan on running rock under whatever "bedding" I use to elevate the area a little) since it rains heavy during rain season and also drainage for pee and poop so I can hose it down if I need to or hopefully rain will help wash away what I dont clean.

Any tips would be great, thanks
 

Tom

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I just let them live on the ground. If you need bedding then fine grade orchid bark works best.

What species are we talking about?
 

Tom

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Mine live on the dirt when they are outside. Indoors you should not be using dry alfalfa pellets. Those are way too dry and create a desiccating environment for a young tortoise.

Also, you'll need two outdoor enclosures and indoor enclosures since they should not live as a pair.

Have you seen these:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/
 

taymag

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Yes I read about the alfalfa like a week ago when I was searching for outdoor ideas, luckily they have only had the change for around a year, I could have swore I saw it on here but it may have been someone at the pet store.

My yard is more of a soil top (brown/black traditional soil) layer for grass I think (at least that's what I've seen when I had to repair sprinklers, etc).

I was going to do rock/sand but I dont want them to try and eat any of the smaller rocks, they seem to want to eat everything.

Maybe a stupid question, but am I going to run into different kinds of sand that may be not acceptable? Or will any sand do? Reason I ask is I can get deck sand that you lay under pavers/pool decks for free from a family friend that builds pools. Is there any issue with them eating sand in their food?

Thanks!!
 

Yvonne G

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For two sulcatas, I don't think a 10'x10' area is big enough. Your top soil is just fine. Are you making their pen in an existing grass area? They are grazers, and the grass would be an ideal "substrate" for the pen.
 

Tom

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Yes I read about the alfalfa like a week ago when I was searching for outdoor ideas, luckily they have only had the change for around a year, I could have swore I saw it on here but it may have been someone at the pet store.

My yard is more of a soil top (brown/black traditional soil) layer for grass I think (at least that's what I've seen when I had to repair sprinklers, etc).

I was going to do rock/sand but I dont want them to try and eat any of the smaller rocks, they seem to want to eat everything.

Maybe a stupid question, but am I going to run into different kinds of sand that may be not acceptable? Or will any sand do? Reason I ask is I can get deck sand that you lay under pavers/pool decks for free from a family friend that builds pools. Is there any issue with them eating sand in their food?

Thanks!!
There is no sand that is good to use, and yes there are major, life threatening, issues caused by them eating sand stuck to their food.

Please take just a few minutes to read the threads that I linked for you. This info about sand and much more that will be helpful to you is in them.
 

taymag

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Yes they are going on an existing grass area (Bermuda grass) but it was just the yard before so I fertilized it, I planned on just pulling the grass in that area...

After reading the articles I was going to lay some rock down to raise the area a few inches then lay orchid bark or cypress mulch on top of that.

What do you think?
 

Tom

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Yes they are going on an existing grass area (Bermuda grass) but it was just the yard before so I fertilized it, I planned on just pulling the grass in that area...

After reading the articles I was going to lay some rock down to raise the area a few inches then lay orchid bark or cypress mulch on top of that.

What do you think?
Fertilizer is fine, as long as the tortoise doesn't have direct access to the actual fertilizer. Once it is absorbed into the ground, you don't have to worry about it. I would just use the grass. Your tortoise will graze it to the ground for you.
 
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taymag

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My mistake, I was reading tortoise stuff and had Bermuda in my head, its actually st Augustine grass, any idea if that's ok grass to eat or not? Never seen it suggested
 

Tom

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My mistake, I was reading tortoise stuff and had Bermuda in my head, its actually st Augustine grass, any idea if that's ok grass to eat or not? Never seen it suggested
St. Augustine makes great tortoise food.
 

taymag

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Never knew that, awesome, I guess ill just go with that for now then!
 

taymag

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I'm a little confused about your fertilizer comment, my tortoises are maybe 8", so they aren't big but they aren't small, but they eat anything of color. Fertilizer is usually orange, yellow, etc, and while it usually gets down into the grass within a week or so its still not like dust or sand, its granular, I feel like they would for sure want to eat a piece if they saw it, that cant be good... Maybe you thought I meant liquid and not granular fertilizer?
 

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Fertilizer is fine, as long as the tortoise doesn't have direct access to the actual fertilizer. Once it is absorbed into the ground, you don't have to worry about it. I would just use the grass. Your tortoise will graze it to the ground for you.
Fertilizer is fine? Grass that has just been fertilized is fine? That's the opposite from what I have ever read or been told. Also why I never fertilized my torts yard, always read and told not too, or have too wait weeks, not months before feeding the torts on it and that's with a lot of watering, to water it down and hopefully far into the soil. Can you clarify please.
 

Tom

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Fertilizer is fine? Grass that has just been fertilized is fine? That's the opposite from what I have ever read or been told. Also why I never fertilized my torts yard, always read and told not too, or have too wait weeks, not months before feeding the torts on it and that's with a lot of watering, to water it down and hopefully far into the soil. Can you clarify please.
All plants need fertilizer. Can't grow without it. Fertilizer that is absorbed into the soil to the point where the tortoise cannot eat raw fertilizer pieces is not toxic to the tortoise. If a tortoise can eat pieces or mouthfuls of the actual fertilizer product, then there might be a problem. So a yard that was fertilized with plain fertilizer last week, and now the fertilizer is all dissolved and absorbed into the ground, should not be a problem for any tortoise.
 

Tom

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I'm a little confused about your fertilizer comment, my tortoises are maybe 8", so they aren't big but they aren't small, but they eat anything of color. Fertilizer is usually orange, yellow, etc, and while it usually gets down into the grass within a week or so its still not like dust or sand, its granular, I feel like they would for sure want to eat a piece if they saw it, that cant be good... Maybe you thought I meant liquid and not granular fertilizer?
If the granules are still visible and the tortoise can eat them, then the yard is not safe yet. Once the granules are fully dissolved and not visible anymore, it should pose no risk for the tortoise.

Also be sure it was just plain fertilizer and not "weed n feed", or something else with toxic chemicals in it. Some lawn chemicals now have pesticides, herbicides, and god only knows what else mixed in.
 

Big Charlie

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Fertilizer is fine? Grass that has just been fertilized is fine? That's the opposite from what I have ever read or been told. Also why I never fertilized my torts yard, always read and told not too, or have too wait weeks, not months before feeding the torts on it and that's with a lot of watering, to water it down and hopefully far into the soil. Can you clarify please.
Using something like manure fertilizer is safe.
 

Cowboy_Ken

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A fun aspect to using fertilizer in this fun world we live in now is that fertilizer, even those listed as organic, can often contain the waste of commercial animal waste. This can be so full of antibiotics that will indeed pass on to your tortoise. Like me, y’all aren’t raising up yer tortoise for eating, but if it were to take to being ill, and needing antibiotics, that are already being consumed can help create viruses and bacteria that are harder to knock down and just harder to treat overall.
 

Cowboy_Ken

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Using something like manure fertilizer is safe.

Didn’t we recently have a thread here regarding the feeding of wild birds over a tortoise yard, and the conclusion reached was that that bird droppings into the enclosure, then eaten by the tortoise would be a bad thing not an okay thing? Something to be avoided if possible?
 

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I have racing pigeons and use their droppings for fertilizer on everything. You can use it fresh or composted it does not burn the plants. I usually put it down just before a rain.
 
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