What do you use for a substrate for a 5 week old cherry head tortoise. Idk the real age I was told by tortoise town he was 3 1/2 months hached but when he arrived March 8th he was still healing from his egg sack he has a little pach of skin on the middle of his belly thay was healing still. I use coco coir only now after 2 weeks of moss and coco coir and I seen him eating the moss I think. And the coco coir gets all over his food already and Im sure he eats it I only hope sense it is so fine like ground coffee, but I know if it's not passing it will cause compaction so I try my best to keep his food clean I'll have to feed him outside of his tote and in one without substrate. I have a cypress mulch I havnt used.
Cherry head tortoise substrate
- Thread starter Torkoal#1
- Start date
Answered in your other post:
If you are going to use coco coir, it must be kept damp as Zovick explained. You must also firmly hand pack it down to reduce the mess.
This is one reason why coco coir is not a good substrate for a CH. They need high humidity, but dry substrate to reduce the chances of shell rot (fungal infection) on the plastron. You can't keep coir dry or it is too messy and dusty. You can't keep coir damp because it will give your tortoise shell rot. A 3-4 inch layer of fine grade orchid bark works much better for them. You can dump water into the substrate to keep the lower levels damp and the upper layers can remain somewhat dry. It works perfectly this way for any species, but it is especially important for a RF/CH.
