# Animal Plastics T100



## spoilers (Apr 22, 2019)

Hi guys, 

I just ordered a custom T100 for my fully grown redfoot! I've noticed AP gets really good reviews despite the long wait so I decided to go with them and get their massive 8'x 4' enclosure for winter months and cold nights. 

I'm currently struggling with keeping humidity up in a kinda thrown together open chamber so this will be a huge upgrade for my shell baby. Once it arrives in a few months I'll post pics and give a review since nobody has left one for the T100 yet. I'm super excited!


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## Tom (Apr 22, 2019)

Congrats man. You will NOT be disappointed. The waiting sucks, but its all worth it the day you get the enclosure and set it up.

Did you get the 6" litter dam? I highly recommend it over the standard 3".

Go really easy with the dampness at first. They hold humidity exceedingly well. Way better than you'd expect. Even with bone dry Sani-Chip bedding which is a type of finely chopped aspen bedding, I have no problem maintaining 80% humidity in my AP snake cages with just a large water bowl and a humid hide box. I got the substrate a little too damp in one enclosure early on and it took WEEKS to dry out. I had to leave the door open and run a fan in there when the tortoises were outside sunning or soaking.

I've never used such a tall enclosure, so I'm looking forward to learning how well it all works for you.


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## spoilers (Apr 23, 2019)

Tom said:


> Did you get the 6" litter dam? I highly recommend it over the standard 3".



I didn't know there was an option to change that. Not too concerned though, my redfoot doesn't dig much anyway, he's more of a climber. If the glass becomes a problem I'll just paint the bottom so he can't see out. Thanks for the advice on substrate. I'm using coco coir and coco husk mix right now and even when it's damp I can't get humidity high enough in the open chamber. It's nice to hear I won't have that problem anymore!


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## Tom (Apr 23, 2019)

spoilers said:


> I didn't know there was an option to change that. Not too concerned though, my redfoot doesn't dig much anyway, he's more of a climber. If the glass becomes a problem I'll just paint the bottom so he can't see out. Thanks for the advice on substrate. I'm using coco coir and coco husk mix right now and even when it's damp I can't get humidity high enough in the open chamber. It's nice to hear I won't have that problem anymore!


The litter dam is not for digging. Its so that you can open the door for maintenance and not have to worry about the tortoise falling out, and it has the added benefit of keeping the substrate out of the track that your glass slides in.


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## PA2019 (Apr 23, 2019)

Congrats! I've got to ask though, why do you want a 4ft tall cage? I cant see the benefit of having all that height and extra volume to heat? Maybe a 2-story ramp or something is in the works?


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## g4mobile (Apr 24, 2019)

PA2019 said:


> Congrats! I've got to ask though, why do you want a 4ft tall cage? I cant see the benefit of having all that height and extra volume to heat? Maybe a 2-story ramp or something is in the works?



Sure would make it easier to get in for maintenance and create a nice and natural environment. I will be purchasing the same model when it's time. I use an AP cage currently for my Bearded Dragon and it's awesome.


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## spoilers (Apr 24, 2019)

PA2019 said:


> Congrats! I've got to ask though, why do you want a 4ft tall cage? I cant see the benefit of having all that height and extra volume to heat? Maybe a 2-story ramp or something is in the works?


I am planning on eventually adding a ramp and a 2nd story. Not right away though. My redfoot enjoys the 2nd story he currently has and the large hide it provides underneath.


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## Tom (Apr 24, 2019)

PA2019 said:


> Congrats! I've got to ask though, why do you want a 4ft tall cage? I cant see the benefit of having all that height and extra volume to heat? Maybe a 2-story ramp or something is in the works?


Good question!

They will custom make one at less than 48" tall if people want it that way. Another TFO member is having one made to 24" tall.


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## PA2019 (Apr 25, 2019)

spoilers said:


> I am planning on eventually adding a ramp and a 2nd story. Not right away though. My redfoot enjoys the 2nd story he currently has and the large hide it provides underneath.



I knew it! That would be an incredible setup. A second level could potentially add another 20-40% of space in the same enclosure.


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## Joey B. (Apr 29, 2019)

Curious what the wait times are? I'm thinking of getting a much smaller one from them but I keep hearing that it takes a while.


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## Longhorns1187 (May 2, 2019)

Joey B. said:


> Curious what the wait times are? I'm thinking of getting a much smaller one from them but I keep hearing that it takes a while.


They are in the process of moving to a larger facility with a second CNC machine, so that will significantly cut down on lead times. We're going on 24 weeks for our monkey tailed skink and bearded dragon enclosures. Ali did promise that they'd be done by the end of next week. It's definitely a longer wait time than other enclosure manufacturers, but you can't beat the quality and customization from AP.

Here's a photo of our blue tongue skink enclosure.


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## Joey B. (May 2, 2019)

24 weeks?! Good lord, I better get my order in then. lol


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## Longhorns1187 (May 2, 2019)

Joey B. said:


> 24 weeks?! Good lord, I better get my order in then. lol


Yep. It's been a long wait. But, to be fair, I send Ali a PDF file of exactly where I want each fixture to be mounted and each specific enclosure has variations on litter dam depth and ventilation. I also drop ship all the lighting (except for ceramic sockets) directly to AP and they do the installation. So, it's not just a matter of AP sending us the standard enclosure. Mark, Ali's husband, has to program each one of our diagrams into the computer. That's probably why ours took even longer.


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## spoilers (May 3, 2019)

Joey B. said:


> Curious what the wait times are? I'm thinking of getting a much smaller one from them but I keep hearing that it takes a while.



They told me 10-12 weeks


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## jsheffield (May 3, 2019)

Do they ship it assembled, or cut and ready for you to glue and screw?

Jamie


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## Longhorns1187 (May 3, 2019)

jsheffield said:


> Do they ship it assembled, or cut and ready for you to glue and screw?
> 
> Jamie


Shipped flat packed with screws and silicone included. Fortunately for us, they are only about 2 hours away from us. So, we pick up our orders in person. And, they'll be 1/2 hour closer when they move to the new facility.


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## Longhorns1187 (May 3, 2019)

Shipped flat packed with screws and silicone included. Fortunately for us, they are only about 2 hours away from us. So, we pick up our orders in person. And, they'll be 1/2 hour closer when they move to the new facility.


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## orgetorix (Jun 11, 2019)

spoilers said:


> They told me 10-12 weeks



A word to the wise on anyone needing them to build you a cage, you MUST be patient. To be fair, last year, I knew there was a backlog of at least 12 weeks and told Ali that I wasn't in any kind of rush. It turned out to be a mistake, since I am here on week 43 still waiting.

Honestly, I'm still not in a hurry, expect for the excitement of finally getting this set up. Ali also eventually answers all my emails even if it takes 3-4 tries sometimes. She is always knowledgeable and pleasant, I just wish things would move along a bit.


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## CandyApple (Jun 20, 2019)

I follow Animal Plastics on FB and they recently posted that they bought a new facility and CNC machine as well as hired more employees so this should be a huge help as far as wait times.

I don't have any of these cages for tortoises but I also keep snakes and can confirm that they hold humidity extremely well without damp substrate. In fact, I have to use substrate that helps lower the humidity or it's too high.


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## spoilers (Sep 20, 2019)

Hey guys, my T100 was just delivered! It'll be a few weeks before i get it put together and everything but i was wondering if anyone knew how many t5 uvb fixtures I should use for my redfoot? 

My T100 has 4 fixtures for che to keep temps at around 80° throughout the 8 ft long enclosure and then i have 4 fixtures for florescent uvb but I'm unsure if I'll need to install all 4. 

I just want to make sure i get everything right for him finally.


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## spoilers (Feb 23, 2021)

UPDATE/FULL REVIEW:
after keeping my adult redfoot in this for over a year I can safely say this is a great enclosure! 

LIGHTING:
I have 4 incandescent fixtures installed but only ever use 3 at the most for UVA. Since it is a 4 ft tall enclosure I use 150 watt bulbs to make sure the heat reaches. I've installed a 24"uvb fixture lower down to ensure the rays reach.

HUMIDITY:
The enclosure holds humidity really well! I have a fogger to keep humidity consistent, but I only need to keep it at the lowest setting to maintain 70%- 80%.

CONS:
The biggest con is the barrier in front of the glass. I keep a lot of substrate in my enclosure, so my tort is able to see over the barrier and will pace occasionally and try to climb the barrier. Because of this, substrate occasionally gets stuck on the glass track. 

I absolutely love this enclosure and definitely recommend Animal Plastics, even with their long turnaround time.


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