# Glass enclosure or Wood?



## Vishnu2 (Dec 31, 2013)

I currently have a wooden enclosure made. However, I saw this reptile enclosure that is glass with a wooden frame. It's beautiful. Are glass tanks that awful for a tortoise?


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## Team Gomberg (Dec 31, 2013)

I love using glass enclosures.


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## bigred (Dec 31, 2013)

No they are not awful, havent we been over this once or twice before
Just kidding ( I had to ) It depends on alot of different things


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## Vishnu2 (Dec 31, 2013)

bigred said:


> No they are not awful, havent we been over this once or twice before
> Just kidding ( I had to ) It depends on alot of different things



I looked this up on the forum and couldn't find one post regarding this.  I am sure I missed a million post about it but I needed to ask.


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## bigred (Dec 31, 2013)

Vishnu2 said:


> bigred said:
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> 
> > No they are not awful, havent we been over this once or twice before
> ...



I was just messing around, I prefer to use them for smaller torts such as hatchlings. I was just on craigslist looking around for a glass aquarium. You can get pretty good size aquariums ,,,,such as 100 to 150 gallon aquariums for about 100 to 150 dollars


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## Vishnu2 (Dec 31, 2013)

bigred said:


> Vishnu2 said:
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> 
> > bigred said:
> ...


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## Jacqui (Jan 1, 2014)

I like the glass tanks for hatchlings because you can see the animal better. So if I were to make my own, it would have large windows if not entire sides that are clear. I have not had an animal that had issues with the glass/clear sides once they got use to it.


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## lisa127 (Jan 1, 2014)

Both are fine I think. IMO wood is more insulating. But, glass holds the humidity better. So it's a trade off I guess.


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## Fredandwilma (Jan 10, 2014)

Glass is not good for torts. They don't understand the concept of glass and get frustrated so wood is better for them


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## gtc (Jan 16, 2014)

Fredandwilma said:


> Glass is not good for torts. They don't understand the concept of glass and get frustrated so wood is better for them



My tort has never tried walking through glass. I think that glass may confuse some torts but not all. You can always add some barrier at (tort) eye level if your tort doesn't get it.


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## Capri (Jan 16, 2014)

Im not sure if this will help or every petco is doing this right now but the one in Manchester, NH is currently having their $1 per gallon sale. Just bought a tank for more than half of the normal price for my Red Eared Slider


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## DaveTheLeo (Mar 18, 2014)

My personal experience with this leads me to think wood is better, my tortoise seemed to walk into the glass alot making banging noises ( drove me mad) , the glass heats up too fast imo , i have a large wooden one that i built cost me a tenner to make and its quite large, for me the temperature seems easier to control and my tortoise seems more content this is all just my personal opinion


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## milkandsam (Mar 19, 2014)

My tortoise is fine with glass. At the beginning he would try to walk into it, so I taped paper to the bottom of the tank and then took the papers away one by one and he hasn't had an issue since!


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## kball (May 24, 2014)

DaveTheLeo said:


> My personal experience with this leads me to think wood is better, my tortoise seemed to walk into the glass alot making banging noises ( drove me mad) , the glass heats up too fast imo , i have a large wooden one that i built cost me a tenner to make and its quite large, for me the temperature seems easier to control and my tortoise seems more content this is all just my personal opinion




Now that's a good point my sulcata is in a glass enclosure (I'm working on a tort table) and he drives me crazy trying to get through the glass.


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## Dizisdalife (May 24, 2014)

I used glass enclosures for babies. Modified aquariums to make closed chambers where the heat and humidity could be better controlled. I did put sight barriers at (tortoise) eye level and never once had a problem with my tortoise running into the glass. The best enclosures, indoor enclosures that is, that I have seen are a combination of wood and glass to make a closed chamber. I take that back. The absolute best are made of molded plastic, but these are way more expensive than I would like to spend. A sulcata for example, will out grow a 55 gallon aquarium in about 6 - 8 months. So their usefulness is short lived. Here are some examples of good closed chamber type enclosure that are inexpensive and yet very functional.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/closed-chambers.32333/


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## yillt (May 27, 2014)

I use wood. I think glass would work but my tort is crazy and would probably barge right through.


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## Yvonne G (May 27, 2014)

Once my tortoises are big enough to graduate, they go outside, but while they're small and indoors, I much prefer the large plastic tubs.


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## johnsonnboswell (May 30, 2014)

I have a plexiglass front on several wooden habitats. Lighter than glass and easier to build with. I put large house plants in front so the crew feels screened, but I can see and enjoy them.


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## naturalman91 (May 30, 2014)

i use a mix of both glass and wood and i love my enclosure that's a old photo it looks a little different now


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## Tom (May 30, 2014)

Either is fine. Both can work well.

Many of us have used glass tanks for decades. They are actually GOOD for the very reasons their critics think they are bad. I find that amusing for some reason.


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## ashleyr21 (Jun 17, 2014)

I personally use wood, but every tort is different!


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## YourAverageReptileLover (Nov 1, 2014)

If you use a glass enclosure, make sure it's big enough. Also, I would put duct tape around the whole outside of the enclosure, since tortoises aren't the smartest and they don't really understand glass... Lol.


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## lauren and harry (Jul 21, 2016)

I have a wooden table top box for my tort.and ive seen a lot of post about how to keep humidity levels up and such,my tort is a hermanns and has lived in his table top box since ive had him and I haven't controlled the humidity levels,I do spray all around his box with water now and again and ive never had a problem,so I would like to know why so many people get worried over the humidity.


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## Speedy-1 (Jul 22, 2016)

*Speedy was in a 60 gallon aquarium until he moved outside . We never had issues with him and his "glass walls" . So I guess he is either really smart , or "glass issues" fall somewhere between non issues and / or urban legends ! *


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## Anyfoot (Jul 22, 2016)

Vishnu2 said:


> I currently have a wooden enclosure made. However, I saw this reptile enclosure that is glass with a wooden frame. It's beautiful. Are glass tanks that awful for a tortoise?


Wooden enclosures don't last for modern ways of tort keeping. Wood needs treating for longevity due to modern high humidity techniques. Glass will last forever with humidity and moisture. The only thing for me is that light comes in from every angle of the glass enclosure. This is no good for some species. It's easy to black out 3 sides though. My hatchling hingebacks backs are in a standard wooden viv. It won't last 6 months. Go for glass, but consider blacking some of it out. 
Acrylic will be the future. Look on YouTube how to weld acrylic. You can weld any colors together. Buy the sheets and assemble.


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## von345 (Jul 22, 2016)

Wooden. Glass creates a green house heat that could kill it. The heat has nowhere to go and it keeps getting hotter and hotter. Use a wooden Tortiose table and put a shower curtain over it to hold in the humidity. I have a humidifier I use that I bought off amazon for cheap. This idea has worked perfectly. Also on Amazon you can get a heat and humidity digital thermometer VERY HELPFUl


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## BrianWI (Jul 22, 2016)

von345 said:


> Wooden. Glass creates a green house heat that could kill it. The heat has nowhere to go and it keeps getting hotter and hotter. Use a wooden Tortiose table and put a shower curtain over it to hold in the humidity. I have a humidifier I use that I bought off amazon for cheap. This idea has worked perfectly. Also on Amazon you can get a heat and humidity digital thermometer VERY HELPFUl


Glass outside can certainly be dangerous, or even in direct sunlight through a window. But I use them indoors all the time. I make sure they aren't in direct sun and turn into ovens.


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## Anyfoot (Jul 23, 2016)

If you let the outside elements effect your indoor set up, it will overeat or dry up. After all that is the very basis a greenhouse works on. I wouldn't put my indoor enclosure in site of a window, it's asking for trouble.


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