New substrate needed

[freakinmental]

Hi all,
I'm needing suggestions for a warmer substrate for pebble, with all the baby stuff around I can't move him into his normal winter position in the front room, he's gonna have to stay in the conservatory, it gets quite cool in there, he'll have his lights on as normal but his soil is just too flat and he has nothing to burrow/dig down into!
Can anyone advise on another suitable substrate for horsfields that won't go flat and will be a bit warmer for him?
Thanx in advance

[yuna1971]

You could look into coco coir Nik?
Maybe use a tubular heater or an oiled filled mini radiator..for the conservatory as a bit of extra bsckground warmth if it gets too cold? Or an additional CHE (as well as a normal heat light) for around the basking spot? xx

[yuna1971]

oil filled radiator
Such as this one...? Maybe
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Connect-Mini...+filled+heater

Ceramic heat emitter:
Maybe this?
http://www.onlinereptileshop.co.uk/r...5520-4483.html

Coco coir... This:
http://www.petsathome.com/shop/coco-...FUqWtAodGQoAfg

[Suze65]

You could try adding some coco coir, for extra digging in. But no amount of extra substrate will keep him warm, if the ambiant temps get too cool he will just dig in and want to hibernate, you would need to do as Rach has suggested, with heaters of various kinds.

[sandy]

Originally Posted by freakinmental

Hi all,
I'm needing suggestions for a warmer substrate for pebble, with all the baby stuff around I can't move him into his normal winter position in the front room, he's gonna have to stay in the conservatory, it gets quite cool in there, he'll have his lights on as normal but his soil is just too flat and he has nothing to burrow/dig down into!
Can anyone advise on another suitable substrate for horsfields that won't go flat and will be a bit warmer for him?
Thanx in advance

Soil is tortoises natural substrate, so it's the best you can use.
Substrate is not there to keep them warm, it's there so they can thermoregulate themselves. The heat sorce is what keeps them warm.

[Alan1]

Yes it's really more heating you would need or if you have heating in your conservatory already it would need to be turned up

[becciwales]

If you do decide to go with some coir too, its in Ikea and really cheap. x

[freakinmental]

The heating will be on as ill have to have it on over winter anyway this yr cos of Alfie, just need something that will retain its depth as his soil just disappears too flat and he can't dig in and bury himself, he has hidey pots and stick bridge that he hides under I just need something for him to bury into!
I'll look into the coco coir stuff

[gorebrush]

The Coco Coir we use is pretty funny stuff - add water to the blocks and it just turns into soil. Would recommend this over buying big bags of soil!

[Hanako]

I have my tortoises in conservatory. The temperature in the conservatory is quite low now. Not much higher than outside. The tortoises are in a big wooden box 8x12 feet. To warm it up I have two 250V ceramic heaters and 2 normal lights lamps (100 V) on the whole day, and at night I switch off the two lights, leave those two ceramic heaters on and cover the box with a 'lid' to keep it warm inside. I think it is still cheaper than trying to warm up the whole conservatory.