Opinions on substrate

[Niffer10]

Hi what substrate does everyone use and for which torts? Wondered what everyone has found best, weve got a soil for our Russian, with calcium in (tort friendly) because she likes to dig! She had wood chip before :/ she'd try and dig in that. Just wondered what everyone else uses thought there may be a substrate a bit better for our dotty although she seems to get on just fine with her substrate, curious really! Thought it might be an interesting discussion Jenn

 

[coreyc]

I use cypress for my leo's What kind of soil did you buy that has calcium in it ?

 

[Tropical Torts]

I use a 50/50 mixture of cocnut coir and cypress mulch for my redfoots. Because i live in the south cypress mulch is very inexpensive plus it holds humidity very well. I also stuff the hides with mosser lee sphagnum moss that i buy from Home Depot. The moss holds moisture very well, which is why i especially like using it with hatchlings.

 

[jackrat]

I'm a big fan of cypress mulch for my redfoots.It holds a lot of moisture,without staying wet on top.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Jenny:

I have two favorites: cypress mulch and the fine grade orchid bark. Lately the cypress mulch I've been able to find is pretty large particles. I only have babies and sick tortoises on substrate, all the others are outside on natural soil/grass, so I like a finer or smaller bark. I love the properties of cypress mulch, but because its so large, I've been buying orchid bark. Orchid bark is manufactured to plant orchids in. Orchids are very sensitive plants and can't have any pesticides or strong oils in their root medium, so orchid bark is pretty pure. One reason I like it is because you can keep it moist and it doesn't sour or mold. Its also pretty easy for the babies to walk on. I buy my orchid bark at Orchard Supply Hardware, but I imagine you can find it at any plant nursery.

 

[Jacob]

I Use ZooMed ReptiBark On One Side And Zoo Med cocnut Fiber works Great For
Keeping In Moisture For My Sully

 

[Starjelly]

For my Russian tort, Ethan, I use 25% coconut husk 25% calcium sand and 50% cypress multch.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

We use cypress mulch.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

How often do you change out your torties' substrate?

 

[SILVERSTAR]

i take the coir fiber cubes that u soak in water and i mix in hay and that works fine for my stars.

 

[Niffer10]

Hi guys
Sorry not responded sooner, went to Oxford for the weekend! We use zoo med soil substrate at the moment, it has calcium in too, so if eaten not dangerous. The main reason we decided on it is because our tort likes to dig thought it would be a similar material to what they may have in the wild. Was thinking of cypress/orchid mulch though, is it mulch!? She originally had wood chippings and don't think that was good for digging at all, wondered if half and half may be better?
We spot clean her every day and have been turning the soil weekly, it's coming up to the third week so we'll clean her out completely next weekend.
There's not a lot of pet shops near us that actually know their stuff so we've been thinking buying online is better.
Hope everyones well

 

[Niffer10]

Read a few things online, and think we may stick to the zoo med soil, purely because I haven't seen too many people saying they use bark for their russian torts...thought soil may be more comfortable for digging too, or would half and half be nice for a variety?

---

Now thinking organic soil or peat moss and cypress or orchid mulch, it's so hard to decide! I've read sand can be bad in a lot of places so think I've scratched that one from the list. Think she'll have another bigger enclosure in a couple of weeks too so we want to decide by then lol.

 

[CtTortoiseMom]

I use cypress for my leo's What kind of soil did you buy that has calcium in it ?

Corey, where do you get your cypress? I have been looking everywhere and was told it is only sold in the south!

 

[coreyc]

I use cypress for my leo's What kind of soil did you buy that has calcium in it ?

Corey, where do you get your cypress? I have been looking everywhere and was told it is only sold in the south!

I used to get it on EBay 24 Qt bag for $21 or 23 shipped but I haven't seen it on there in a while the last time I order it from Big Apple Herps for $17 but you have to add shipping Arizona Tortoise Compound has big bags 2 cu ft for $ 30 not sure on shipping I sent them a e mail waiting for them to get back to me