Clay and sand mix

jorg

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Can i use a river sand with clay mix for radiated tortoises? A friend of mine use it for his egyptians. I think its pretty and Natural. But dont have the experience with. Anybody?
 

Yvonne G

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Egyptians are different. Most folks keep them on oyster shell or sand. I wouldn't use it for your radiated tortoise. It is an impaction risk I'm not willing to take.
 

jorg

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The Earth i use now starts to dust in the corners. Even if i spay it, the water stays on the soil. Didn't have the problem in my small enclosures.
 

Tom

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I would never use any sand as enclosure substrate. Not even as part of a mix. I've seen far too many sand impaction cases and that is an ugly surgery.

I dump water into my substrate to keep it damp. Spraying is ineffective for me here, especially with an open top. If I recall, your enclosure was very large and open on top, right? Is humidifying the whole room to slow the rate of evaporation an option?
 

Yvonne G

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You can add a tiny drop or two of liquid dish soap to your water. It makes the water wetter.
 

jorg

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I would never use any sand as enclosure substrate. Not even as part of a mix. I've seen far too many sand impaction cases and that is an ugly surgery.

I dump water into my substrate to keep it damp. Spraying is ineffective for me here, especially with an open top. If I recall, your enclosure was very large and open on top, right? Is humidifying the whole room to slow the rate of evaporation an option?
I use a room humidifier (boneco U7142) and the humidity is 65-70. It's not realy sand i use. If i Translate i find gras/ soil.
 

Tom

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That looks like soil, which I am not a fan of. Even if you find some without a bunch of additives, there is no way to know what composted plant material it is made of. What if its made of oleander cuttings or grass treated with chemicals. Soil also tends to be quite messy and muddy.

I prefer fine grade orchid bark or coco chips.
 

Maro2Bear

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The emulsion breaks down the surface tension.

Yes, the small amount of detergent acts as a surfactant. Surfactant you ask?.... Surfactant. Surfactants are compounds that lower the surface tension (or interfacial tension) between two liquids or between a liquid and a solid. Surfactants may act as detergents, wetting agents, emulsifiers, foaming agents, and dispersants.
 

Yvonne G

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I always add a drop or two of liquid dish soap to my plant watering can. It helps wet the hard packed soil that hasn't been watered in a while.
 

dmmj

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I'm not really a fan of threads where I have to take a college course to read it
 

jorg

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I think i will order a big bag soil from Madagascar :)
 

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