Substrate advice

[Phil Fishinger]

Hello,
Have Russian tort, around 18 months old, been using eco earth substrate but now have difficulty on delivery from UK mainland to my location. Not sure why the sudden change but it’s with all suppliers, independent and Amazon, I’ve then been using orchid bark as a top layer.

I wonder if could use organic top soil as a base substrate topped off with orchid bark?

And as I’m here, my tortoise seems inactive during the day and comes to life at night, any adice on this please?

 

[Maro2Bear]

You could just go with 100% orchid bark…. Id say to not use top soil for lots of reasons.

What are your daytime vs night time temps?

I’m guessing you have this guy inside? Temp difference or lighting different? Day vs Nighttime?

 

[Phil Fishinger]

How long is?

You could just go with 100% orchid bark…. Id say to not use top soil for lots of reasons.

What are your daytime vs night time temps?

I’m guessing you have this guy inside? Temp difference or lighting different? Day vs Nighttime?

curious on why no to top soil? My hunch was it may be ok as that’s pretty much what outside tortoises will have. But I’ll be listening to advice obviously.

Lights and temps and times are set to day time routine. UV on mid day to 5pm, basking on mid day until 7pm. LED day lights 8am to 8pm, CHE 8pm to 8am

 

[TheTattooedTortoise]

there is tonnes of conflicting info on substrate, from personal experience I don't use soil as my tort likes to try and scoff it... I use coco coir base and top with orchid bark.
The coir holds humidity nicely for burrowing and the bark provides a dry top layer for general mobility. Most importantly, he has no interest in eating it.

 

[lymcBoris]

there is tonnes of conflicting info on substrate, from personal experience I don't use soil as my tort likes to try and scoff it... I use coco coir base and top with orchid bark.
The coir holds humidity nicely for burrowing and the bark provides a dry top layer for general mobility. Most importantly, he has no interest in eating it.

This is exactly what I use too. Nice to hear someone else's similar experience.

 

[Phil Fishinger]

Im the same, though use eco earth, but, as mentioned delivery issues currently.

 

[Tom]

How long is?

curious on why no to top soil? My hunch was it may be ok as that’s pretty much what outside tortoises will have. But I’ll be listening to advice obviously.

Lights and temps and times are set to day time routine. UV on mid day to 5pm, basking on mid day until 7pm. LED day lights 8am to 8pm, CHE 8pm to 8am

Soil is made from composted yard waste. It could be something toxic, or something that was sprayed with insecticides or other toxins. They also add in all sorts of other weird materials to get the consistency they are looking for to encourage plant and root growth. They do not intend for small animals to be living in or on it.

Coco coir is my first choice for baby horsefeild tortoises, but I move them to orchid bark once they grow to around 3-4 inches. That is the best way to go if you can't get your coir anymore.

Sounds like your basking light needs to be on more. It should come on first thing in the morning and be on all day. You tortoise is active later in the day because there is no source of warmth until that basking light comes on. They need to be able to warm up early in the day and stay warm, as needed, all day long.

Your CHE should be set on a thermostat, not a timer. This may also be the problem. Its warmer at night than it is during the day time.

There is a heating and lighting breakdown at the bottom of this:

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[Phil Fishinger]

Soil is made from composted yard waste. It could be something toxic, or something that was sprayed with insecticides or other toxins. They also add in all sorts of other weird materials to get the consistency they are looking for to encourage plant and root growth. They do not intend for small animals to be living in or on it.

Coco coir is my first choice for baby horsefeild tortoises, but I move them to orchid bark once they grow to around 3-4 inches. That is the best way to go if you can't get your coir anymore.

Sounds like your basking light needs to be on more. It should come on first thing in the morning and be on all day. You tortoise is active later in the day because there is no source of warmth until that basking light comes on. They need to be able to warm up early in the day and stay warm, as needed, all day long.

Your CHE should be set on a thermostat, not a timer. This may also be the problem. Its warmer at night than it is during the day time.

There is a heating and lighting breakdown at the bottom of this:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

The CHE is on thermostat and also timer, I’ll re-do the basking light timer, it’s in the centre of the enclosure, 8ft long, should it be placed nearer his “bedroom” end to encourage him to come out?

 

[TheTattooedTortoise]

The CHE is on thermostat and also timer, I’ll re-do the basking light timer, it’s in the centre of the enclosure, 8ft long, should it be placed nearer his “bedroom” end to encourage him to come out?

That's how I'm set up now (heat biased towards bedroom end) and 15 mins after lights on, guaranteed he's out of his hide and basking on his rock waiting for something tasty to eat.
When I first set up, It was opposite end and he would take far longer to wake up... I figured morning heat was the issue, swapped around a bit and instant change of behaviour.

 

[Tom]

The CHE is on thermostat and also timer, I’ll re-do the basking light timer, it’s in the centre of the enclosure, 8ft long, should it be placed nearer his “bedroom” end to encourage him to come out?

Basking lamp should always be over to one side or another. The middle is where you want the ambient heat. In an 8 foot enclosure, you might need multiple basking lamps and CHEs to cover the large area.