Hi,

I would never say that there is only one way to raise a tortoise! I just said I didn't think newspaper was "ideal", that I thought it was "OK", but there are better substrates that allow russians to follow their natural instincts to dig tunnels. Russians naturally burrow more than many other med species, as their natural climate is harsh, and they need to escape the excessive heat in the summer and the harsh cold winters. But they also really enjoy burrowing. The added advantage of a substrate that they can dig into is that they can thermoregulate better. You will certainly not kill any russian by keeping it on newspaper, and I'm sure you can breed and raise healthy tortoises too (but you are denying them one of their life's little pleasures .

Nina

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