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Old 12-07-2012, 04:06 PM   #1
jack123
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Post Play sand

Hi guys new to this website so Bare with me!!

I have to Hermanns, i am currentley re-doing there encloser i am having a large part of it grass, I was going to do the other half sand,soil mix. However what i want to know is it i can just use the play sand and no soil, as i have used this in the past the soil is allways getting in there water and food and as there are only babys i have found they then wont drink the soily water or have the food.

Thanks Jack
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Old 12-07-2012, 04:10 PM   #2
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Welcome.

I wouldn't use just sand. In fact I wouldn't bother mixing sand and soil. Soil would be best. Can you not put the water dish on the grass or even put it on a paving slab?
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Old 12-07-2012, 04:21 PM   #3
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Oh Okay do you use soil all over?
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Old 12-07-2012, 05:14 PM   #4
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I have only topsoil in the outside enclosures. Some people have said that the sand has irritated their torts eyes before, so I'm not sure if sand alone would be suitable. I always put the food dish on a tile and a ring of little stones/pebbles around the water dish to try and wipe off the worst of the soil on their feet.
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Old 12-07-2012, 11:01 PM   #5
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oh okay is there any other ideas apart from aspen?
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Old 13-07-2012, 09:27 AM   #6
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my sully has some nice soft hay in her sleeping house but hay mustn't be allowed to get wet as it goes mouldy very quickly so any old/soiled etc must be removed. Because I have a sully she will eat her hay but most of the other species don't bother, you also need to use good hay which isn't dusty, the other choice is a product called readi grass its freeze dried chopped grass used as a horse feed. The cheapest way of buying it is from a horse feed shop but it does come in a large bale, about £8, however it will keep for months in a dry place away from direct sunlight and can also be used as bedding for rabbits etc, small amounts can be brought on line and from the sw shop but its a more costly way of buying. Again readi grass can be sold under different names just make sure it doesn't contain anything else and is just freeze dried grass.
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Old 13-07-2012, 10:03 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jack123 View Post
Oh Okay do you use soil all over?
Think about what they live on in the wild and try to replicate that as much as possible , they don't live on sand or just soil, they will encounter a variety of substrates, so try to make it varied, e.g some garden soil , some planted areas with mediterranean type plants, they love to hide under woody shrubs like lavender , and plants and weeds they can eat,a paved area for basking , I have just added a rockery and they love it, in the spring they might find some grassy areas , so give the some grass, mine like a bit of grass may be with some clover growing in it. And some hiding places. These are just a few ideas, I hope it helps.
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Old 13-07-2012, 10:08 AM   #8
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I have a baby hermann and a 14 year old hermann. The baby is in a large indoor rabbit cage outside and I just use sterilized topsoil. I put slate chips round her water dish inside and out it helps keep the dirt out a bit. My older tort has a large enclosure in the garden he has a large area with different types of stone (he seems to favor this area for basking) and the rest is just topsoil. I have the topsoil quite deep and they can both dig down if they want to. I used to mix topsoil and sand but it irritated his eyes and when I stopped using sand the eye rubbing stopped.
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Old 13-07-2012, 10:19 AM   #9
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Have you tried a paved area too as I have done with my enclosure! The eating area can then be on the hard area and also as it gets warm in the sun my tortoise prefers it to the grass. Grass is great for allowing clover, vetch etc to grow in for them to eat. You can see mine on my profileif you wish.
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