Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What does everyone perfer, top soil, hay, orchid bark, newspaper, rabbit pellets, help me out, I have them on paper towells for cleanlyness right now but I am wondering if ther isnt a better option...
-Ian

Oh yeah, what about for large leapords any different?

Redfoots, especially young ones, should be kept humid (70% if possible). This is why a moisture retaining substrate is appropriate. I use an about 2" layer of fir bark or cypress mulch (both from Exo Terra I believe) covered with a 1-3" layer of spaghnum moss. The moss hold moisture like a sponge and can be kept that way by misting it regularly by hand or with a misting system.
At minimum a humid hide (half flowerpot or upside down margarine container with a door cut out, filled with moist spaghnum moss) should be supplied at all times.
I don't keep leopards,- so maybe someone else can take care of this part of the question, but from what I know they should be kept on a dry substrate, but still supplied with a humid hide as long as they are young.

Hope that helps,
Gaby

B.t.w. Why do you keep calling your leopard tortoise 'leapord'?

-Ian

i'm not an indoor advocate but if it is that what you have, here are something to consider:

_watchout for them rabbit pellets (got too much bad rep lately!) or hay they need to be replace on a regular basis.
_orchid bark, cypress mulch can retain high humidity which might be best for a WARM hide box.
_top soil is ok in general for walking/basking, you can also try eucalyptus mulch for this same purpose.
_newspaper is quite good for their diner table, what you can do is build a "food" tray to house the exact size of your newspaper (half page/full page/quarter page...your choice of space in ratio to the enclosure), then make another frame to fit within that tray to sort of "clamp" a small stack of daily news which serve as "table napkins" so that their aftermeal clean up should be a cinc...

those are just the few pointers, the idea is to be creative, to experiment a little and let your bambino show you what's his prefs are ...spoiled brat you may say

Thanks, the leo only stays inside durring the winter so this is sortof a temporary thing. Ive had this tort for 10 years so I have done the winter inside thing a few times before, I just always like to get other opinions. The redfoots are new however so I am just getting their setup just right. Man it gets alot easier once all this stuff is setup!
-Ian

...sure it's easier said than done but the fun thing is getting there...once you hit homerun...things become boring

-Ian