Star environment

[honu]

I have been reading everything I can get my eyes on and can't find one solid recommendation on bedding for a new baby Sri Lankan. She was born in January and I want to provide her with the best indoor enclosure. All the articles agree that an indoor enclosure is best for the first couple of years and regular supervised outings to the backyard with supervision to get the necessary sunlight. What all the articles can't agree on is the substrate for indoors. A lot of people say to use cypress. I use this in her enclosure and seems to work well. Other articles say potting soil mixed with sand and some others say plain newspaper. Everyone agrees on a humid hide, but the correct humid hide eludes me. I have a manufactured cave like hide with moist spahgnum moss and some light mistings in general surroundings. Some people say peat moss with plastic tub upside down.

I am a little OCD on keeping my animals in the proper environment. Can anyone shed some light on this bedding thing?

 

[Jacqui]

I have been reading everything I can get my eyes on and can't find one solid recommendation on bedding for a new baby Sri Lankan. She was born in January and I want to provide her with the best indoor enclosure. All the articles agree that an indoor enclosure is best for the first couple of years and regular supervised outings to the backyard with supervision to get the necessary sunlight. What all the articles can't agree on is the substrate for indoors. A lot of people say to use cypress. I use this in her enclosure and seems to work well. Other articles say potting soil mixed with sand and some others say plain newspaper. Everyone agrees on a humid hide, but the correct humid hide eludes me. I have a manufactured cave like hide with moist spahgnum moss and some light mistings in general surroundings. Some people say peat moss with plastic tub upside down.

I am a little OCD on keeping my animals in the proper environment. Can anyone shed some light on this bedding thing?

I hate to be the one to say this, but one thing you will learn with tortoise keeping is: no two people usually do it the same way. To make it worse, in some cases what works for person A does not seem to work for person B.

A lot of it is just personal preference or what is the easiest to find in your area. Then a big helping of trial and error too I think. I know my Star breeder told me to use paper towels to start with. Then I went to an enclosure partially coir/sand and part cypress.

Because at first I was using the paper towels, I tried the hide with a damp sponge attached to the inside of the roof. Currently I have them able to use a hide with the damp long strand sphagnum moss along with a drier hide choice.

Sounds like the cypress is working for you and that your happy with it. There is nothing wrong with that.

 

[SILVERSTAR]

i realy like paper towels...not cheap ones i actually buy the good thick ones and if it needs to to ripped up to provide a nesting area then rip up a bunch,i swear i usepaper towel and for the past few months now that hes older than a year i get weeds for him to hide in, i jus rip up a bunch of outside weeds and hes loves to hide inside them.

 

[Neal]

I think cypress is pretty good. I personally like peat moss and coco coir.

As far as the humid hides, there definatley isn't a correct type. The manufactured cave sounds like it should do the trick. I use an upside down plastic shoe box with a hole cut in the side.

 

[Kristina]

I use plain potting soil with plants planted right in it and covered with a layer of damp sphagnum moss. It is working well for me, my baby is growing very well, and smooth.

For a hide I have a terra cotta flower pot in its side and partially buried and stuffed with damp sphagnum.