Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I had done some reading and saw that some people use bedabeast and sand for sand boxes. My questions is do you mix this all up together or is the bed a beast laying on top of it.

I also saw where some people use sterile top soil and pheat moss mixture.... is this also ok. That iz what I use for my boxie..

I aslo saw the use of yesterdays news or care fresh...

I guess I am just wanting to know what is the best to use.

Thank you,
Lulla and the Unmaded russian....(still thinking of a name)

There are at least two approaches to indoor substrates:

1) Easy to maintain: Newspaper, builder's paper (looks like the material used for grocery bags), aspen, carefresh, indoor/outdoor carpet, etc. The cost ranges from free (newspaper) to kind of costly (carefresh-type substrates). But it's easy to keep the bacteria and odors under control. Flat layered substrates (newspaper, etc.) fail to provide a place to burrow, something which tortoises need. Can be improved by providing a hide box.

2) Natural: Soil, sand, peat moss, coconut fiber. Looks better, gives the tortiose a place to burrow at night, helping it to retain heat and moisture. But it makes it hard to control the accumulation of feces and other wastes, eventually leading to a buildup of bacteria and odors. Requires constant maintenance (look for feces) and must be changed regularly.

If you have only one tortoise, then a natural substrate may be OK. Multiple tortoises in one enclosure can really make a mess. For a russian hatchling I used sand mixed with plain topsoil (no chemicals, etc. About $2-$4 a 40lb bag at Home Depot). If you are using sand with something else, mix them together thoroughly. Using sand alone actually worked better with my hatchling since I could easily distinguish his droppings from the topsoil. Since sand is very dry I would lightly mist the substrate once or twice a day, simulating dew or a gentle rain.

Outta curriosity.....if u were to use something along the lines of care fresh and or yesterdayz news.... how doos it work keeping it moist enough below..i use yesterdays news for my ferrets and once dampend it is not really any good. and few things i have read said that the the ground the russian torts burrow into is around 70% humidity.....is this accurate...

Also thank you very much for the information you provided. I really dont think I will got the care fresh or yesterdays news route.. but I am curious about about the humidty level as far as the burrowing goes.

thnx bunches
Lulla and the still name less tort

Russian tortoises seem to do best when you keep their enclosure dry and you soak them once or twice a week, so don't worry about humidifing their substrate. Check out www.russiantortoise.org and a russian tortoise group at groups.yahoo.com/group/RussianTortoise/join for some real good info.

B

I soak my tortoises, too, when they are indoors.

But the sand in the hatchlings indoor enclosure was completely dry, and I felt that raising the humidity in a way that reflected a natural cycle would do no harm.

And lo and behold, it didn't.

If you have standard central heat and air, the humidity levels can drop drastically low, lower than some deserts. Plus an indoor enclosure will never receive any moisture in the form of dew or rain like an animal outdoors would. I included a small water bowl, but I could tell the tortoise never entered it. My adults have water bowls in there outdoor enclosures, and they rarely touch them. But when it rains lightly, they often stay out in it. Plus this is the midwest, and the humidity levels are often in the 50-80% range (and higher), and the adults (and now the hatchling) have done very well for the 3rd year in a row.
They eat, they grow, they breed and lay eggs.

It helps to read the caresheets, but be careful about going overboard. If it says dry, it probably doesn't mean moon-dust dry.