Washing substrate

[Smallrhino]

Does anyone actually wash their substrate and reuse it. (Found online) Washing coconut fibers with boiling water, vinagar and baking soda (after removing poop) and letting completely dry, then ready to be reused and placed in enclosure. Is this a safe method for my very young Sulcata? The coconut substrate that I've been using is out of stock (for months now). I'm hesitant on using anything else due to peoples complaints of bugs and excessive dust. Please express your opinions. Thank you

 

[TammyJ]

Can you get fine grain orchid bark instead?

 

[Smallrhino]

Is the energy from your question steming from you disagreeing with the act of washing substrate? I am aware of there being alternatives to Coconut Bark substrate, although it's the one that hasn't caused any issues for me and my tortoises. At times I have mixed in Orchard Bark. Fine grade, not sure,...

 

[Sarah2020]

It is best to dispose and use fresh and new. I put waste on my garden so it is recycled. I use orchid bark and it lasts for 3 months and then I put in fresh.

 

[Sarah2020]

Tom is a breeder living in your part of USA and posted this hopefully it may help to get supplies.....
......https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/orchid-bark.135085/

 

[wellington]

I have no idea if this washing process is safe or not. I don't think it would be harmful.
However, I never changed my substrate for a year or more when my torts lived inside as little ones. Spot cleaning is all I did of poop and food.
The bugs will come in coconut coir too however baking or boiling any substrate will keep them at bay longer.

 

[wellington]

It is best to dispose and use fresh and new. I put waste on my garden so it is recycled. I use orchid bark and it lasts for 3 months and then I put in fresh.

You don't need to change it every 3 months. Just spot clean and stir it up some and it's good to keep using. I used coir mainly when mine were little and added orchid bark later on. My substrates were used for a year or more before ever changing it and that was mainly if I was changing it for something else completely.

 

[Smallrhino]

It is best to dispose and use fresh and new. I put waste on my garden so it is recycled. I use orchid bark and it lasts for 3 months and then I put in fresh.

Yes, thank you Sarah2020. I did mention that my supply is no longer available.

 

[TammyJ]

Is the energy from your question steming from you disagreeing with the act of washing substrate? I am aware of there being alternatives to Coconut Bark substrate, although it's the one that hasn't caused any issues for me and my tortoises. At times I have mixed in Orchard Bark. Fine grade, not sure,...

If you cannot get the orchid bark and the coconut coir is also out, then I don't see why not wash and reuse if you want to.

 

[Smallrhino]

Tom is a breeder living in your part of USA and posted this hopefully it may help to get supplies.....
......https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/orchid-bark.135085/

@Sarah2020. Thank you for the options. I'm looking for a place that actually carries this brand. Have you heard any information about washing Coconut Bark substrate?

 

[Tom]

Does anyone actually wash their substrate and reuse it. (Found online) Washing coconut fibers with boiling water, vinagar and baking soda (after removing poop) and letting completely dry, then ready to be reused and placed in enclosure. Is this a safe method for my very young Sulcata? The coconut substrate that I've been using is out of stock (for months now). I'm hesitant on using anything else due to peoples complaints of bugs and excessive dust. Please express your opinions. Thank you

I know of no one that washes their substrate, and see no reason to do it. If you are soaking daily as you should be, and spot cleaning leftover food, there is no reason to need to wash or replace the substrate.

Fine grade orchid bark is readily available here and cheap in bulk. It works better than coco coir and is less messy. If you can't find it at local nurseries near you, come to Santa Clarita and get some. Its $14 a bag:


If you just don't want the o bark, there are lots of brands of coco coir that will work just fine for you. Doesn't have to be the same brand you've been using. You can buy that in bulk from nurseries too.

 

[Smallrhino]

@Tom. Santa Clarita! Thank you. Are you speaking of Ace Hardware? Or where do I go to purchase?

 

[Tom]

@Tom. Santa Clarita! Thank you. Are you speaking of Ace Hardware? Or where do I go to purchase?

Green Landscape Nursery.

Green Landscape Nursery SCV – Santa Clarita's largest and most knowledgeable nursery

greennurseryscv.com

 

[Smallrhino]

Green Landscape Nursery.

Green Landscape Nursery SCV – Santa Clarita's largest and most knowledgeable nursery

greennurseryscv.com

@Tom. Thank you kind sir. I will head out tomorrow. Prayerfully this works. I feel for those who found bugs in their substrate. I'd be so upset. Change, yuck. There is a member on here that says he doesn't change his substrate at all. That would make me nervous. I want to see the entire enclose at least once a month to make sure that everything is okay. I also do a complete cleaning of all of their supplies and toys. Is changing the bedding a bad thing?

 

[Tom]

@Tom. Thank you kind sir. I will head out tomorrow. Prayerfully this works. I feel for those who found bugs in their substrate. I'd be so upset. Change, yuck. There is a member on here that says he doesn't change his substrate at all. That would make me nervous. I want to see the entire enclose at least once a month to make sure that everything is okay. I also do a complete cleaning of all of their supplies and toys. Is changing the bedding a bad thing?

The bugs don't come from the substrate, They come from the surrounding environment and colonize any warm damp substrate.

When you soak daily and clean up leftover food, there is no need to change the substrate ever. The tortoise potties in the soaking water, and the substrate stays clean. I only change my substrate when a tortoise, or group of tortoises, leaves that enclosure and a new one is coming in.

Other than the costs, there is no reason why you can't change the substrate as often as you like. Its more work, and it might be considered wasteful to throw away perfectly good substrate, but maybe you can use it for mulch in the garden? I mix mine in to my compost pile.

 

[tortlvr]

I rinse my used bark, let it sun dry and then freeze it.

 

[TaraMaiden]

It's also handy to moisten it, (Not wet, or soak it) and sterilise it in the microwave on full power for 3 minutes. That zap will kill anything, stone dead.