Substrates

[tortoiselover2158]

I have had my tortoise for about 4 months. The whole time I used coconut coir as a substrate (both the coarse and fine types). Just in the past week he started eating it constantly. I got worried about that, so I switched to Timothy hay only as his substrate. He also has a small washcloth in there. He loves to sit on the washcloth or put his paw on it, but he just doesn't seem to enjoy burrowing in the hay like he did with the coconut coir. I was wondering if anyone else had any ideas of alternative substrates I could try.

 

[Tom]

I prefer fine grade orchid bark for adult russians, but coir or coco chips should work too.

The question is: Why is your tortoise eating its substrate?
Are you using colored bulbs?
Coil type UV?
Are you feeding mostly grocery store foods?
Calcium or vitamin supplementation?

 

[tortoiselover2158]

We are feeding grocery store foods primarily, as it is winter and we just recently started caring for a tortoise. We are looking into buying seeds and growing some food for him. We have a long tube type uv lamp and no colored lamps. We have tried to feed calcium and vitamin supplements but it results in him refusing to eat the food. We are going to try giving him ground up egg shells as a source of calcium, as another member suggested.

 

[saginawhxc]

Just out of curiosity, what grocery greens are you feeding and how much?

How much calcium are you sprinkling on? I've seen pictures of people that are putting entirely too much on. Does he have access to a cuttlebone?

I use coco coir in two of my three small tortoise enclosures and orchid bark in the third, but I think I prefer the bark overall.

 

[tortoiselover2158]

We alternate between kale, dandelion greens, broccoleaf, chard, and mustard greens. We also give him wheat grass daily. Sparingly, we give carrots, bell pepper, squash, and cucumber. We tried just a pinch of calcium but no matter what he refuses that so we are soon going to try the egg shells ground up. We're hoping that will work as far as calcium goes.

 

[tortoiselover2158]

He does have access to a cuttle bone but that never gets touched.