100% Sand?

[Alan1]

yes the topsoil is okay when first put in, larger particles but it gets pulverised by them walking on it and ends up more like powder so when you water it it's never getting back to what it was to begin with.
Importing substrate from abroad is the only option.. except do I import it from the Croatian coastal region, the hills of France or what
Some of the variations:

In the Mediterranean, European tortoises are exclusive to regions with calciferous soils and those offering favourable climatic conditions. Varying with the species and subspecies, this typically applies to lower altitudes near the sea with sandy soils, but also valleys that stretch farther inland. The latter are often marked by sandy, rocky, calciferous soils or deposits of calcium that has been washed down from the mountains. The tortoises furthermore live in adjacent hill chains up to high plateaus and mountainous regions. Even though their natural habitats are therefore rather variable in general appearance, they have in fact some features in common:

They are principally areas with a bedrock of limestone, often with a thin layer of topsoil, very rocky, poor soils that store heat well and are fully sun-exposed due to their being south-facing.

The composition of the soil depends heavily on the exact locality. While pure sands, sandy rock surfaces, or rocky sandy soils predominate near the coast or along rivers, sandy arable lands are often found more inland. The ground is always rich in calcium, poor in nutrients, and water permeable, though.

[Alan1]

Originally Posted by Levi

Fair enough, I though it might have had something to do with that small section of the Horsfields TT article you quoted, but obviously not.

Just for the record my tort has a small section of sand, but it's only a very thin layer that warms up quickly when the sun comes out, it is covered so always very dry indeed. My ibera seems to like it.

No, I genuinely wanted to know and to see what people's results had been. People keep torts in all kinds of substrates and containers and there are loads of different sands. I'd bet there are people who do use sand just as there are people who use newspaper, carpet, compost, peat, gravel, woodchips etc

[Alan1]

.. and the reference to the TT snippet (This is a species that requires a very dry, well-drained substrate indeed TT) was merely to point out that Horsfields require a dry substrate. People may think ah.. what then could be drier and and more well draining than sand, I'll use that
only not all sands are the same, some are far more well draining than others and some are calcium even

[CherryBrandy]

Late to the party ! I use shingle for my Horsfields. No sand no soil just shingle - lots of drainage, no soggy mess, deep enough to bury themselves, bums in air sometimes, shingle mounds, shingle valleys, shells not affected and warm to the touch mostly. My spur hogs his vet bedding and will always go to that, under or on top despite warmth elsewhere - weird sort of comfort blanket maybe.

[Levi]

Originally Posted by Alan1

.. and the reference to the TT snippet (This is a species that requires a very dry, well-drained substrate indeed TT) was merely to point out that Horsfields require a dry substrate. People may think ah.. what then could be drier and and more well draining than sand, I'll use that

Well they wouldn't think that if they actually read the TT article

It's a very good job we have the TT to get info from then isn't it Alan.

[Pussygalore]

when we had our first torts, hatchling hermans, they had a small garden with a hutch, the hutch had a spot bulb for heat and I had plain sand under the light, it was fairly compacted down. I used it as it was non flamable, the torts had no trouble with it, it is a safe substrate to use under the heat source, to be honest it wasn't dusty like soil is when that goes dry. We also had a sandy based floor in the big greenhouse along with stones, soil, plants growing etc and again no problems, it looked very natural but again was compacted down, the sand was already there it had a natural not concrete floor I just added the other things.

[Catwoman63]

Originally Posted by Pussygalore

when we had our first torts, hatchling hermans, they had a small garden with a hutch, the hutch had a spot bulb for heat and I had plain sand under the light, it was fairly compacted down. I used it as it was non flamable, the torts had no trouble with it, it is a safe substrate to use under the heat source, to be honest it wasn't dusty like soil is when that goes dry. We also had a sandy based floor in the big greenhouse along with stones, soil, plants growing etc and again no problems, it looked very natural but again was compacted down, the sand was already there it had a natural not concrete floor I just added the other things.

I have a sandy area in the garden the horsfields like basking on, it is also compacted down with bits of gravel, stones etc, they like this are to bask on, plus it's quite high so they climb onto it x

[Levi]

It looks like a few of us have sandy areas, nothing wrong with a variety of different substrates and sand isn't a problem, but I can't see why anybody would want to use Sand as a substrate and nothing else.

Saying that there was a keeper with Egyptians on here and it looked like they were inside and possibly on 100% sand !

[Pussygalore]

I wouldn't use it indoors as it would be to dry but outside isn't a problem, it can make a nice area for them to sit on and usually dries quicker than the soil.