Reptile & Amphibian Forums

so i baked a batch of cypress mulch for junior's new enclosure... and he promptly went to eat it. i realize that it's his way of testing his environment, but he just kept going for it... several times today either my boyfriend or myself would be playing tug-of-war trying to keep him from swallowing down a long piece he'd gotten in position in his mouth.

it's also rather jagged stuff! i'm so worried that if he doesn't give himself an impaction or other internal injust by eating it, he's gonna poke his eye or other soft bits on it.

i know that to some people, i sound crazy or paranoid, but i'm just getting such a bad vibe of this stuff with him. i really don't want to put $30 worth of bed-a-beast in the thing, though (i will if it comes down to it, but i'd really rather not!).

here's another idea i have -- that organic soil. do you have to sterilize it like you do mulch? and what if i put some sod on top of it; he seems to like being on grass, so maybe that would be okay.

ideas?

nm

Fortuantely I have never found my tortoises eating the cypress mulch, but if yours does, then it is not the way to go. Your fear of impaction or injury is very justified.
Many people seem to use some kind of soil mix. From what I know you should mix it with some playpit sand though (maybe about 2:1), so it gets a bit loosened up. Also,- make sure, that it doesn't have any perlite or vermiculite mixed in, which could be eaten too (many tortoises go for white stuff).
I would personally bake the mix you use, for the same reasons as baking any other substrates.

The rabbit pellets don't seem to be recommended anymore (at least by the Tortoisetrust), especially for a tortoise, that needs higher humidity levels. You can't keep the pellets moist, as they will get moldy quickly, and you certainly don't want a completely dry environment for a redfoot. Even tortoises that need a very dry environment seem to get dehydrated on rabbit pellets (from what I read).

Good luck,
Gaby

Hi,

I use top soil that I got from wal-mart. It has dirt with no fertilizer and sand mixed in it. I love it and so does my 3 russians

Sand works well. They wont try to eat that. Also you can check out some reptile supply dealers to see if you can find bed a beast cheaper. I only pay 5 dollars a brick for mine.
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TurtsandTorts Discussion Group
2 Russians (Harley and Marley)
2 RES (Sunny and Fatty)
2 Gerbils (Sydney and Vienna)
1 Cat (Abby)

well, i wound up using exactly 3 bricks of bed-a-beast, so that's not so bad -- i was thinking that it would take more than that. i can find it for $4.99 a brick here; that seems to be the local going rate. maybe next time i'll try mixing in some sand/dirt with it as per y'all's recommendations, and then maybe add more dirt/sand each time til that's all thre is in there. maybe if i make a slow substrate swich he won't freak out and try to eat it all like he did that cypress!

too bad i still can't move him in yet because *now* i have to get a larger ceramic heat emitter... the "medium" sized one i got yesterday to replace his old heat bulb with didn't cut it, and i don't want the lil' fella to catch cold, so back to the store i go...