Opinions on substrate

[skmackley2]

I got a 1 year old horsefield tortoise aka Russian tortoise. When I went to pick him up they recommended me this substrate -

Pro Rep Tortoise Life



It's Main Ingredients are:

Sterilised Topsoil
Lime Stone
Safe To Use Sand

So opinions? I'm using it at the moment.

 

[hunterk997]

It seemss okay, but me personally wouldn't use it because of the sand. Another really cheap and good substrate is organic topsoil. I have a russsian tortoise too and have found this works great.


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[gieseygirly]

I use mulch in hide area. I use 50/50 peat moss/sand mixture (a great way to assist with humidity in my experiences) in the rest of the enclosure. My Russian is one heck of a burrower and loves the sand/moss mixture. Personally I've never had any problems with sand. I use sand with my box turtle too. The only one that doesn't have sand yet is my baby leopard tortoise, but that's because he's under a year old and still so small. To make sure sand doesn't get on food, I use slightly elevated pieces of slate as a feeding zone.

 

[skmackley2]

Okay, the sand is fine, it's only if he eats loads of mouthfuls of it, he has a raised food dish as well. I'm about to get some organic topsoil! Do they like to dig in it?

 

[mikeh]

Yes, Russians love to dig. Make it few inches deep.

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[WillTort2]

The keepers that use sand as part of their substrate for Russians generally advise to proportion according to weight not volume. This generally means a small portion of sand with the majority of coco coir.

For my Russians, I like a main portion of top soil with a top layer of coco coir mixed in to maintain a mold free moist enclosure.

Make it as deep as your side height will allow; the Russians will not complain if its deeper than they need. I enjoy their versatility as both diggers and climbers.

 

[wellington]

Good answeres given

 

[Tom]

I use plain coco coir for mine. I won't use any sand at all. I've seen far too many cases of sand impaction. Even if they only ingest a little bit at a time stuck to their food, it can sometimes collect in their stomach over the long term until there is enough to cause a problem. Don't know why it doesn't just push through, but I've seen it many times. Ask a reptile vet to show you an x-ray of this. Most of them have them on hand.

It can happen this way in horses too.

 

[skmackley2]

I use plain coco coir for mine. I won't use any sand at all. I've seen far too many cases of sand impaction. Even if they only ingest a little bit at a time stuck to their food, it can sometimes collect in their stomach over the long term until there is enough to cause a problem. Don't know why it doesn't just push through, but I've seen it many times. Ask a reptile vet to show you an x-ray of this. Most of them have them on hand.

It can happen this way in horses too.

Okay
He is good though, he might get a 5 little grains on it every other day but that's nothing, if I covered the top with topsoil that'll be good right? Cuz he can dig in nice smooth sand and stuff and then stuff on top is alright? If you read my other thread about the 2 terrain tortoise table, I'm thinking out all this mixture in one end for him to bask on and in the other end topsoil and in the middle a combination of both!