Box Turtle and Tortoise Discussion :: eastern boxie substrate

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Post Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 10:48 pm   eastern boxie substrate

Recently I took my youngest eastern boxie to the vet for her yearly checkup. The vet asked me what I use for a substrate, and I told him a mix of 70% ecoearth (same thing as bed-a-beast) and 30% repti bark. He looked at me and as serious as could be said to take it out as soon as possible and replace it with carpet, because they might eat it and that lead to impaction. Now, the reptile keeper in me said how in the world do you keep the humidty up in a carpet enclosure :? ? But I figured this guy has a degree that says he knows what he is talking about, and I well... dont. Well, I did what he said and wouldnt ya know, I cant keep the humidity up any higher than 60% :shock: . So the purpose of that story is this question, what do you guys use for a substrate? I have heard a mix of 1/3 soil without perlite (which is harder than heck to find by the way, if anybody could lead me in the direction of a brand of soil that would be great), 1/3 sphagnum moss, and 1/3 cypress mulch. Some people say to throw leaf litter/mulch in with that as well. Do you guys think thats a good substrate? I never really liked the ecoearth because it gets in the turtles eyes so much, so if I could switch them to something else I think they would really appreciate it.
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Post Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2011 11:34 pm   Re: eastern boxie substrate

I've only seen enclosures that used substrate...Bed a Beast mixed with peat moss without perlite is recommended here: http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/c ... nboxie.htm
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