Vet suggested newspaper as substrate

Jegotting

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So, I just took my 2 year old red foot to the vet. I have been using moss, cypress mulch and garden soil for substrate. The vet suggested to use newspaper instead, providing a type of "humidity hutch" made from a large plastic container that she said the tortoise would use as needed. According to her, any other kind of substrate is a parasite paradise. I'm torn, this goes against absolutely everything I have read. Thoughts?
 

dmmj

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I go to vets for medical advice not husbandry advice. I wouldn't use newspaper you can not hold humidity with it.
 

Kapidolo Farms

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Newspaper is bad, it can cause a thing called 'rubber-leg' where the tortoise just shimmies along and does not stand up correctly to walk. So, super bad advice. That whole rubber leg thing turned into rabbit pellets as a substrate. That solved rubber-leg, but caused desiccation. Then people went to plastic carpet squares.

Clean natural substrate can not be bettered. If you have a concern for some kind of parasite paradise, change the substrate every quarter or so. Better yet make it more bio-active and make sure to include isopods. They eat little bits of left over food, they eat the tortoise poop, and once the tortoise figures out they are tasty little things, they provide behavioral enrichment.

If you can make the conversation non-confrontational (I couldn't) ask the vet what species of tortoise they have, how long they've kept them on newspaper, ask for an image, point out the rubber-leg and pyramiding, then say, Yeah, how's that working for you? There was a little hint of sarcasm in my coffee this morning.o_O
 

dmmj

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I couldn't have that conversation and not be sarcastic or confrontational
 

Levi the Leopard

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Can you clarify something?

Since you were at the vet, are you currently treating your tortoise for parasites?

Sometimes, newspaper is used in "hospital tanks" while a tort is being treated for parasites because it's easier to monitor the stool and it can be quickly changed as needed.
Was your vet advising the newspaper substrate during treatment? If so, that's understandable.
Otherwise, ignore the advice and keep your tort on substrate :)
 

lisa127

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For a growing, developing tortoise do not use paper. For a full grown tortoise you may be able to i part of the enclosure if you provide a humid area with moss, etc.
 

jockma

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Mine suggested newspaper as well, because "you're not supposed to keep them so humid" (??? this is an RF???) they know the medical side of things, but husbandry...no.

I don't think a vet is necessarily a BAD vet if they don't know proper husbandry, they exist to provide medical advice/care. If they don't do anything shady like injecting in the back legs, vitamin shots, suggest Ivermectin for deworming etc. then they could potentially still be a good vet.
 

Jegotting

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She is not being treated for parasites, I took her in for a check up. I just wondered if there was any truth to the whole idea of not keeping the majority of the enclosure humid but rather using a humidity box that they would use on their own, as they instinctively feel that they need it.
 

Anyfoot

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She is not being treated for parasites, I took her in for a check up. I just wondered if there was any truth to the whole idea of not keeping the majority of the enclosure humid but rather using a humidity box that they would use on their own, as they instinctively feel that they need it.
Keep the whole enclosure humid(70/80%) and keep the hide more humid. I use spaghnum moss. If I put the humidity gauge right in amongst the moss, the reading is 99%.
 

Linhdan Nguyen

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My vet (well use to be), who specializes in reptiles, also suggested that i use newspaper as substrate or the paper bedding that hamsters use. because she also said soil and coco coir is also "parasite paradise". and she mentioned paper substrate would keep them cleaner -_-
 

Tom

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She is not being treated for parasites, I took her in for a check up. I just wondered if there was any truth to the whole idea of not keeping the majority of the enclosure humid but rather using a humidity box that they would use on their own, as they instinctively feel that they need it.

That course of action leads to tortoises making bad decisions for a wide variety of reasons, and pyramiding.

You've gotten great advice on this thread and fantastic insight from some RF keepers that really know what they are talking about. I have nothing else to add.
 

Anyfoot

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Keep the whole enclosure humid(70/80%) and keep the hide more humid. I use spaghnum moss. If I put the humidity gauge right in amongst the moss, the reading is 99%.
My little guy as options from 80 to 88f with hides at hot and cold end, moss in both ends, humidity is about 80%. In the moss it's 99%.
I keep an eye on him all the time just to see what he does and prefers. Today he has bin out 3 times to feed and to patrol his environment.
He chooses to sleep(every single time) in the moss where it 99% and 81f.
I think he's choosing correct temp/humidity over what I thought was better security (his hides).
IMG_20160515_160707.jpg
 

Tom

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I don't think a vet is necessarily a BAD vet if they don't know proper husbandry, they exist to provide medical advice/care. If they don't do anything shady like injecting in the back legs, vitamin shots, suggest Ivermectin for deworming etc. then they could potentially still be a good vet.

I think this is pretty debatable and will vary case by case. In my way of thinking, if a person is that ignorant about how to house a tropical species that needs high humidity, then their other knowledge, including medical treatment, would be suspect too.
 

jockma

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I think this is pretty debatable and will vary case by case. In my way of thinking, if a person is that ignorant about how to house a tropical species that needs high humidity, then their other knowledge, including medical treatment, would be suspect too.
A lot of it is lack of options and compromise, I'm afraid.

I had one vet that was excellent with husbandry and knew it all but was absolutely obsessed with vitamin shots and became very rude and combative when I told him I had read online NOT to inject in the hind legs. He also believed in "preventive deworming" without testing for parasites first which I absolutely was not going to do to a tortoise that was physically weak and sickly.

The current vet has MUCH to be desired in the husbandry knowledge department but knows not to inject in hind legs, not to use vitamin shots, not to deworm on a whim, and not to give antibiotics without testing for infection. So it becomes a situation where you take the best option available to you, even if the best option isn't close to perfect. :/
 

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