Substrate for African Sulcata??? HELP!

[JRColeman]

I have a question and hope someone can help...when I got my new hatchling, I was told to put rabbit pellets down as a substrate. I was told to change it to coconut coir. My exotic pet store did not carry that. So, the lady that owns the store said I could use Desert Blend ground English walnut shells. Is this feasible? He is around 3 wks old? Anyone????

 

[Jennica]

I use zoo med eco earth. Compressed coconut fiber. Comes in bricks.

 

[JRColeman]

I use zoo med eco earth. Compressed coconut fiber. Comes in bricks.

So, is this not acceptable substrate?

 

[Jennica]

I am fairly new to this as well. Have had my sully for 2 months. I havent heard of the walnut.

 

[JRColeman]

It is more of a ground sandy blend

 

[Jennica]

Ive read on here not to use sand like substrate because if they eat it it could compact them.

 

[JRColeman]

Fantastic! Not good!

 

[tortoisetime565]

Hey JRColeman and welcome.

I use coco coir also called Eco Earth. You can acquire it at any pet smart or Petco. It comes in bricks and bags of loose substrate. I would avoid the walnut shells due to their sand texture. You can also buy organic dirt from a home store. miracle grow makes a organic dirt it is $8 a bag at Lowes. Its very nice I've used it many times.

You can also use coco chips which is basically bark chucnks. Again. Organic. You should read up on Toms Sulcata posts on the forum! Happy torting!

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

That ground walnut shell is covered with shape edges! Stay away from it! Warning Warning . Take some and rub on the inside part of your elbow. You'll get it then. After think of what would happen to your tortoises innards when it is ingested! Little razor blades.

 

[JRColeman]

That ground walnut shell is covered with shape edges! Stay away from it! Warning Warning . Take some and rub on the inside part of your elbow. You'll get it then. After think of what would happen to your tortoises innards when it is ingested! Little razor blades.

It is gone! And Aamir is happy, I called and spoke to a reptile vet and she told me what to use! Thank you!

 

[Dizisdalife]

It is gone! And Aamir is happy, I called and spoke to a reptile vet and she told me what to use! Thank you!

And what woulld that be? The idea is to have a substrate that holds moisture, resist mold, is easy to clean, and won't harm the tortoise if ingested. Many of us use coconut coir or orchid bark (finely ground), or an organic soil. Having used all three, my preference is the coconut coir.

 

[JRColeman]

And what woulld that be? The idea is to have a substrate that holds moisture, resist mold, is easy to clean, and won't harm the tortoise if ingested. Many of us use coconut coir or orchid bark (finely ground), or an organic soil. Having used all three, my preference is the coconut coir.

I got organic soil

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

For indoor substrate, what I use for everything from sulcata youngins to my pancakes, is a 50/50 by volume mix of organic peat moss,(decomposed sphagnum moss) and organic top soil. The operative is top soil. Stay away from planter soil as they often contain perlite or styrofoam or fertilizer pellets which tortoise find very attractive to eat. With the top soil, don't get one with any manure added. With the water dish and regular soakings, you will have enough added ammonia wastes as it is. I find the benefits of this mix is it being slightly acidic so not molding as well as holding moisture well, works wonders. This mix tends to not mold and packs down very nicely for your tortoise to burrow in. Please all, keep in mind this is what I personally have found to work best for me. I'm not saying it's right, left, conservative or moderate or fundamentalist, it's just what works here at the ranch.

 

[JRColeman]

For indoor substrate, what I use for everything from sulcata youngins to my pancakes, is a 50/50 by volume mix of organic peat moss,(decomposed sphagnum moss) and organic top soil. The operative is top soil. Stay away from planter soil as they often contain perlite or styrofoam or fertilizer pellets which tortoise find very attractive to eat. With the top soil, don't get one with any manure added. With the water dish and regular soakings, you will have enough added ammonia wastes as it is. I find the benefits of this mix is it being slightly acidic so not molding as well as holding moisture well, works wonders. This mix tends to not mold and packs down very nicely for your tortoise to burrow in. Please all, keep in mind this is what I personally have found to work best for me. I'm not saying it's right, left, conservative or moderate or fundamentalist, it's just what works here at the ranch.

I appreciate your insight on this conversation and thank you!

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I prefer using fine grade orchid bark. You mostly can find it at the big box stores or nurseries. It's damned hard to find in the PNW so my sister in California gets it for me. Sand gets into or onto their food and they eat it and become impacted. Walnut shells are too sharp. Rabbit pellets cause splay leg and mold. Plain old top soil without any additives is good. You'll want to strive for an 80% humidity for your baby and the substrate is what determines whether you get there or not. There's 4 things needed to prevent pyramiding and MBD.
1. Strong UVB
2. 80% humidity
3. A good and varied diet consisting of weeds, grasses, grape leafs, mulberry leafs, squash blossoms, Rose of Sharon blooms, dandelions, kale collards etc. Avoid fruit and sugar
4. lots of exercise. In the wild they walk for miles looking for food and we contain them in small containers. Not good. We also have them on slow cook under those hot basking lights so be sure to soak him for 10 to 20 minutes a day.
To me these things are necessary things that have to be done daily. You don't want your
baby to pyramid or get MBD and it's those things that prevent it. Things you do daily. I'll find a link and you can read about closed chambers too. Raising a nice smooth socialized Sulcata is no easy task. It takes a lot of time and can be darned difficult at times...Here's a link that might help you. Please continue to ask questions, it's just not a simple thing to raise a healthy smooth Sulcata baby...

 

[JRColeman]

I prefer using fine grade orchid bark. You mostly can find it at the big box stores or nurseries. It's damned hard to find in the PNW so my sister in California gets it for me. Sand gets into or onto their food and they eat it and become impacted. Walnut shells are too sharp. Rabbit pellets cause splay leg and mold. Plain old top soil without any additives is good. You'll want to strive for an 80% humidity for your baby and the substrate is what determines whether you get there or not. There's 4 things needed to prevent pyramiding and MBD.
1. Strong UVB
2. 80% humidity
3. A good and varied diet consisting of weeds, grasses, grape leafs, mulberry leafs, squash blossoms, Rose of Sharon blooms, dandelions, kale collards etc. Avoid fruit and sugar
4. lots of exercise. In the wild they walk for miles looking for food and we contain them in small containers. Not good. We also have them on slow cook under those hot basking lights so be sure to soak him for 10 to 20 minutes a day.
To me these things are necessary things that have to be done daily. You don't want your
baby to pyramid or get MBD and it's those things that prevent it. Things you do daily. I'll find a link and you can read about closed chambers too. Raising a nice smooth socialized Sulcata is no easy task. It takes a lot of time and can be darned difficult at times...Here's a link that might help you. Please continue to ask questions, it's just not a simple thing to raise a healthy smooth Sulcata baby...

Thank you for your help. Always appreciated!

 

[mike taylor]

When my sulcata was inside I used dirt and coconut fiber . Now I use grass and yard dirt .

 

[DeanS]

Organic soil is fine...for the most part. You still run a slight risk of impaction. What I use...and I've NEVER strayed is 75% coconut bark and 25% coco coir. Boil it up and you have the PERFECT substrate...no mold or bugs! I boil it about every three or four months...but that's not really necessary...just some habits are hard to break! Plus, it keeps the humidity up...which is extremely important for sulcatas. Good luck!

 

[Tom]

Pet stores are full of misinformation. Sounds like you found a particularly bad one. Here is a bunch of sulcata info for you. Please read these threads as they will correct the other bad info that you were probably given too. There is a whole section on substrate in the first one.

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

 

[Camryn]

I use Cocoa chip bedding. Sulcatas like to burrow, so I personally think the more bedding the better