Is this substrate okay for a baby hermann's tortoise?

SarahChelonoidis

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Looks like that one people commonly buy from Pets at Home. The general consensus here is to not use this substrate - those white bits encourage substrate eating which is not a particularly safe or desirable behaviour to encourage.
 

JoesMum

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I have never seen her eating the substrate
You may not have.

However, we as a group have had it crop up pretty regularly.

Growing tortoises are attracted to white stones which they eat a source of calcium. It is impossible for them to eat the white bits in that substrate without eating the substrate as well. Ingested substrate can impact in the gut, which we have also seen, and cause all sorts of problems.

For that reason we do not recommend and substrate with white bits in it whether that's a plant compost with vermiculite in it or a "Tortoise substrate"

It is much better, and probably cheaper, to use something that a tort won't feel tempted to eat like fine grade orchid bark or coco coir.

Pet stores sell this stuff, like they sell CFL UVB bulbs, to make a profit. They rarely have any expertise in tortoise care. Recommendations made here are based on decades of experience and our own mistakes :)
 

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