The Tortoise Table

This is my other little one Nova. Man she moves around a lot lol. She eats everything in site and is always moving.

Oh wow, Pete -- she's gorgeous! How old is she, and how much does she weigh? I'm so glad to see the soil in your yard. In the UK there is a big debate about what substrates a tortoise should live on in an indoor enclosure. We usually advise a mixture of 50% topsoil and 50% sand, but some people say that there shouldn't be any sand in the mixture because if tortoises ingest it then they can suffer from gut impaction, but we know that in the wild most species live on very sandy soil (and I know you have Gophers, Marginated and Sulcata). So it's nice to see a happy tortoise on sandy soil.

Nina

Hello,

That's one of the things I wanted to ask when I registered on this forum; I've heard about the fact that they need sand, and about how it's dangerous for them... Should I go for a 50/50% mix, or should I rather reduce the amount of sand, so that there's some of it but not too much? (let's say, 20 to 30% of sand)

Hi Chaika,

It really doesn't matter much. Most people mix it 50/50, but my tortoises seem to prefer a slightly higher proportion of soil. The main thing is to keep it from getting too dusty, so you give it a light spray every day, or pour some water on it every few days and mix it in, but not so that it is wet. You want it ever so slightly damp, but not wet at all.

Nina

Just an add on - the sand should be the kind you get for using in childrens playpits as if other sand, say from bags of builders or anything that stains orange it should not be used because if eaten it could cause impaction but the childrens sand is fine.

Lin

Thats adorable.