New substrate

[cpl1307]

Hi
I've just switched from bark clippings to COIR Coco Soil Coconut Fibre. When I put it in yesterday it was quite wet and already its drying out. My Russian loves the stuff and is right underneath it. I've lined the bottom with pond liner so not to rot my viv. It took 5 hours to do it and disinfect it all. Shes not 100% sure and I've not seen her today. I took her out the hide to place her on her food and she ate quite alot. How do I keep this stuff wet underneath. Should it be really wet underneath because it's like a desert at the moment. Shes covered in it. She really does like digging under it though. Does anybody have any ideas apart from just pouring water in sections or is that what I should do. I didn't think it would dry so fast when I put it in, I thought it was to wet, so I added some that hadn't been soaked, but left it wet enough, but today now the lighting is in, its drying so fast. humidity is at a perfect level though.

 

[Tom]

First, it needs to be hand packed to keep the mess down. Next, it has to be kept damp to keep it from getting dusty. The only way I know to do that is to dump in water. If there is no poop in it, I usually dump the water bowl in to the substrate and then rinse it into the substrate. How much to dump and how often varies with each enclosure and it varies seasonally too. You have to go by feel.

You can slow the rate of evaporation by covering the top, or putting a large portable green house set over it. This will increase humidity, which is good for any tortoise.

 

[cpl1307]

First, it needs to be hand packed to keep the mess down. Next, it has to be kept damp to keep it from getting dusty. The only way I know to do that is to dump in water. If there is no poop in it, I usually dump the water bowl in to the substrate and then rinse it into the substrate. How much to dump and how often varies with each enclosure and it varies seasonally too. You have to go by feel.

You can slow the rate of evaporation by covering the top, or putting a large portable green house set over it. This will increase humidity, which is good for any tortoise.

I knew you would come to the rescue Tom! Shes not been out all day which is not like her at all. I got her out the hide and put her by her food and she ate it, but then went back in. Will she get used to it? Is it just because it's a big change. I dont want upset her. It was just more practical. Especially putting the pond liner underneath to protect the wood. It might of been you that gave me the idea. I'm not sure, but it went down like a dream and now its protected. Shes not speaking to me at the minute, yet she love covering herself in it and digging.

 

[Tom]

I knew you would come to the rescue Tom! Shes not been out all day which is not like her at all. I got her out the hide and put her by her food and she ate it, but then went back in. Will she get used to it? Is it just because it's a big change. I dont want upset her. It was just more practical. Especially putting the pond liner underneath to protect the wood. It might of been you that gave me the idea. I'm not sure, but it went down like a dream and now its protected. Shes not speaking to me at the minute, yet she love covering herself in it and digging.

Tortoises don't like change, even when it is a good change. She'll get used to it. She also has the ability now to behave more naturally by digging in, and that tends to make them behave in a more "feral" way. As an example of this, I let my big adult sulcatas burrow in summer time. These are tortoises that I've raised from hatchlings and have been fed and cared for by me their whole lives. They get into a burrow and they start acting like I'm a predator and they are a wild animal. They shoot backwards down their hole like a rocket at my approach, and they even act more defensive when they are above ground. Then in fall, I block the burrow entrances, and they start sleeping in their above ground heated night boxes, as they have for their entire lives, and they start acting like tame puppies again, curious and following me around the pen like they always have. This cycle repeats annually.