The best substrate. +pics

[carapace]

hi guys im new to this forum and it seems to be great! real good info here and everyone seems to be helpful and friendly.

i would like to ask what type of substrate would be best for :

1. Sulcata
2. Indianstar

i currently use sand l for my sulcata and i use eco earth (coco peat) mixed with sand 50 50 for my indian star.

thanks in advance. cheers~

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Welcome to the forum...Your Sulcata is already starting to pyramid so you need to change your husbandry with him. He needs a better substrate. Eco earth and sand mixed 50/50 and kept moist is better than straight sand. I use fine grade orchid bark...You need to be able to keep his substrate moist to keep the humidity up. To stop his pyramiding you need more humidity, correct food, lots of exercise and good UVB light. What are you feeding him? How long is his UVB light on? What kind of UVB bulb are you using?
Those are some important questions. But I think it is very important that you change his substrate right away so his pyramiding doesn't get any worse...

 

[krissy2288]

Thats a really dark colored sulcata, make sure you keep your uva/uvb bulb on 12 hours a day.

 

[carapace]

thx for the info maggie. i currently dont use any uvb bulb at all.. but i usually soak the torts for about 1 hour in the sun every morning. im thinking of getting an arcadia 18w flourescent lamp (5%uvb) . do you have any uvb lamps which you can recommend to me.? i feed them elephant grass and some hibiscus flowers and i give them powdered calcium too.

 

[migi]

thx for the info maggie. i currently dont use any uvb bulb at all.. but i usually soak the torts for about 1 hour in the sun every morning. im thinking of getting an arcadia 18w flourescent lamp (5%uvb) . do you have any uvb lamps which you can recommend to me.? i feed them elephant grass and some hibiscus flowers and i give them powdered calcium too.

hi...
the best brand for uvb light is reptisun5.0

 

[Maggie Cummings]

thx for the info maggie. i currently dont use any uvb bulb at all.. but i usually soak the torts for about 1 hour in the sun every morning. im thinking of getting an arcadia 18w flourescent lamp (5%uvb) . do you have any uvb lamps which you can recommend to me.? i feed them elephant grass and some hibiscus flowers and i give them powdered calcium too.

hi...
the best brand for uvb light is reptisun5.0

I disagree with the Repitsun 5. They have shown that the 5. compact bulb has caused eye damage in tortoises. I had a partly blind Sulcata and he kept getting these horrible flare-ups with his eyes. They would get tumor looking things covering his eyeballs every couple of months. During the last flare up the Vet asked me what kind of lighting he was under and when I told her the 5.0 she had me get rid of that and just put in a regular incandescent bulb and he has not had any flare ups since then. I know Yvonne has the link to the article on those bulbs, she'll read this and post the link I'm sure. The flourscent tubes are alright, but not the compact bulb. I personally recommend Trex bulbs or Mega ray. I use Trex in most of my habitats...