Hello
I have snakes dragons hedgehogs rats...

I am getting my Russian Tortoise next week sometime.
Read every google sheet for 5 pages. watched every youtube video i can find.
But... Does no one follow any of those sheets.
Here is how I planned to set up my lil guys first enclosure, and my second planned one for a few weeks from now when I have a week off work. Then I will say what I find on youtube, and hopefully allow lots of people to nitpick and help me understand whats the proper way.

Hard for me to find any big bin bigger then 36"x20"x16"high.
So this is what I am doing to start.
Get this bin and fill it 5" deep with a coarse childrens playsand 50/50 with a clean soil(thinking about coco coir(but read some bad things)
One side I want to place slate tile over the substrate with a small support under it to stop it from falling 100%, and dig a bit of a burrow for him under that.
other side I would have a MVB 22"high 125W with a temp of 90-95 basking. Hills and rocks for obstacles. Cool end down to low 80's

In 3 weeks when I have time, I am going to take another bin 32x20x16, and cut it down the middle, and screw them together to form a cage 32x32x10. With the same substrate and burrow ideas.

youtube, people just have them on 1" of bark, with no burrow opportunity... sometimes on newspaper... and a hollow log with no sense of security above the substrate...
this is all wrong isnt it, a russian tortoise wants to burrow and dig?

So questions? anything I am wrong about? Am I right that youtubers are idiots?
What is considered the best substrate here?
Thanks

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