Indoor substrate for Horsefield (dust free!)

[Gilly79]

Hi All, We have an 8yr Horsefield which is kept in a large open top table style enclosure. We have tried various different types of substrates over the 7 years we have owned him but now we are at a crossroads. Basically we find that a product called Tortoise Life is the best for the tortoise as this is pretty close to their natural environment. (soil/sand/limestone mix). The problem we find with this, and other similar substrates is it can become very dusty and dirty very quickly, especially when our tortoise briskly walking around his enclosure or digging in the corners. Our tortoise table is kept in our fairly spacious living room but the dust is getting everywhere. We also have a 10 month old daughter and is now crawling around and we are worried about her getting dusty from the enclosure putting her hands in her mouth etc....basically the health implications this could have on a small child - plus we are getting fed up cleaning everything each night when our tortoise goes to sleep.
We love him to bits and do not want to get rid of him so I am asking if anyone knows any good substrates that are fairly dust free - and good for Horsefields?.
One point to make too is ideally we will keep him in the garden. We have recently moved house so we need to build/create an outside paradise for him but living in the UK cannot be kept outside all year round so an indoor set up is essential for his well being.
Thanks very much.

 

[Tom]

I would not use anything with sand in it.

The problem is not your substrate, it is the lack of moisture. Any substrate should be kept slightly damp, and this will keep down the dust. It will also give you some moderate humidity, which is good for any species, including horsfields. I prefer orchid bark for older horsfield tortoises and coco coir for younger ones.

 

[Gilly79]

Thanks Tom. Coco coir is another substrate which we have experimented with but we found he moved it around too much and completely covered his food and water dishes, so we reverted back to the Tortoise Life as it is a bit heavier.

With both of these substrates we watered them down at night when he went to bed to try and condense the bedding together, but once he was up and on the move again this soon broke up. Perhaps we need more water then to really soak it through?.

I was concerned about making it too wet for fear of shell rot which is why we did it at night while he was in his enclosed section of the table.

Thanks

 

[Tom]

All of my russians are kept on damp, dust free substrate and I've never seen a case of shell rot on a russian since I started with them in 1986.

When I use coir for babies, I make a thick layer and hand pack it down. When they dig into it at night, I hand pack it down in that area after they are up and about. Packing it down keeps the mess to a minimum.

 

[lisa127]

If you are worried about dust, maybe Tom's suggestion of orchid bark might appeal to you more.

 

[Gilly79]

Thanks for the advise. We will persevere with our current substrate as we have quite a bit left and use more water and pack down well each evening. If not then we can try the orchid bark. We expect some mess, always had some but we just have to bit extra careful now with our daughter crawling around!. Thanks again

 

[Gilly79]

This is a possibility and one we can turn to if the extra watering does not help with our current substrate. Thank you.