I just recently bought Pancake tortoise. I’ve read so many different do’s and dont’s for substrate for Pancakes I’m sure what’s the best. The most common is top soil and sand mixed. What is the best?
Thank you
Ed
Thank you
Ed
Substrate for Pancake Tortoise
- Thread starter HellRaiser#7
- Start date
Hello and welcome! I'm glad you found us before it is too late. Sand and soil should never be used as tortoise substrate. Neither are safe. You've been reading the usual wrong info. This happens to almost everyone. Here is the correct care info. Start with this one. I recommend reading it twice:
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
This is the correct care sheet for a pancake:
The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise
I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...
tortoiseforum.org
Questions are welcome.
The_Four_Toed_Edward
Well-Known Member
The short explanation is that we here on the forum try to avoid any risks. Sand works in the wild, but not in captivity. Top soils can have all sorts of chemicals, toxic plants and in some cases even plastic waste.
The three substrates recommended to stay on the safe side are soil like coco coir, orchid fir bark and cypress mulch. In outdoor enclosures, your native ground should work in most cases.
The three substrates recommended to stay on the safe side are soil like coco coir, orchid fir bark and cypress mulch. In outdoor enclosures, your native ground should work in most cases.
Thank you Tom for the quick response. I have several other tortoises and I use Cyprus mulch. The reason I came to the forum is 80% of the sources I read said to use the soil sand for Pancakes and not Cypress mulch. Thought I come here and get the right answer . Thank you. EdHello and welcome! I'm glad you found us before it is too late. Sand and soil should never be used as tortoise substrate. Neither are safe. You've been reading the usual wrong info. This happens to almost everyone. Here is the correct care info. Start with this one. I recommend reading it twice:
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...
This is the correct care sheet for a pancake:
The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise
I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...
Questions are welcome.
Pancakes are not as popular as some species, and a lot of the old wrong care info is still circulated on the care sheets for them. Egyptians are another one.
I've used coco coir under baby pancakes, and orchid bark and cypress mulch under adult. Absolutely no problems.
Here is another potential problem: Wherever you read that sand/soil info, there was probably a whole bunch of other wrong info. Read the care sheet I linked for you for the right diet, heating, lighting, humidity, and care info. Humidity and hydration is just as important for them as any other species if yours is still growing. If it is already an adult, then more moderate humidity is just fine.
