Substrate? I need how many bags?

[GingerRaph]

8yo Cherry Head...

Given that indoor enclosures need to be a minimum 4x8 for many types of tortoise, and the minimum substrate depth is inches deep (4"+?) how do you all fill your tables? Most of the orchid bark I see is sold in quarts and by my calculations you would need about .4 CF of bark to cover the surface 4" deep. That's 18ish 8qt bags. Is that right? At $15 a bag. I am not opposed to spending what's needed for my little guy but I just wanted to know if there is a more economical way to go about this.

Orchid Bark - Fine Grade 8 qt

Orchid Bark - Fine Grade 8 qt

shop.bathgardencenter.com

 

[Tom]

8yo Cherry Head...

Given that indoor enclosures need to be a minimum 4x8 for many types of tortoise, and the minimum substrate depth is inches deep (4"+?) how do you all fill your tables? Most of the orchid bark I see is sold in quarts and by my calculations you would need about .4 CF of bark to cover the surface 4" deep. That's 18ish 8qt bags. Is that right? At $15 a bag. I am not opposed to spending what's needed for my little guy but I just wanted to know if there is a more economical way to go about this.

Orchid Bark - Fine Grade 8 qt

Orchid Bark - Fine Grade 8 qt

shop.bathgardencenter.com

FIrst, if you have to buy the pet store stuff, get it in the 24 quart bags.

Second, I'd go broke doing it that way. Find a local nursery and buy "fine grade fir bark" in bulk there. It takes two 2 cu.ft. bags to do a 4x8 enclosure. You could add a third bag if you want it extra thick for whatever reason. I get my bags of that size here for $12.

 

[GingerRaph]

FIrst, if you have to buy the pet store stuff, get it in the 24 quart bags.

Second, I'd go broke doing it that way. Find a local nursery and buy "fine grade fir bark" in bulk there. It takes two 2 cu.ft. bags to do a 4x8 enclosure. You could add a third bag if you want it extra thick for whatever reason. I get my bags of that size here for $12.View attachment 377681

I have been calling around local nurseries looking for fine grade with not much luck. I did find one location that looks like it will fill bags for you. Maybe they will have it for a reasonable price? I've seen a couple postings from @ZEROPILOT where he mentions the stuff from Home Depot. I can get the same stuff here but it doesn't appear to be fine grade? When my tortoise moves around in our front yard he seems to get around okay on our standard medium bark in the planter areas so maybe the "non-fine" bark would be okay for him?

Also, could I do a base layer of the coarse bark and then add a thinner layer of fine bark?

 

[GingerRaph]

This is what @ZEROPILOT uses.

 

[Tom]

I have been calling around local nurseries looking for fine grade with not much luck. I did find one location that looks like it will fill bags for you. Maybe they will have it for a reasonable price? I've seen a couple postings from @ZEROPILOT where he mentions the stuff from Home Depot. I can get the same stuff here but it doesn't appear to be fine grade? When my tortoise moves around in our front yard he seems to get around okay on our standard medium bark in the planter areas so maybe the "non-fine" bark would be okay for him?

Also, could I do a base layer of the coarse bark and then add a thinner layer of fine bark?

The Home Depot here doesn't have the plain stuff. Only mixes with other stuff in it. I've never used the coarser grades, but it seems like anything other than the fine stuff would be tough to walk on. I suppose it depends on the size of the bark particles and the size of the tortoise. I've never tried mixing different sizes.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

How fine bark is depends on bag to bag: some "nursery" fine bark bags have pieces between 1/4 and 1/2 inch (very dusty stuff), some bags have 1/2 to 3/4 inch or larger.

ZooMed Reptibark has pieces around 1/2-1 inches so you can use it as measure.