# My Sulcata enclosure



## Kristina (Jan 26, 2009)

When I got my Sulcatas they came with a pretty nicely built, good sized enclosure. It did, however, need some major tweaking.

The substrate was pure sand, and the lighting was placed too far up to provide any UV or to provide enough warmth. The substrate was only a few inches deep and provided no area for digging, and was totally dry. They had NO water dish at all, let alone one they could soak in.







After getting them home, I made some adjustments to the enclosure. Unfortunately, the room they are in is a bit small at the moment, so we made some temporary adjustments to it. We are buying a new house and it will be set back up to maximum capacity as soon as we get in over there.

This is the enclosure with the lights all on. In right back corner is a 120 watt incandescent light. In the front left corner is my UV light, right over where the tortoises eat. In the front right corner, over the slate tiles, is a 250 watt red "brooder" bulb that provides night time heat and a darker option for warming up. The ambient air temperature in the room is 80 degrees farenheit, and under the red bulb it is 95-98, and under the incandescent it is 85-90. 






With the bright lights off. Ella is soaking, Gwen is munching on cuttlebone. The overall substrate is Timothy hay. They do graze on it in between meals, which is fine.






All lights turned off except the overhead light in the room that is always on during daylight hours.






In the corner is a cement mixing tub that contains a damp 50/50 mix of play sand and sphagnum moss. They like to bury up to the bridge of their shells in it, with legs and heads covered. That is one of the ways that they conserve humidity in the wild.

My set up gives a bit less room to walk around, but I feel offers more of a healthy environment. Once I get it fully set up I am going to build an external box with a hinged lid to place the cement tub in, which will open up more space. 

Kristina


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## jobeanator (Jan 26, 2009)

i like the setup- its simple, yet gets to the point and requirements of the sulcatas need. they look happy and active! i plan on copying your design you have!


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## shelber10 (Jan 26, 2009)

nice enclosure very well made


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## Maggie Cummings (Jan 26, 2009)

It is nice to see how much you care for your new Sulcata...however...I always disagree with hay as the substrate. I know and can see that you have created a small box for burying with moss and damp substrate, but I don't believe that alone creates enough humidity. The more I get to know you the more I am impressed with the amount of research you do. (I get too bored.)...so I know you know just how important humidity is; so I won't give you a lecture on humidity... but I don't think your new enclosure can create enough humidity. I am not talking about ambient humidity, I mean they need a moist substrate. Of the 4 things needed to prevent pyramiding, humidity at the substrate level is the most important IMHO...I mean no disrespect and like I said it is obvious you care for your Sulcata, but I personally think they need either a moist substrate or no substrate; meaning less hay and a bigger soaking pan. Can you run a humidifier for them? Less hay makes for less drying of the air. Don't you think you could make a soil substrate for them? I also think you are wrong about the space for them, it looks like they have plenty of space for their sizes.
Here's Bob's shed just now after I mopped the floor..look at the amount of hay compared to the floor space. Hay is what he eats, I run the humidifier every other day...


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## Kristina (Jan 26, 2009)

Thanks Maggie, I know that you mean no disrespect. I value your opinion, as it comes from years of experience.

Using the hay for now is more of a necessity than anything else. I have had a heck of a time finding anything to use as a substrate that I can keep more damp in a quantity that makes any sense to even purchase. We have no pet supply stores, and every type of soil I can find in this godforsaken town has fertilizer in it. I have even begged the local Home Depot to let me out into the garden center and let me dig the plain soil out of the snow, and they wouldn't go for it. As for using no substrate, that is actually how I had it before I added the hay. 

(This was the day I brought them home, they had been here about an hour.)






My biggest problem with using no substrate is that unlike Bob's shed, this is in the house on carpet, and we all know what lovely rivers that Sulcatas can produce when they are so inclined  

Do you have any suggestions as to what I can do to prevent the floor underneath from being ruined by Sulcata urine? I am afraid to line the inside of the box with anything, because Ella will tear it up and eat it, I have no doubt. I suppose I could put a shower curtain liner under it, although when I suggest tearing this thing apart to do that, you are likely to read my obituary, because my husband is going to KILL me, rofl! Small price to pay 

I do have a small warm mist humidifier, like the type used in human babies rooms. I run it a couple of times a week. 

Epiphany - What if I got more of the cement tubs, and filled those with other substrates? If I left the single tub, how deep of say coconut coir do you think I would need on the actual floor of the enlcosure?

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Kristina


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## Yvonne G (Jan 26, 2009)

Just spread out a plastic tarp on the carpet then put the habitat on top of the tarp. If you're afraid of "run-off" you can loosely staple the tarp up the outside walls.

Yvonne


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## tortoisenerd (Jan 26, 2009)

Kristina:

If you go the liner route I would personally recommend shower pan liner. It is thicker than a shower curtain or pond liner, and is sold year-round (or at least I was informed of this at my local Home Depot). It's pretty pricey but hard to even cut with scissors--very heavy. The stuff I bought is light grey. They have a big roll of it and cut it off for you. 

I've also heard of people using sheet linoleum but I'd worry about chemicals if it was the first thing the animals were in contact with and could scratch off chunks potentially (not sure if they make anything "green" yet). I'd think something that could be wiped would be better than cleaning off wood because of the porosity of the wood. You must get some pretty huge puddles.

Sounds like you have quite the challenge housing Sulcatas indoors. Hats off to you!

My first substrate was coconut coir with play sand and it sure was a mess and challenge to hydrate even 3 bricks of it in my apartment with a bucket and scoop and transport it over the carpet.


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## Kristina (Jan 26, 2009)

Good gods, visions of tearing this thing down and rebuilding are dancing through my head.... I better get some rest if that is what I am going to do, lol.

Kristina


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## Maggie Cummings (Jan 26, 2009)

It's too bad Yvonne spends so much time on the computer while I was on the TV, so she told you to use a liner outside the habitat which is what I was going to suggest. But she said it first! Can you lift up one end and put the liner down, then muscle it under the whole thing? Is it that heavy? I can't judge how heavy it is from the pictures...but going along in that vein, I don't think hay would protect your carpet from a Sulcata stream...you really need to put a liner under it. Then could you put those cement tubs on one end with a moist substrate and moss? I'm not a big fan of moss, but some keepers use it, and it might help you create the humidity you need...
I use fine grade orchid bark but it's getting hard to find. But you could make one end with damp substrate in the cement tubs under the UVB lights and the rest could be tile squares or linoleum tile...you do have a problem...and I am glad it's you and not me... I don't feel I was much help...I'll work on it...


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## Kristina (Jan 26, 2009)

I am not super happy with the moss myself, but the Lee Mosser sphagnum was the best thing I could find  I did find orchid bark, but again, it was "enhanced" *sigh*

I am 100% positive that we will have to take the enclosure apart to get a liner under it. At this point, I am going to say that since we are moving into our new house in two weeks, it can wait. If I have to replace the carpet in that room, not that big of a deal because the sucker is TINY. The whole reason that we added the "shelf" along the one side of the enclosure was to keep my blankets from falling off the bed into the enlocure, lol!

That will also give me time to get some coir ordered from somewhere online. If it was just SPRING already I know I could get better soil even if I had to dig it up myself. Everything around here shuts DOWN in the winter, but once the garden centers open back up my life will be easier. Since the Sully kids will be going outside anyway, that will give me time to get my ducks in a row for the next winter and make the changes I want to the enclosure. I know it isn't perfect (I know you said that you disagree about the space issue, maybe it comes from having huge fields of horses but I like my critters to have a lot of room) but I know from the activity levels rising, the weight gains, and the new growth that these guys are definately happier than they were previously. That doesn't mean I will draw the line with "so-so" housing, just that I am not going to panic at this point.

It definately is a challenge keeping a Sulcata happy indoors in a cold climate, but I am going to give it my all and things can only get better 

And don't feel bad, Yvonne gets the jump on me all the time too, lol.


Kristina


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## Maggie Cummings (Jan 27, 2009)

kyryah said:


> I am not super happy with the moss myself, but the Lee Mosser sphagnum was the best thing I could find  I did find orchid bark, but again, it was "enhanced" *sigh*
> 
> I am 100% positive that we will have to take the enclosure apart to get a liner under it. At this point, I am going to say that since we are moving into our new house in two weeks, it can wait. If I have to replace the carpet in that room, not that big of a deal because the sucker is TINY. The whole reason that we added the "shelf" along the one side of the enclosure was to keep my blankets from falling off the bed into the enlocure, lol!
> 
> ...



Yes, you and I both know that with Sulcata bigger is best because of the amount of exercise they need, but for a while their habitat is alright...it's certainly better than what they had...


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