Substrate

[King Jack4th]

Hey guys i am going to be picking up a baby leopard tortoise and i was wondering what the best substrate would be? I was thinking 50% coconut husk and 50% play sand? I heard that works well on alot of websites but i wanted to hear your opinions!

Thanks!!

 

[Jacqui]

I would never make the sand more then 20% of the mixture.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

I like plain dirt.

Coconut coir is popular but use it by itself. Sand isn't needed and has more cons than pros.

Heather
Sent from my Android TFO app

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

I recommend pure coconut coir.

 

[Yvonne G]

You're going to get several different answers...not because one type is better than the other, rather, each of us has our own preference. It IS a personal preference.

I tried Bed-A-Beast and didn't like that it is full of strings that were always hanging out of one end or the other of my tortoises.

My personal preference is orchid bark. Orchids won't grow if their medium isn't pure, so orchid bark has no additives, pesticides or herbicides in it. It is easy to keep moist, and doesn't turn sour if you keep it over-wet.

If I can't find orchid bark I'll use cypress mulch. Some people don't like to use cypress because the cypress trees are being over-harvested to bring us this product. I like it. And I prefer to think that the mulch sold in bags is a bi-product from some other manufacturing process. Like orchid bark, you can keep it moist without it turning sour.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

My personal preference is orchid bark. Orchids won't grow if their medium isn't pure, so orchid bark has no additives, pesticides or herbicides in it. It is easy to keep moist, and doesn't turn sour if you keep it over-wet.

I'm confused about one thing relating to orchid bark. We all agree that fir bark (such as ReptiBark) is not a good substrate, because it does not retain moisture very well. Well, isn't orchid bark made up of fir bark (among other things)? If so, wouldn't that mean it is not very good at retaining moisture?

 

[lisa127]

I use a 50/50 mix of coconut coir and New Zealand long fibred sphagnum moss. But I'm not keeping leopards...