Hay in Tortoise House for Bedding

[PhilBen]

Hi
In both my table and outside run I have topsoil for the substrate. Both have a house for the Tortoise to sleep/rest etc. I have put hay in each house to give a nice soft bedding. is that ok or should i just use topsoil. i change the hay every couple of weeks?
Thanks

[Nina]

Hi Phil,

Hay is OK, but it's not ideal for a couple of reasons: if it gets wet for any reason, it can grow mould; if it's near your lamps, and a lamp should blow, then there is a danger of hot pieces of glass falling down and starting a fire -- it's happened to two people we know who used hay as their main substrate, but because yours is only in the house, there probably isn't much of a risk. The other thing is that we try and make our enclosures as close as possible/practical to what tortoises would experience in the wild, and they wouldn't have hay for bedding in their native lands. These tortoises come from areas that are mainly a sandy soil, and that is what their little burrows for sleeping would be made of. So while it's probably fine to keep the hay, it really isn't necessary or ideal.

Nina

[PhilBen]

Thanks Nina