Manouria Emys Emys NEW Indoor Enclosure

SO Here is my brand spanking new 270 gallon pond i got at Menards today for $138 bucks out the door. Its about 6 1/2 ft by 4 1/2 ft at certain areas the Bubbaloo can walk in but no 90 degree angles at all ! The overall dimensions are 91"x 78"x 18" PITA to get home and into the basement !

My tortoise table i had built just wasnt working out and wasnt water proof so I found this and i wanted to share with other Emys owners. So although Bubbaloo will outgrow this Im sure this will give me at least 5 years or so and I will address that than. For now being at my parents house and all this was perfect for my 5 1/2 yr old, 10 inch mountain tort.

So all the plants are fake and hes love hiding behind the big one in the corner and im surrounding the upper areas with more to give him a natual foliage surrounding and to keep him off the accesible ledges that are there. You see the cardboard is there in the one corner in case he gets food crazy and goes climbing so that will keep him in.Than there is his wading pool under the little lamp to keep the water warm and help wiht humidity. Im also gona consider a fogger or humidifier to help with the upcoming air conditioning season. Let me know what you guys think please ! I have to go spray the mulch down now bring the humidity up thanks for looking !

Wow is it that bad 50 views and no opinoins LOL !

Its beautiful! Makes me wish I had the room for one of those for my Greeks!

I'm just seeing this for the first time right now, sorry...

I hate to be critical, but its not nearly big enough. You've made a beautiful home for your tortoise, and its quite easy on the eye. Does he have a hiding place?

Are you sure that you're measuring correctly? You measure in a straight line from front to back, not in a curved line up and over the carapace. He just doesn't look to be 10" from front to back. He's very pretty. The Manouria hold a special place in my heart. I just love them.

One thing that I like about using a pre-formed pond as a tortoise habitat is that you have all those shelves around the edges for your plants, that way you don't take up floor space with plants. It really looks great! And the fact that there are no corners is another good feature. He can't climb the corners.

emysemys said:

I'm just seeing this for the first time right now, sorry...

I hate to be critical, but its not nearly big enough. You've made a beautiful home for your tortoise, and its quite easy on the eye. Does he have a hiding place?

Are you sure that you're measuring correctly? You measure in a straight line from front to back, not in a curved line up and over the carapace. He just doesn't look to be 10" from front to back. He's very pretty. The Manouria hold a special place in my heart. I just love them.

One thing that I like about using a pre-formed pond as a tortoise habitat is that you have all those shelves around the edges for your plants, that way you don't take up floor space with plants. It really looks great! And the fact that there are no corners is another good feature. He can't climb the corners.

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No by all means be critical thts why I asked for opinoins. Does he look bigger than 10 inches ? I measured in a straight line. Now is it to small now or for when he is full grown ? His hiding spot is behind the plant in the back right darker corner. He fits right underneath the plant. covers him completley perfect $16 plant for him to hide under it it. I should be more descriptive with the measurements are form edge to edge but actual walking are is 4 ft int the middle side to side and 6ft fromfront to back. His original table was 6ft by 4ft but the corners drove him nuts. So he techincally loses some walking room but gains relaxation back and i think having the shelves for all the plants puts him at ease as well. He is definaltey 10 inches though. I though rule of thumb was you want an

Enclosure:
Minimum length (side to side): 5 x carapce length
Minimum depth (front to back): 3 x carapace length

But i could be wrong or have outdated info.

I never would have thought to use one of those for a tortoise. Like the idea and like Yvonne, I like being able to have the plants on the shelf. I wonder if he would ever pull a plant off the shelf, once a branch goes down into his pen and he then tries to eat it.

Jacqui said:

I never would have thought to use one of those for a tortoise. Like the idea and like Yvonne, I like being able to have the plants on the shelf. I wonder if he would ever pull a plant off the shelf, once a branch goes down into his pen and he then tries to eat it.

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He tried to eat fake plants when i first got him a year ago but after many failed attempts he doesnt even bother anymore. Very intelligent tortoise.

I like the enclosure! I would offer a tort that size a larger enclosure with more hides--about double or triple the size at least actually. Just my opinion though. Best wishes.

its a little small of a enclosure but would work for a temp. encloser till you build a bigger one, is there anyway to make a outdoor enclosure? thats the easiest way to keep them, and they are low maintenance

I orginally looked at the enclosure, when it was first posted and waited for others to respond, b/c my initial reaction was that it was too small. Looking at it again, while I still say it could be larger, I wiuld think you could meet the tortoises immediate needs in there, if you were housing him there for cold weather and he had an outdoor pen the rest of the time. Looking at the space you have the plastic pond in, you could build a simple pen there out of wood, that would be larger than what you have. If you wre limited in your ability to increase the encosure size, I would advise you to confine the basking area to one side of the enclosure, rather than the middle, so the tortoise has more options to thermoregulate. I would put the UVB source or, if you aren't useing UVB (I would), then place a flourescent light in the center for ambient light. Also provide some sort of enclosed hide...a woven basket works and is cheap...just cut a large enough hole in it, round of any sharp edges and turn it upside down; fill this with mist spahgnum moss or leaves and you're good to go. I spray my basket hise with vinegar and rinse it in hot water, than dry it in the sun to keep it from getting moldy, in such a damp environment. Nice tortoise and on the right track with the enclosure, just a few considerations.

Appreciate everyones input ! As far as ambient light there is window above the enlcosure that gives that to him during the day and i gona move the lamp over a little more the other end and i orignally had a wooden enclosure but the plastic film i had down finally gave way after a year and water went all over it so i scrapped it and found this. Looked bigger until i put him in it but during the day hes usually outside. He seems to like his hide under the plants in the one corner but than again he cant verbally tell me that either. I have a plastic tub i can cut a while into to give him more of an all enclosed hide.