Substrate for Box Turtle

[NCG6CHIC]

Could this Organic Potting soil be used as a Substrate for a young Box Turtle?

 

[coloto]

For sure, You can use it and add at the top some sphangum.

 

[Tom]

I would never use bought-in-a-bag soil as substrate for any living animal. There are usually lots of additives and fertilizers, some of which are dangerous. Even without the additives, there is no way to know what composted yard waste the stuff is made of. It could be made from oleander clippings, or pesticidal treated lawn clippings. Have you noticed the aisle of lawn chemical at every hardware store? No thank you.

Plain coco coir works great for babies, and fine grade orchid bark works well for adults. I've tried a lot of substrates over a lot of years under a lot of different species to reach these conclusions.

 

[Yvonne G]

For my baby box turtles I dig up dirt from the box turtle yard. I've had that yard for over 20 years so I know there's no pesticides, herbicides or other bad things in it that might harm the baby box turtles. Box turtles like to bury themselves. While I absolutely LOVE small grade orchid bark, it's hard for tiny, light weight baby box turtles to dig in, so I use dirt from the yard.

 

[coloto]

According to my experience, I've never had a problem using this kind of soil, but maybe the legislation is different in the U.S and the labels are not as descriptive as they should be. I currently use it for my greek/mediterranean baby tortoises, and no worries.

 

[NCG6CHIC]

Thanks everyone!