Ideas on substrate

[Artemis the Tortoise]

Hello,
I'm currently using coconut coir in my Russian tortoise's pen and it gets EVERYWHERE in his food in his tail in his neck and its sooooo annoying! What else can I use besides coconut coir and dirt/sand! Thx!❤💚💜💙💛❤💚💜💙💛


Artemis' Mommy🌿🌷🐢🌷🌿

 

[Jordan67]

Aspen is good

 

[MikeCow1]

I put cypress mulch on top of the coir

 

[Redari]

I have cypress on one side and moss on the other and it's pretty clean.

 

[lisa127]

I use a mix of coco coir and long fibred sphagnum moss. Stuff gets tracked into the water bowl all the time. I have no problem with it. Things aren't always tidy in nature.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

I use clean dirt from my yard. I never have sticking issues. I have some large rocks sunk into the dirt around the water dish and that limits the amount of dirt in there, too.

 

[Artemis the Tortoise]

Thx! What kind of wood chips can I use? Are the ones from Home Depot good, like the red mulch and black mulch


Artemis' Mommy🌿🌷🐢🌷🌿

 

[Jd3]

Thx! What kind of wood chips can I use? Are the ones from Home Depot good, like the red mulch and black mulch


Artemis' Mommy🌿🌷🐢🌷🌿

No. Those are dyed. Aspen mulch or repti bark from pet stores is ok

 

[tortoise007]

I use a mix of dirt from my back yard and cypress mulch

 

[Jordan67]

Do not use wood chip!

 

[Redari]

Do not use wood chip!

Do you mean all woodchips? Because it seems most people think certain ones are okay, like Cypress or Orchid bark...

 

[Jordan67]

Personally I wouldn't use any wood chip because if ingested could cause impact ion problems. People may disagree....

 

[mctlong]

I recommend the cypress mulch. I've been using it for awhile now and haven't had any trouble. It's alot cleaner than the coco cour.

 

[tortoise007]

some people think it is OK, others think it's not. I love the stuff.

 

[Brewster320]

I was getting annoyed with aspen and organic potting soil so I've made my own and thats working for me. Its a mixture of Cypress mulch, sphagnum moss, organic potting soil, worm compost, and some left over "fluorite gravel" from an old fish tank (its made for planted aquariums). And then I use about 8" of it so the surface dries out but everything underneath is still moist and it should be good for growing plants in too but none have really lasted long enough to find out lol. I like it so far but she still trails it in the water bowl, I don't think you're going to get around that. When I finish her new indoor setup I think I might add some sand to the mix though.

 

[Madkins007]

There are a lot of options, and things that work for some do not always work for others. Try this article for ideas- https://sites.google.com/site/tortoiselibrary/Indoor-Housing/substrates-1

 

[Jd3]

I was getting annoyed with aspen and organic potting soil so I've made my own and thats working for me. Its a mixture of Cypress mulch, sphagnum moss, organic potting soil, worm compost, and some left over "fluorite gravel" from an old fish tank (its made for planted aquariums). And then I use about 8" of it so the surface dries out but everything underneath is still moist and it should be good for growing plants in too but none have really lasted long enough to find out lol. I like it so far but she still trails it in the water bowl, I don't think you're going to get around that. When I finish her new indoor setup I think I might add some sand to the mix though.

Why the worm compost? It is a great fertilizer but seems like a waste in this case.

 

[Brewster320]

I was getting annoyed with aspen and organic potting soil so I've made my own and thats working for me. Its a mixture of Cypress mulch, sphagnum moss, organic potting soil, worm compost, and some left over "fluorite gravel" from an old fish tank (its made for planted aquariums). And then I use about 8" of it so the surface dries out but everything underneath is still moist and it should be good for growing plants in too but none have really lasted long enough to find out lol. I like it so far but she still trails it in the water bowl, I don't think you're going to get around that. When I finish her new indoor setup I think I might add some sand to the mix though.

Why the worm compost? It is a great fertilizer but seems like a waste in this case.

Its great fertilizer but it is also a great source of beneficial bacteria and mixing it with the soil allows the microbes (and some worms that were stow aways) to colonize the substrate and make it bioactive. Maintenance is pretty much just turn the soil over where ever theres poop and the microbes and worms break it down, this is also were the soil depth come in handy because you wouldn't be able to pull this off with only a couple inches of soil. I also have my own worm bin and make my own compost so I don't mind using it here and there for stuff other than gardening.