Leopard Tortoise Eating Substrate!

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vampire5003

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HELP! My leopard tortoise hatchling is eating his substrate! It is Cypress mulch! I only have Spagnum Peat Moss in the shed as a other substrate!
What should I do!? I took him for a soak and he/she had a ton of poop!
Way more than normal! I was gonna feed him some dandelion but he refused to eat because he seemed full! I am worried! I have only had him for 3 days now! I got him from some breeders from Kingsnake called
Robert/Trish! I have him in a 50 gallon rubbermaid tub that measures 4 by 2. I have a Mercury vapor bulb, called a Exo Terra 125w Solar Glo.
I have a water dish and some food dishes. Substrate is cypress mulch.
Humidity is 47%, electric hygrometer.
 

Torty Mom

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Bumping you up a bit, hopefully someone with more experience can help you out. I have mine on coconut coir and sometimes they eat a little but it's so small it goes right on thru. I had them on crypress when I first got them, but it was too pokey and they are so little. I hope someone comes along soon!
 

Tom

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Hello and welcome to the forum.

I've seen this happen under colored light bulbs like red, infrared or black, but not under a MVB. If he's really eating lots of it, and not just checking it out, you'll have to pull him off of it. Try feeding him several plates of his favorite stuff spread around the enclosure for the first few days on a new substrate. If he insist on eating it, you'll have to switch, I suppose.

Are you using any other bulbs, other than the Solar-Glo? Like for night time?
 

DocNezzy

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Welcome.

I also use coconut coir with no problems. What are your temps like with no night heat light? I'm kinda surprised Tom didn't comment on the humidity issue. 47%? Sounds low to me! He is still pretty new, so he just may be getting used to his new home. Watch him for a few days and switch if he keeps it up. Also post some pics of your habitat and your new baby. We love pics and they really help! Good luck. :)
 

vampire5003

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Tom said:
Hello and welcome to the forum.

I've seen this happen under colored light bulbs like red, infrared or black, but not under a MVB. If he's really eating lots of it, and not just checking it out, you'll have to pull him off of it. Try feeding him several plates of his favorite stuff spread around the enclosure for the first few days on a new substrate. If he insist on eating it, you'll have to switch, I suppose.

Are you using any other bulbs, other than the Solar-Glo? Like for night time?

Well at.night I used a exo terra red heat bulb 40w only.once! Did I screw up?!
I hope I didn't!
 

Yvonne G

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Hi Vampire5003:

Welcome to the forum!!

May we know your name and where you are?

If the tortoise isn't eating the substrate at night when you have the red light on, then the light is not causing the problem. If you leave the red light on during the day as well as at night, then yes, it might very well be the problem.

I have had good luck using Miner-all. Its a mineral powder manufactured for lizards. In my opinion, when a tortoise eats his substrate, he's looking for minerals that aren't being found in his food. So adding a mineral supplement for a little while is helpful.
 

ChiKat

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I got my Russian from Robert/Trish, and a friend of mine got her Leopard from them :)
...not helpful, just wanted to add that :D
 

Torty Mom

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I third what Yvonne said. Lou was eating dirt all the time, so I bought some miner-all (Yvonne suggested it) and so far the last 2 days he has been outside he has not tried to eat the dirt! Thanks Yvonne, your the bestest!
 

djschantz

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DocNezzy said:
Welcome.

I also use coconut coir with no problems. What are your temps like with no night heat light? I'm kinda surprised Tom didn't comment on the humidity issue. 47%? Sounds low to me! He is still pretty new, so he just may be getting used to his new home. Watch him for a few days and switch if he keeps it up. Also post some pics of your habitat and your new baby. We love pics and they really help! Good luck. :)
Ive had my baby leopard tortoise for about a month now, and only now is he starting to eat his substrate in favor of his food. I am using coconut coir and a mercury vapor bulb. I use a ceramic heat emitter at night.
 

Squirtle Time

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I use coconut coir as well, and I went through a lot of different substrates to see what worked best, it seems to win. I wish you luck!
 

vampire5003

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I HAVE A UPDATE! The breeders tried out cypress mulch and it went horribly wrong. They told me a couple torts ate a ton of cypress mulch overnight and seemed healthy. So my old tort died of impaction. The breeders went clean. They sent me a new one. It wasn't my fault. I was wondering why it tried to eat cypress mulch at my house. I had switched to coconut coir. So even if he ate some cypress mulch at my place when he WAS under the CARE of the BREEDERS he decided to eat some.
 

vampire5003

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Tom said:
I second what Yvonne said.

Dang I'm having this issue with my second tortoise (Jeremy the redfoot). I think that I will use Coco coir. I heard it's real loose and gets in the eyes and all over the water bowl? Is this true? Also were can I find Miner-al? My husband was sweet enough to buy me a petsmart gift card for ironing his clothes :) :D.
 

Robert/Trish

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vampire5003 said:
I HAVE A UPDATE! The breeders tried out cypress mulch and it went horribly wrong. They told me a couple torts ate a ton of cypress mulch overnight and seemed healthy. So my old tort died of impaction. The breeders went clean. They sent me a new one. It wasn't my fault. I was wondering why it tried to eat cypress mulch at my house. I had switched to coconut coir. So even if he ate some cypress mulch at my place when he WAS under the CARE of the BREEDERS he decided to eat some.

We have never used cypress mulch as a substrate for tortoises. We recommended to her that she not use cypress mulch because of the possibility of impaction. We offered her (and she purchased) another tortoise at a discounted price ($50 plus shipping) because we felt sorry for her loss and not because it was our fault.
 

John

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Again I will say that the statements made here about Robert/Trish are unfounded,It appears they went out of their way to help an inexperienced keeper and unjustly got dragged through the mud in return.
 

ChiKat

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Robert/Trish said:
vampire5003 said:
I HAVE A UPDATE! The breeders tried out cypress mulch and it went horribly wrong. They told me a couple torts ate a ton of cypress mulch overnight and seemed healthy. So my old tort died of impaction. The breeders went clean. They sent me a new one. It wasn't my fault. I was wondering why it tried to eat cypress mulch at my house. I had switched to coconut coir. So even if he ate some cypress mulch at my place when he WAS under the CARE of the BREEDERS he decided to eat some.

We have never used cypress mulch as a substrate for tortoises. We recommended to her that she not use cypress mulch because of the possibility of impaction. We offered her (and she purchased) another tortoise at a discounted price ($50 plus shipping) because we felt sorry for her loss and not because it was our fault.

Thank you for clarifying. What an odd accusation.
Making up lies like this can hurt someone's reputation, so I'm glad this was brought to your attention Robert/Trish.
I purchased my Russian tortoise from you a year and a half ago and he is thriving :) I will definitely purchase torts from you in the future.
 

vampire5003

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squamata said:
Again I will say that the statements made here about Robert/Trish are unfounded,It appears they went out of their way to help an inexperienced keeper and unjustly got dragged through the mud in return.

I am not a inexperianced keeper my redfoot was rescued from an animal shelter. I hate how you are just going on every post and saying crap.
 

Jacqui

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I guess I should have gone on to all three of the threads were you made negative and according to Robert and Trish false comments, but I was hoping just going on the one would be enough (plus I was really hoping Robert and Trish would make their own comments instead of me doing it second hand, which they now have). I think Squamata, was just trying to clear up some misconceptions you may have had or been giving out about them (Robert/Trish) since you made comments about them on all the threads.

Just so you know, if you really want to be mad at anyone in here, be mad at me. I freely will admit, I am the one who went to Robert and Trish to get their side of things and pointed them to the comments you were making.
 

Neal

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Jacqui said:
Just so you know, if you really want to be mad at anyone in here, be mad at me. I freely will admit, I am the one who went to Robert and Trish to get their side of things and pointed them to the comments you were making.

Thanks for doing that. It's always good to hear the other side of the story.
 
M

Maggie Cummings

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Frankly, you ARE an inexperienced keeper. One tortoise does not make you 'experienced'. Your first tortoise died and now you are wanting a hatchling Sulcata. I don't mean any disrespect but what I am reading about you is just not right. You need to get one tort and raise him for a bit before you run out and get another.

I have been using black light bulbs on cypress mulch for a long time and my tortoises don't eat the substrate. In several habitats the black light bulbs are on 24/7 and still my tortoises do not eat the substrate.

I recommend you raise one or 2 tortoises for a while and get a little more experienced before you get more Sulcata and they end up needing to be rehomed.
 
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