Substrate Question

[tofuqueen]

I originally posted this in the Russian Tortoise section but then thought this would be a better place. This weekend I decided it's time to get my Russian Tortoise's indoor house ready with clean substrate for the cool New England Fall weather that is quickly approaching. I usually do a mix of 80% topsoil with nothing added, and 20% sterile playground sand. The problem is I can't seem to find the topsoil we usually use. I went to several stores and the only thing I could find without chemicals added is Scott's brand "Premium Topsoil". The ingredients listed are: "Organic material including one or more of the following, peat, composted forest products, aged rice hulls or compost, and sphagnum peat moss". Is this safe for my RT? Thanks for the help!

 

[ascott]

Are you not able to get good ole dirt from your garden? IMHO, dirt is good, heck it has been around along time....I suggest this in the event that you do not use any chemical sprays or liquids in the area that you would collect the dirt from.... you say get his indoor house ready...so if he was outdoors, why don't you just collect some of his dirt from his outdoor garden and bring that in for his indoor enclosure????

 

[Madkins007]

Any bagged soil that does not list chemicals, does not have white particles in it, and does not have a smell other than good dirt- is probably OK... although of course, we cannot try each one to be totally sure.

If you are going to mix soil and sand anyway, you may want to consider a 'bioactive substrate'- it is only a little more work, and offers lots of cool benefits.

The mix is mostly soil, some sand (about a third or so- exact proportions are not important- just a nice, sandy mix), any other soil additives you want (I like to add some moss to help hold some water for my Red-foots but that depends on species and your local climate).

Then you add some garden soil to innoculate the mix with billions of beneficial micro-organisms. You can also add earthworms and 'rolly polly' bugs (isopods, pillbugs, woodlice- whatever you call them locally!) for even more benefits.

Keep the mix a little damp but not wet (you can add a bottom layer of something for drainage if you want, but it really is not a big deal). Give it a few weeks to a month to get fully innoculated, and you should see some cool things...
- The isopods and some other elements eat the eggs and larvae of fungus gnats and springtails
- The soil will become nearly odorless
- The soil will take on a 'silky' texture and be less likely to stick to your hands or the tortoises
- Some of the food and fecal wastes are 'digested' by the micro-organisms and worms
- Plants do very well in the mix

 

[jackrat]

It's hard to beat garden soil or cypress mulch

 

[ripper7777777]

I'm using the Scott's and Eco Earth, I've got 2 baby Hermann's borrowed in it right now, they love it. I'd use dirt from the yard, but our dirt is like concrete here, lots of clay.

Once I get the tortoise tables built in the spring I plan to setup the Bioactive thing, I like the way nature does it, it's also how I manage my decorative koi pond.