Orchid bark or cypress mulch

[Zac dale]

Hi, I have a smallish Leopard tortoise, I have a choice of either using orchid bark or cypress mulch. I know that Leo's are desert / grassland species. So which is the best? Thanks

 

[JoesMum]

@Tom wrote the guide on how to raise a healthy Leopard Tortoise
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/

He swears by fine grade orchid bark. Buy it from a garden centre, not a pet store, as it will be much cheaper

 

[Yvonne G]

I like them both, but here lately I haven't been able to find cypress mulch that's been ground up into smaller pieces - it's big chunks, and that's not to my liking. So lately my go to substrate has been fine grade orchid bark.

 

[Zac dale]

I like them both, but here lately I haven't been able to find cypress mulch that's been ground up into smaller pieces - it's big chunks, and that's not to my liking. So lately my go to substrate has been fine grade orchid bark.

I got the mulch from Zoo-Med which I think is good.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Both
Orchid bark is great for smaller torts and babies....because it's small.
And Cypress mulch because it's cheap and works great for adults

 

[wellington]

I got the mulch from Zoo-Med which I think is good.

Be sure to follow Tom's caresheets. They don't get raised in a dry desert type setting. It's totally opposite.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I got the mulch from Zoo-Med which I think is good.

Good. But maybe not a great value. Any bag with a picture of a lizard or a tortoise seems to raise the price.

 

[Robber]

I use cypress in both my leopard and redfoot enclosures because it is readily available at big box stores here and it can be kept moist for the redfoot and younger leopards without molding, but also a bit drier without getting dusty for older leopard. I haven't tried orchid bark.

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

Both work well, it is more a choice based on local availability and price. Coco husk chunks work well too. I tend to use all three and replace with whatever looks oldest in the enclosure with something different. I replace just a small area at a time. I also have isopods in the enclosure to help clean up, so don't want to loose them.