What Substrate do You Use?

[LilyLoo]

I used to spray mine everyday too, think I will try just soil next and see how that goes.

[70ridgeway]

i use a 30%playsand 70%top soil which i spray every day i do rotate plants when 1 seems a bit wilted exchange it with another and then send them down me moms and she revives them as im crap at garden.

[terrypin]

Originally Posted by Laraine

I have used topsoil in trays in the table and hemp in the bedding area, but I am now thinking of putting the Graze-on in the bedding area and just changing it more often, as its harder to see when they have done their wees in it, poops will still be easy to spot!

hi Laraine its strange you mention graze-on as i have put both types of my med hatchlings on 3 "of graze-on with a thin layer of hemp over the top uunder the basking light they have a large piece of welsh slate and they burrow underneath it to sleep,. then in the morning when i turn on the lights and the slate starts to warm up they all appear looking for food ,they must feel the heat on their backs if you lift the slate its almost like an ant tunnel but with tortoises in it.i think i will try this with my little leopards to see if they do the same as they only have hemp they just nestle down at night, next to the slate normally.

terry

[Eire_Ade]

Hi Larraine,

I use 70% topsoil / 30% playsand in heavy duty seed trays, I put pebbles and stones on top of some of the soil / sand mix to add a bit of interest and make the terrain a bit rugged to keep nails down.

I have 1 tray with hemp / aubiose in it where they go to sleep.

Unknowingly what has devloped today I have done a major clean today, scrubbing everything in F10 and giving them a total clean out I am in 2 minds now whether to throw out the last of my hemp or just wait until the next clean.

Ade

[Laraine]

hi Laraine its strange you mention graze-on as i have put both types of my med hatchlings on 3 "of graze-on with a thin layer of hemp over the top uunder the basking light they have a large piece of welsh slate and they burrow underneath it to sleep,. then in the morning when i turn on the lights and the slate starts to warm up they all appear looking for food ,they must feel the heat on their backs if you lift the slate its almost like an ant tunnel but with tortoises in it.i think i will try this with my little leopards to see if they do the same as they only have hemp they just nestle down at night, next to the slate normally
terry[/quote]

Sounds nice and cosy, so thats decided it for me, if its working for you terry, then my guys will get the same as yours.

i use top soil and sand mix also and i to find it very messy, gets on all the food, in the water everywhere, and in the past i have used wood chippings, but after some bad feedback about the chippings i stopped using them, though they were much easier to manage than the soil/sand.

On taking shelly to the vet i asked her what would be the best substrate to use and she said just plain newspaper or that fake grass stuff, but i cant imagine that being very comfortable or appropriate for a tortoise could it?!

[Eire_Ade]

Hi Laura,

Thats why I also put pebbles and decorative stone in the table too, this helps stop the soil being dragged into the water dish, and I also feed on a large slate and upside down tile, to reduce the food getting covered in soil.

Ade

thanx ade, might try that then as shellys food is in a large ceramic dish and hes always dragging his food off it, but if its a large piece of slate it will stay on there and not get covered, lol!

[Connor and Bob]

Hey there.
In my indoors tort table i have the soil/play sand mix in about half of it. I have a little hide there, and the basking lamp on some tiles. Sometimes the tortoise sleeps in the hide and digs a bit there.
And then in the other half i have bark, On here i have another little hide and some pebbles for it to climb on, and this is also where i keep the food and water.
I'm a new owner though, and so far i haven't seen the bark mentioned, atleast not for indoor enclosures, I own a hermanns tortoise and i understand that when the bark gets wet, it stays quite wet for a while and that makes it unsuitable for Meds. I didn't really see this as an issue as, well we're indoors and it's not going to get wet. The tortoise seems to prefer sleeping there over the play sand anyway.
But like i said, i'm a new owner, i did have some hemp, but i began to read all these stories about it so i went to the pet shop, had a look at their substrates and they said the bark should be fine, and i see no reason why it shouldnt be. So please if i'm wrong, point it out to me

[Laraine]

For my Redfoot hatchlings I have Topsoil about 3" deep this is topped of with about 2" Reptibark