Sand/soil or sand/bed-a-beast is fine.

The other stuff you mentioned is probably expensive and unnecessary.

all you need is a layer of something that will allow the tort to dig in (they love to dig) and will help it retain heat and moisture. The substrate must drain well, too.

Calcium sand, bark, whatever is more than is needed.

Russians poop a lot, and you really don't want to have them pooping on some over-priced, pre-packaged substrate. Save yourself some $$ and just do the soil/sand/bed-a-beast stuff.

I'm assuming this is for an indoor setup. If outdoors, there is generally no need for special substrate. I've added a little sand to my outdoor pen because the soil around here is dense clay that drains poorly.

[ Hide Replies ]

• Russian tortoise substrate question - sneihaus, Mon Mar 13 21:24:38 2006
• RE: Russian tortoise substrate question - bradtort, Tue Mar 14 07:30:02 2006
• RE: Russian tortoise substrate question - joeysgreen, Tue Mar 14 12:34:28 2006
• RE: Russian tortoise substrate question - bradtort, Tue Mar 14 13:28:35 2006
• Don't spend lots on substrate - ericn, Tue Mar 14 18:40:43 2006
• RE: Don't spend lots on substrate - lepinsky, Wed Mar 15 12:05:49 2006