Any recommended substrate that can be found at Home Depot or Lowe's?

[JulieS]

Hello all,

I need to put a substrate in a 200-gallon aquarium for a hatchling (Sulcata), and that seems like a lot of little $10 bags of cypress mulch from the reptile store (which is 2 hours of driving as well).

Is there something which would come in a 40 or 50-lb bag from a store like Home Depot or Lowe's that would be suitable and safe? (Only an hour's drive also for that trip) If there is, could someone either link a picture of the bag from their website or give me the exact name?

Also, does anyone ever just put potting soil in the bottom and then lay grass sod over the top to keep a tortoise on its own little lawn? If that's been done successfully, is there a best type of grass? I'm assuming there's lighting out there which could keep it alive (I'm used to lighting corals in my reef tanks). Or would tortoise temperatures be too much for most grass species longterm?

Thanks in advance,

Julie

 

[Yelloweyed]

HD and Lowe's has peat moss in large bales $12. I used 2.5 to fill a 4x6 ft enclosure 4-6" deep. It expands like crazy once it gets wet and pats down nice to make a good walking surface.

 

[Yelloweyed]

I bought a roll of grass to lay in the enclosure but found that the growers use a plastic mat of some sort to hold the roll together. It's between the grass and dirt. Best bet is seeds from online.

 

[Odin's Gma]

I agree with @Yelloweyed. Seed is best, it's the only way to know for sure that the food your tort is getting is %100 safe (or at least 95)

This is a great source that many here use
http://www.tortoisesupply.com/SeedMixes
They have a sulcata mix that I have wanted to try forever, but every time I go to order it is out of stock.

I have opted for making my own mixes thanks to Amazon and my local garden centers. If you can wait a week or so for delivery you can find everything you need (including coconut coir, lighting, Mazuri, etc.)

Here is my indoor food set-up (we are in MN, so indoor gardening is a must)
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/gmas-indoor-winter-gardening-and-sulcata-brag-thread.112815/

The fastest seeds to sprout have been clover, radish and a few of the grasses. You can have sprouts in mere days. The painfully slow are agave. It is killing me!

 

[JulieS]

Thanks everyone, and especially for that link to the indoor gardening thread!

 

[DawnH]

I used a Topsoil (plain, no additives) peat moss mix. You can plant in it, they can dig in it, etc. You can even have one part with the cypress mulch for a different texture and all three mixes hold moisture/humidity really well. I do NOT like straight topsoil. It does not hold humidly in it like it does with peat moss or coco coir mixed in.

I also used the seed mixes from:

Sulcata Food http://www.sulcatafood.com/All_Store_Items.html

Carolina Pet Supply http://www.carolinapetsupply.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=179

& Tortoise Supply http://www.tortoisesupply.com/TestudoMix

Below is my sulcata's first habitat (visual's helped me when I started!) I used the pasture seed from Sulcata food and love it. It grows crazy fast (which is nice for me because I have no patience) and you can grow it indoors in a sunny location. I planted in a cheap large plastic toss away container and would rotate them in. (Plant two, put one in when ready, let the second grow more, when the first one was eaten, put the second one in, replant the first and so on...) It worked great.

Hope this helps!

(BTW - Odin's Gma is freakishly fantastic with her green thumb. I plan on moving in with her this winter!)

 

[Odin's Gma]

I can grow plenty of food for Odin, Tuleo and any other hungry sullys!

The visuals helped me too (and still do!), there are millions of ideas here!