substrate questions
 

Hello, I am currently using a mixture of topsoil and play sand for my substrate and I was wondering how often this should be changed/replaced in my indoor enclosure?

Also, the soil seems really dry after a while. Am I right in thinking it should be kept moist? What is the best way of doing this?

Thank you for any help.

Hi there. I use a mix of topsoil and coco coir and this does hold moisture a bit better. I found the sand separated out and I stopped using it and later introduced some coco coir with the topsoil. Quite a few others do so as well.

How often you change it depends so much on how big your tortoise and enclosure are and how much substrate you use.

Indoors I think there is no reason not to add quite a bit of water to the substrate. Unless your house is a really cold one or the water is going to cause a problem to your enclosure.

So what I do is to use topsoil and coco coir mixed and add quite a bit of water so that it doesn't get so dusty.

I stopped using sand years ago too. I spot-pick every day and remove any old food, faeces, etc., though I'm pretty lucky as my torts like to toilet in their baths. Every fortnight I pour a good amount of water over the substrate and get my hands in there and churn it up, turning it over and ensuring the soil under the surface is nice and moist. It's amazing how quickly it dries out under the heat lamp. You want it to be moist but not soaking. In between times you can spray the substrate to keep the dust down and stop it drying out too much.
As Jonathan says, it can get dusty, so I wipe over the sides of the table, on top of the reflectors, light fittings, etc. with a damp cloth each weekend.

Thank you both for responses. I am certainly going to wet the substrate more than I have been. I have started spraying it too so will continue with that.