Reptile & Amphibian Forums

First of all, let me thank all of you guys for helping out this tortoise newbie. I am very much getting into this and enjoying taking care of this guy. I already have plans to build him an outdoor pen in the works (he is now only 3 inches). Anyway my question is this...I had him on a substrate of 1:1 sterile sand/organic soil, over which I placed a 2" layer of cypress mulch today. A few minutes ago, I noticed him munching on some of the smaller pieces of cypress, should i be concerned about this?

Thanks,
Chris

I wouldn't worry too much about it if he is only eating a tiny amount of the mulch. It may be more tasting it out of curiosity than actual consumption. If he is actually eating it any any significant amount at all, you need to remove it. Personally, I would just stick with the sand/soil mixture and forego the mulch or use plain dirt. In my experience, regular dirt from your backyard is the best medium to use with tortoises if at all possible. It is fine enough that it won't become impacted in their stomachs like sand, potting soil, mulch or any of the comercial products sometimes do.