Soil to cover your tortoise burrow
The soil should not have been washed. We want the very fine particles (called clay) to remain. It is the clay content that holds the rainwater rather than letting it run through as would happen with beach sand or gravel. Burrow construction requires soils that crumble easily during digging and is firm enough to resist collapse (Meyer 2008). Several sand and gravel companies around the Las Vegas valley offer similar types of soil. Vista Landscape in Las Vegas provides a special price on soil and chat for Tortoise Group members and next-day delivery anywhere in town.
Vista Landscape
951 Wigwam
Henderson, NV
(just east of Gibson)
702-565-6611
Just call and they will deliver. They dump the soil in the street by your driveway. You use a wheelbarrow to move it to your habitat.
Note: The more soil the better the insulation will be. Order more rather than less.
Do not use soil that contains organic matter. Please do not consider getting soil from a vacant lot. Chances are that the soil type would not be appropriate, and you would need to do lots of sifting to remove rocks and junk.
Amounts Needed
- Underground Burrow: 1 ½ tons to finish the cover, or more if you removed a lot of rocks
- Compact Aboveground Burrow: 3 ½ tons
- Large Aboveground Burrow: at least 4-5 tons
- Baby Enclosure, 5’x 20’: at least 3 tons. Use especially for the burrows. Mix with organic matter only where the plants will be growing.
Meyer, Rachelle. 2008. Gopherus agassizii. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/animals/reptile/goag/all.html
