Outdoor redfoot pen- best substrate?

Brehdy

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I have built a nice pen for my redfoots in the yard, but right now it is covered only in dirt. The dirt here is kind of sandy, and is scattered with a few plants (dandelion and other weeds). Should I be getting some mulch to put over top of it or are there any other suggestions?

I am in Portland, Oregon, so the summers here are relatively dry.

Thanks!
 

CharlieM

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I have built a nice pen for my redfoots in the yard, but right now it is covered only in dirt. The dirt here is kind of sandy, and is scattered with a few plants (dandelion and other weeds). Should I be getting some mulch to put over top of it or are there any other suggestions?

I am in Portland, Oregon, so the summers here are relatively dry.

Thanks!

Many redfoot owners use cypress mulch in their outdoor enclosures.
 

Pearly

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I'm working on mine now too. Just finished planting all the plants and good weeds I wanted to have in there. All I'm doing now is trying to find someway to get rid of fire ants and keeping them out of there and figure out few nice hides for them. I have 10 bags of cypress mulch just waiting to be applied to the "walking areas" of the tort garden. The rest will be covered by plants: low growing grasses and weeds, plus "Steppables" ground covers, like thyme and few others. They are very fine and stay low to the ground and supposedly do very well with foot traffic. We shell see.ImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1467988363.099979.jpg this is my work in progress
 

Yvonne G

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I wouldn't add any other medium to the existing soil. Just plant some sort of ground cover and some shrubs and plants.
 

Pearly

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I wouldn't add any other medium to the existing soil. Just plant some sort of ground cover and some shrubs and plants.
The reason I'm mulching the "foot traffic" paths is more for me than the torts. Soil is messy. I'll be going in there a lot and just want to keep my feet/shoes clean:)
 

Brehdy

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I wouldn't add any other medium to the existing soil. Just plant some sort of ground cover and some shrubs and plants.

I've got some plants in there for cover already. What kind of ground cover would you suggest?
 

Brehdy

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Also, i'm on the west coast and cypress mulch is proving impossible to find locally. Are there any other barks/mulches that are OK? There is lots of hemlock mulch available here but i've read mixed reviews on the safety of using that for tortoises.
 

Pearly

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I've got some plants in there for cover already. What kind of ground cover would you suggest?
I've been on a quest to find a seed mix locally (something that will grow in my heavy alcaline clay soil and withstand the summer heat). So far found only 2 kinds of clover. I'll start with those plus the weeds and perenials I have already bought. I'll get some grass seed as well to mix with the clover and everytime I see dandelion "puffers" I'll be collecting those, that should be enough for their "grazing meadow". I've also planted few "plugs" of the "steppables" mostly thymes (lemon thyme and couple others) they are supposedly grown especially to withstand the foot traffic... I want them and few other herbs in the enclosure (lemon grass, few different geraniums, oregano) mainly for repelling mosquitos and the scent. There's nothing better than smell of herbs when watering your garden
 

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