Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I want to plant some trays with various grasses and plants (I even have some dandelion seed) for my russian hatchling enclosure.

Whats the proper soil to use?
Is there a certain brand you guys can reccomend for a hachling?
What addatives should I avoid? Perlite (not even sure what that is)? I'm pretty sure I've read to avoid any fertilizers.

Any help folks?

I've been looking around on Turtle Cafe and I was thinking of getting one of the seed mixes.

Is there a mix someone suggests?
http://turtlecafe.com/products.pl?CatID=3

I was planning on just buying some of the "grassland graze mix" but then I read the info on the "salad mix" and it says its excellent for russians. Aren't russians a little more grass oriented than lettuces and such?

Nicodemus,

My belief is that one should avoid mixes that contain perlite, vermiculite, slow-release fertilizers, etc. Perlite is that white ball-shaped (pea sized and smaller) stuff that crumbles when pinched. Tortoises are naturally inclined to eat white stuff, maybe they assume it's calcium? Vermiculite is that off-white, layered stuff, similiar to perlite, except it compresses when pinched. Both add drainage to mixes. Also avoid mixes that contain those slow release (round) fertilizers, e.g. osmocote, and definitely anything with insecticides. Essentially, you need to avoid anything that could be ingested and cause compaction. Many keepers recommend against using anything but "reptile safe" barks, etc.

Most potting mixes are made from peat moss and therefore I use a combination of sifted peat moss (remove sticks, etc), washed play sand, and a heafty dose of limestone (calcium carbonate). The limestone increases the pH of the mix (peat is acidic) and the calcium is also absorbed by the plants, which then get eaten, etc. This mix is basically sterile (unlike compost-based ones), can hold moisture (great for redfoots), high in calcium, and best of all *cheap*. If planted, you will have to water it occasionally with a fertilizer solution, just be sure your tortoise doesn't drink any. I've raised a Herman's tortoise on this mix for two years now without any problems. He enjoys digging around in it two.

The only drawback for me is that the peatmoss can be dusty when dry. The sand reduces this, and I typically will wet the mix before scooping it out to keep the dust down.

Hope that helps,
Jeff

are there any brands of soils that don't have any of that stuff?

The mix you make sounds a bit too dry. I once used the playsand/coconut fiber mixture on an older russian and I hated it. It was just way too dry. I wanted something more solid. I suppose I could have wet it a bit more, but wouldn't that be a problem for russians (being an arid species)?

I think Supersoil is OK, or at least it used to be. If you can find a place that carries organic potting soil, some of that is OK, but some of it has perlite-like pieces in it (some kind of crushed volcanic substance, can't remember what they call it). You have to do some careful label reading.
-----
Sohni
Northern California

0.1 Baja de L.A. Rosy Boa
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.1 Rubber Boas
1.0 Leopard Gecko
0.0.2 Hermann's Tortoises
plus my kids' herps:
0.0.1 California King Snake
1.0 Mexican Rosy Boa
0.1 Leopard Gecko

The addative volcanic stone is probably Pumice. It forms lots of gas bubbles as the lava cools...so basically its like a stone "sponge", holding water alot like the other additives...

Nicodemus,

The mix really isn't that bad. If you make the it something like a 10/10/1 (volume sand/peat/limestone) ratio, it will be heavy enough to hold a shape. The thing is, a dry potting soil mix is as dry as a peat-sand mix, i.e. think a pound of feathers vs. a pound of stone.

The problem I have with potting mixes is that they are not 'sterile', etc. I prefer to know and control what my tort's live on.

Jeff

Well, I was planning on having the pan in the cooler side of the enclosure. Plus I'm hoping the plants I decide to grow help keep some of the moisture in. I figure I'll water them a bit as well...being careful to avoid raising humidity too much of course.

Generally you want to stay away from anything called "potting soil". "Garden soil" is sometimes okay but usually the safest producst are labeled "top soil"
Stil you should check for perlite and fertilizers. i use a product called Supersoil (though they have several different mixtiures look for the un fertilized topsoil) and Earthgrow topsoil to a large extent. I do, however, recomend adding some clean playsand as many of these mixtures are quite acidic and high in humus.

BTW where in the world did you get loose dandelion seed? Care to share your source?

Well, I know of one place to buy it online...Turtle cafe. Kinda expensive tho. And the shipping is insane. Also the fact that you HAVE to use paypal or snail mail for hte payment is annoying as all get out.

The seeds I have were actually gathered in the wild. I found a nice field I knew was free of persticides and was pretty much wild growth. I just picked the dandelions when the seeds were just starting to fly away. I put the flowers in a plastic bag and shook it up a bit to get em off.

I've been saving up for a while since I don't yet have a tort and havent for well over a year.

An easy way is to go out and look for old dandys, dig up the root and plant it they come back year after year and youll have a full size plant. I live in MI and it works.

Well i used to be able to go pick them but now i live in Arizona and they are much harder to find than in most of the US at least.
I never noticed them for sale a turtle cafe.

About half way down the "Individual seeds" list...

http://turtlecafe.com/products.pl?CatID=3