Hi, I am a newbie on the site ...
I have a three-toed Box Turtle, Toby. I've had him for about 8 years, and he is sweet and curious little fellow.
I have tried all sorts of bedding/substrate for him, and I'm really at a loss as to the best bedding for him. I had some sort of wood chips (Not cedar!!, purchased from PetSmart) and he honestly seems to hate it! It seems really dusty, too. In the past, I had a coconut loom /soil type bedding, but then his water source would become super messy, very quickly, and although he liked to burrow in it, he didn't seem happy when he was covered in soil everywhere (and I was concerned about him ingesting it, although I have a separate food dish for him).
The vet recommended turtle "carpet"; and I thought it was a reasonable compromise, although it didn't seem very cozy and he certainly can't burrow in it.
But, then as I researched further, turtle carpet seems like an awful choice!
Can anyone please provide me a recommendation for a safe substrate for my box turtle: if possible, a substrate that he can burrow in, that retains humidity to some extent, but doesn't make a huge mess in the water bowl?
Also note: I'm in Alberta, Canada so I have to be able to buy the substrate from either Petsmart or Amazon.ca (some items I can purchase on Amazon.com).
Please be really, really specific when you're making recommendations, and break it down as simply as possible
Thank you!
T.
I have a three-toed Box Turtle, Toby. I've had him for about 8 years, and he is sweet and curious little fellow.
I have tried all sorts of bedding/substrate for him, and I'm really at a loss as to the best bedding for him. I had some sort of wood chips (Not cedar!!, purchased from PetSmart) and he honestly seems to hate it! It seems really dusty, too. In the past, I had a coconut loom /soil type bedding, but then his water source would become super messy, very quickly, and although he liked to burrow in it, he didn't seem happy when he was covered in soil everywhere (and I was concerned about him ingesting it, although I have a separate food dish for him).
The vet recommended turtle "carpet"; and I thought it was a reasonable compromise, although it didn't seem very cozy and he certainly can't burrow in it.
But, then as I researched further, turtle carpet seems like an awful choice!
Can anyone please provide me a recommendation for a safe substrate for my box turtle: if possible, a substrate that he can burrow in, that retains humidity to some extent, but doesn't make a huge mess in the water bowl?
Also note: I'm in Alberta, Canada so I have to be able to buy the substrate from either Petsmart or Amazon.ca (some items I can purchase on Amazon.com).
Please be really, really specific when you're making recommendations, and break it down as simply as possible
Thank you!
T.