Box Turtle substrate

[nicdragonette]

Hi! I'm thinking about buying a box turtle and I have a question about the substrate. How many layers of substrate should I put and what should I put in each layer? I'm thinking of having a wooden table made, if that helps.

 

[tortdad]

Hi! I'm thinking about buying a box turtle and I have a question about the substrate. How many layers of substrate should I put and what should I put in each layer? I'm thinking of having a wooden table made, if that helps.

If your going to make it wooden you're going to have to seal it really really well. Box turtles are semi-aquatic so your soil needs to be really wet. Not soupy but definitely wet. They need to be able to dig down and burry themselves so make it several inches deep. I use organic top soil (not potting soil). I mix it with with sphagnum moss and some fine grade orchard bark (or cypress mulch). Mix it all up and make it at least 6" deep (for a baby) and deeper for an adult. Then top it all off for a layer of leaf litter from your yard. Give it plenty of plants, the more the better (real or fake). They like to hide under leaves and beneath a canopy of plants. Do this and you have a happy little boxie. I'll see if I can't dig up a care sheet that goes more into detail for them.

 

[lisa127]

I use 100% organic peat moss for adults, about 6 inches deep. I mix nothing into it but will sometimes put clumps of long fibred new Zealand sphagnum moss or leaf litter on top. For babies I use just the long fibred new Zealand sphagnum moss about 3 inches deep.

 

[Yvonne G]

I use a mixture of fine grade orchid bark and potting soil (with no perlite in it).

 

[nicdragonette]

If your going to make it wooden you're going to have to seal it really really well. Box turtles are semi-aquatic so your soil needs to be really wet. Not soupy but definitely wet. They need to be able to dig down and burry themselves so make it several inches deep. I use organic top soil (not potting soil). I mix it with with sphagnum moss and some fine grade orchard bark (or cypress mulch). Mix it all up and make it at least 6" deep (for a baby) and deeper for an adult. Then top it all off for a layer of leaf litter from your yard. Give it plenty of plants, the more the better (real or fake). They like to hide under leaves and beneath a canopy of plants. Do this and you have a happy little boxie. I'll see if I can't dig up a care sheet that goes more into detail for them.

Thank you so much! I was also reading about coco coir and "Bed-a-Beast." What's your opinion on them? (Both are made from coconut, so I'm assuming coconut is good for their habitat and for their overall well-being. Can they eat coconut shavings? I've read articles about every other fruit/veggie and nobody has said anything about coconuts.) Thanks again!

 

[nicdragonette]

I use 100% organic peat moss for adults, about 6 inches deep. I mix nothing into it but will sometimes put clumps of long fibred new Zealand sphagnum moss or leaf litter on top. For babies I use just the long fibred new Zealand sphagnum moss about 3 inches deep.

Thank you! I'll definitely put in sphagnum moss into the substrate.

 

[tortdad]

Thank you so much! I was also reading about coco coir and "Bed-a-Beast." What's your opinion on them? (Both are made from coconut, so I'm assuming coconut is good for their habitat and for their overall well-being. Can they eat coconut shavings? I've read articles about every other fruit/veggie and nobody has said anything about coconuts.) Thanks again!

They work fine but cost more money.
The soil is about $2.50 a bag at any home improvement store like Home Depot. The moss is maybe $3 and the bark maybe another $3. $10 will get you a lot of substraight. $10 gets you very little coconut core or bed a beast. Some garden centers sell the coco coir cheap and you can order larger bricks of it online at places like Amazon

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

I LOVE coir. I buy three enormous blocks at the garden store for 10$... few gallons out of it. It's 100% safe
Smells lovely, too.

 

[TortsNTurtles]

I use 100% organic peat moss for adults, about 6 inches deep. I mix nothing into it but will sometimes put clumps of long fibred new Zealand sphagnum moss or leaf litter on top. For babies I use just the long fibred new Zealand sphagnum moss about 3 inches deep.

When you use sphagnum moss for the babies is it hard to keep clean?