Do I need soil?
 

I was given straw bedding for my Tortoise when i bought it. It's the tightly compound stuff. I am spread that across the whole of his area. Added a few rocks etc to climb on, and a hide.

Some of the pictures I am seeing online for pet shops and some other owners have half of the area covered in the same bedding I do, and the other half covered in soil. Is this necessary? Or is this just a personal preference thing?
Obviously if it's just a choice issue then I'm happy leaving the lil guy with his straw stuff, but if he NEEDS the other then I'll get it sorted straight away!

Thanks for your help! I'm learning bit by bit along the way. Hopefully get there soon :-D

I would ditch the straw completely!
Replace it with soil, coco coir or a mix of the two

I agree with Merlin, ditch the straw, if it were to get mouldy in anyway its dangerous for your tortoise.

Where do I get the soil from? Is normal soil ok, like straight out the garden?
Or do I need a specific kind? I got the straw included with the whole set up for the tortoise, it is specifically for tortoises? Why do they sell that if it's not good for them?

Thanks again

This is the stuff I have, sorry it's not straw. Is this ok for him?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Herbifloor...item20c4fcb9c4

I have only that right now though, no soil at all

I would go to a garden centre and buy sterilised top soil, I get mine from Wicks.
Coco coir you can get from pet shops, comes in bricks you need to soak, can also get it from Ikea, forgets its Ikea name though...

When my tortoises are outside, they have the garden soil:0)
So as long as you don't use chemicals in your soil its fine:0)

I've just been to the pet shop and bought a big bag of Tortoise Life, they said ideally to do half and half, just to keep the soil on the cold side. So I'm gonna give that a try. Arms are killing now. That bag is heavy! And just walked a mile with it LOL.

Thanks for your help everyone! :-D

Just remember pet shops want to sell stuff and sometimes it's not necessary. I think people have found that tortoise life substrate can be very dry and dusty, a big bag of top soil from a garden centre is better value and makes a better substrate ( holds the moisture better ) but see how you get on with it .

all soil based beddings need regular spraying and watering and tortoise life is no worse than the others, the benefits are that it is consistantly good and ready to use. Most topsoil, although cheaper, is often to wet to use imediately and needs checking for foreign objects but they ALL need watering and spraying at least once a day I always used tortoise life and never had any problems, if you can't be bothered to water then no soil based substrate will suit.