Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey I just got my hatchling western hermanns today, in its enclosure (54 gallon rubbermaid) i have a 50 lb bag of play sand and one brick of bed-a-beast. The sand is getting stuck to her and I am worried about her eating it or getting in her eyes. Should I not worry about it, or should I change to something else? I picked up a bag of timothy hay for her to eat, and heard about using that as a bedding, but it seems so dry and stiff. If I was to use that should I "grind" it up in my hands before putting it in?
Any suggestions would be appreciated
Thanks
Kirby

I'm guessing that the sand/coconut fiber is still damp and that is why it sticks to the tortoise.

If that is so, then just place the hatchling into another tub (it doesn't have to be very large, it's only a hatchling) with newspaper substrate for a couple days until the substrate dries out. Soak the tort a little bit each day to compensate for the extremely dry bedding.

It might help to stir the substrate up every few hours so it drys out more thoroughly. Maybe place the tub in the sun if you are in a warm and sunny area to accelerate the drying.

Of course you don't want the substrate to be bone dry. I kept my hatchling russians on a soil/sand mix, and would slightly moisten the soil under the hidebox. Maybe a spritz of water every day or two.

Hope this helps.

Actually, I have had the enclosure set up for about a week now, I wanted to make sure that all of the temps would be correct once we got her. So the bedding is completely dry. It was sticking to her after I soaked her, I know right now you are thinking "duh", but, when she goes into her water its going to happen again. Im really more worried about her getting it into her eyes, or it getting in the water and her drinking it, or just plain eating it (which I havent seen her do).
Also, does anyone know where to get hibiscus plants, (the actual plant and not just seeds)
Thanks Again
Kirby

I keep my 6 month old western hermanns (Eli) on timothy hay. I also keep a humid hide in his cage with moss in it which I mist daily. He doesn't seem to have a problem with the hay. Before he turned 6 months old I kept him on paper towel.

For my russians I use a sand and bed a beast mixture, but I use a 1:1 ratio at most for the sand...more like 2:1 dirt/sand. However, it still sticks to them after I've given baths...after a few minutes under their lights it seems to fall off and there is no problem. I have more dirt than sand for a couple reasons: I think it's "safer" to eat, altho a little of both is ok and should pass through, It stays moister with more dirt, and the bed a beast has bigger fibers so less get in their eyes or noses. Since tortoises are natural diggers, I think they're used to getting stuff in their eyes though, and should be able to get it out
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1.1 Mali Uromastyx (Draco and Pumpkin)
0.1 Indian Uromastyx (Cheddar)
3.0.2 Russian Tortoise (Pookie, Ludo, Clover, Kiwi, Nemo)
2.1.10 Millipedes (4 different species)

Thanks a lot for the replies, I am going to keep the sand/bed-a-beast mix. She doesn't seem to like getting in the water by herself so I am going to soak her out of the enclosure (how often is good to do this?) then let her dry and put her back in. Im sure that as she gets bigger she will not have a problem with it. I also put some Timothy hay on one side of the enclosure (not under the heat lamp) and she like to sleep under the hay.
Thanks Again
Kirby

Hey there...
you can get Hibiscus at any nursery and probably Home Depot etc.

I have been chatting with plant people all over the place and today someone pointed out something that I'm not sure is good - everyone will be using chemical pest control / growth stuff for the plants. Even organic can be not good.... I guess there is something not good in everything and I'm way overly sensitive about my baby tortoise because before we knew ALL that went into caring for turtles, we lost 2 baby RES and I'm watching my babies like a HAWK now!!