Organic Select Garden Soil Biochar max?????

Tanyabobanya

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Is this ok to use for my year old desert tortoises? Organic Select Garden Soil formulated with BIOCHAR max ??
Orchard Supply wasn't helpful and this was the only Soil I found with no fertilizer in it. Is Biochar bad for tortoises? They are cramped in their tank and I want to put them in their new bookshelf home
 

Tanyabobanya

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Here is the bag of soil... in the enclosure I'm making out of a bookcase..
 

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Tom

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I would not use that soil because of the additives.

I would not use any other soil in a bag from a store because there is no way to know what's in it. It could be totally harmless, or it could be competed oleander, azalea and grass with chemicals on it. No way to know, and the manufacturer and seller do not intend it to be sold to have animals living on it.

Soil is also very messy.

I would use fine grade orchid bark, or coco coir. Both can be purchased in bulk at a garden center.

Here is how I start and raise DTs. It says "russian" tortoises, but care is identical:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
 

Tanyabobanya

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I would not use that soil because of the additives.

I would not use any other soil in a bag from a store because there is no way to know what's in it. It could be totally harmless, or it could be competed oleander, azalea and grass with chemicals on it. No way to know, and the manufacturer and seller do not intend it to be sold to have animals living on it.

Soil is also very messy.

I would use fine grade orchid bark, or coco coir. Both can be purchased in bulk at a garden center.

Here is how I start and raise DTs. It says "russian" tortoises, but care is identical:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
Do I put plastic (pond liner) on the bottom of box and the coconut coir, which doesn't expand in seconds btw, directly on it? Or should I put something over the pond liner like the rolls or liner for a tank?
 

Tanyabobanya

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I ended up digging dirt from my backyard and weeding out rocks and insects. The coco coir gets so dusty. I'm told not to house 2 together even if they are siblings so now what? 2 enclosures?
 

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