Rubber mulch

[Tziva]

Hello!

I saw this thread, but it was advising someone who was mulch shopping not to go with rubber over natural. However, I'm in a situation where I already have rubber mulch. I know it is unideal, but want to know if it's enough to be a dealbreaker.

Here is my tolstoy:

When I was a little kid, we found a Mojave desert tortoise wandering on a major city street. My mother picked it up, got a permit, and has had it ever since. Now that I have my own home and she's getting older, my mother would like me to take custody of him. He's pretty old, but still may outlive her.

The thing is that my entire backyard is concrete and rubber mulch. For multiple reasons, I can't replace or remove the rubber mulch. I'm concerned whether it is safe. It's "playground grade" and non-toxic, but I am pretty sure they are thinking about dogs and toddlers accidentally eating it, not tortoises. I plan to clear out a small section of the backyard to be mulch-free and build him a nice borrow like the one he's got now (he self hibernates), but he likes to roam a lot in the summer so he's probably going to be meandering through a lot of mulch as he explores the rest of the yard. I would feel cruel fencing him off in a small mulchless area. He would have a lot more space at my house than my mother's, lots of shade, and safety from animals and visiting grandchildren. I would feed him on the concrete so no mulch gets accidentally mixed in with his food. But my question is... is that enough?

I've already applied for a permit, but whether I actually take him depends on this. I'd really love to have him, but not if it's going to be dangerous for him.

TL;DR: I know rubber mulch is unideal, but is it a dealbreaker if I already have it?

 

[Tom]

I would not house a tortoise on it. Yes. It would be a deal breaker for me.

Why can't you remove it or replace it?

 

[Tziva]

I would not house a tortoise on it. Yes. It would be a deal breaker for me.
Why can't you remove it or replace it?

The short of is that we literally just spent a lot of money putting it in only a few months ago (about 4k lbs of it). We chose it because we do a lot of martial arts including heavy sparring, and it's very good for falls. Aside from the fact it would be a ton of wasted money to get rid of it, because it is rubber I am pretty sure we'd also have to pay to have it hauled off (which we can't afford, having just redone the backyard). But we'd also lose our practice space which is irreplaceable with other options. We might have looked at other options had we known she'd ask me to take the tortoise, but it's really too late now.

If I can't make it workable without removing the mulch, I'll have to just leave him at my mother's. Removing the mulch is not an option, but neither is endangering him.

 

[Tom]

I would leave the tortoise at your mothers house in this case.

 

[leigti]

That's really too bad, like you said she should've asked you a few months earlier. If you can't clear him a big enough space then keeping him at your mothers house would be safer. I'm sure he would end up swallowing it and it may not pass through very easily been rubber. And you certainly don't want to lose him like that.

 

[dmmj]

I would prob. consider it a dealbreaker, I mean you have to weigh the risk, he could live his entire life back there and not have any problems, he could be back there a week ingest it and get blocked ( resulting in exspensive surgery)

 

[Tziva]

Thanks guys. Not the answer I'd hoped for, but I appreciate the advice.

 

[Judy@SYR]

Could you build an outdoor enclosure with a bottom that sits ON TOP of the rubber mulch? Something that fits into a corner or side of the yard, with high walls that you can fill with soil and plant with grass, weeds, and other goodies? If you can get the soil deep enough in the "box" then the tortoise can even dig its own burrows, which I believe desert tortoises love to do.

 

[Tziva]

Could you build an outdoor enclosure with a bottom that sits ON TOP of the rubber mulch? Something that fits into a corner or side of the yard, with high walls that you can fill with soil and plant with grass, weeds, and other goodies? If you can get the soil deep enough in the "box" then the tortoise can even dig its own burrows, which I believe desert tortoises love to do.

Well, I was going to do similar and clear out a small section of the yard to be mulch-free with a nice borrow for him, but I wasn't planning on making it an enclosure because it seemed to result in a cruelly small space. I mean, the area I could do it is about 6' x 10' (he's about 14" long for ratio) verses the 8k sq feet he'd have if he could safely wander the whole backyard.



I was hoping mulch was safe enough to allow him unrestricted access to it, but his borrow area would definitely be mulch-free regardless.

It's definitely another option, but I kinda feel like he'd be better off where he is if the option for my house is locking him in a small space. Right now the yard he lives in is about half the size of mine and all concrete aside from his little garden and borrow, but at least it's not dangerous to him.