Substrate and allergies.. what I’m okay with

[Snozzy]

Hi thank you for letting me join the forum.
I have a Russian tortoise who is a year old.
I was using soil and the constant dust made me very unwell with my asthma. I then switched to coco coir. I was allergic to this sneezing and again my asthma was affected. I then tried orchid bark (for bark) and this I was very allergic to.
I have now starting using cypress mulch with a small piece of reptile carpet and his slate at the cool end.
I don’t seem to be reacting to the cypress mulch. Just thought this might help any other keepers with allergies. I know every persons allergies are individual, but it’s been very frustrating for me (and expensive) trying to find something suitable for both me and him!
Xx

 

[Blackdog1714]

Hi thank you for letting me join the forum.
I have a Russian tortoise who is a year old.
I was using soil and the constant dust made me very unwell with my asthma. I then switched to coco coir. I was allergic to this sneezing and again my asthma was affected. I then tried orchid bark (for bark) and this I was very allergic to.
I have now starting using cypress mulch with a small piece of reptile carpet and his slate at the cool end.
I don’t seem to be reacting to the cypress mulch. Just thought this might help any other keepers with allergies. I know every persons allergies are individual, but it’s been very frustrating for me (and expensive) trying to find something suitable for both me and him!
Xx

Make sure to mist daily to keep down the dust and the moisture will be good for your tort. Good luck with the allergies the worst I get is my glasses fogging up when I open my leopards enclosure

 

[Snozzy]

Make sure to mist daily to keep down the dust and the moisture will be good for your tort. Good luck with the allergies the worst I get is my glasses fogging up when I open my leopards enclosure

Thank you! It’s a nightmare honestly, but I love him so have to find a way around it. I found soil no matter how deep was just so dusty!

 

[Blackdog1714]

Thank you! It’s a nightmare honestly, but I love him so have to find a way around it. I found soil no matter how deep was just so dusty!

Soil inside is do good for many reasons, dust is just one of many

 

[Snozzy]

Wow really on loads of fb forums here in the UK they all recommended clean top soil and nothing else. But he didn’t seem happy to me on it. He loved the fir bark but My allergies didn’t. He was most active on the fir bark. But he didn’t move around as much with the top soil or coco coir. He seems to like the Cypress mulch so far. Thanks for your advice it’s much appreciated

 

[Snozzy]

Well after all that it turns out it’s the moss im most allergic to. I’ve now changed the cypress mulch back to the orchid bark ( reptibark ) as I actually preferred that, I didn’t find it as dusty. No moss. He’s only just turned one is there anything else I could put in his humid hide other than moss? Or does he need a hide?