substrate for outdoor pen

[ekltestevez]

Hi everyone,
I live in Florida and I'm rebuilding any outdoor area for my tort's. It's humid in Florida so I was wondering what kind of subtrate I should use that would not hold alot of humidity?
I'm going to leave an area of the pen with regular dirt which can be moist at times so I want to make sure they have a dry area to get to.
Thanks
Cassie

 

[bettinge]

Just the dirt sounds good to me! If its too hard, mix some sand with it! I would not over think it!

Oh ya, make sure its well drained and there is a safe dry place to go when you have your frequent down poors! Flooding in the hide or other safe area would not be good!

 

[tortoisenerd]

If your soild is hard, then buy some organic potting soil without additives. Otherwise, you are good to go! I would just add a slope so there is a dryer area, and several hides in different levels of shade and terrain. Don't have hides at the bottom of any slopes. You can make a drier hide if you are scared of the moisture, by having one with a bottom to it or similar. If you really wanted to you could fill something with aspen, but that could be overkill. It can't get wet or it will mold, so just keep it seperate with plastic or whatever. A little doghouse, etc.