Easy red foot enclosure .

MadisonTortGal

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Joined
Jun 14, 2019
Messages
5
Location (City and/or State)
Madison, WI
This is how I do it . This small setup will keep a few hatchlings for the first year or so . I paid a little over one hundred dollars for everything .
One t5 5.0 uvb/ uva fixture.
One ceramic Dome fixture.
One thermostat.
One timer.
Two terracotta bowls.
One hide.
One digital thermometer.
One 50 watt ceramic heat emitter.

Oh jeez! Wish I’d seen this before today. I set up my hatchling house a little over a month ago. And after a TON of research this is exactly what I came up with also. I have a 2’ x 3’ bin that I think is about 1.5’ tall. Then I mounted T5-HO tube on one end and used a 60 watt CHE. I have 4” of eco earth for substrate that my baby cherryhead redfoot loves to burrow into.

The only difference I have is that I put 2 digital thermometer/hygrometer so that I can have one at each end. And I am currently using a flat piece of silicone for a food dish. It is really easy to wash clean in my kitchen sink that way. My redfoot poops nearly daily while eating on the food tray. LOL
 

MadisonTortGal

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Joined
Jun 14, 2019
Messages
5
Location (City and/or State)
Madison, WI
The others I've built went with hatchlings as I rehomed them . When you build them this enclosure it ensures the hatchlings to be healthy for the first year or until they out grow the setup . I sell this ,but give away the tortioses to people I know . Or I make them buy everything and help them setup the enclosure .

I love this idea and plan to do the same when my cherryhead redfoot has babies. My sister really wants one! But I worry because she already has a Sulcata with some serious pyramids. So I was thinking that if I give her one of my hatchlings I will make a good humid setup to go with it and help the shell baby grow more smoothly.
 

Mrsbongi

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Joined
Sep 16, 2019
Messages
11
Location (City and/or State)
Georgetown
This is how I do it . This small setup will keep a few hatchlings for the first year or so . I paid a little over one hundred dollars for everything .
One t5 5.0 uvb/ uva fixture.
One ceramic Dome fixture.
One thermostat.
One timer.
Two terracotta bowls.
One hide.
One digital thermometer.
One 50 watt ceramic heat emitter.
One plastic box with lid.
Set timer to five hours for the uvb fixture .Set thermostat for 80/85 degrees Fahrenheit . Add mulch and Coco chor bedding. Run the setup for a few days to dial everything in. The hole for the plugs will give the setup the right air flow to hold humidity without over wetting the substrate.View attachment 222665View attachment 222666View attachment 222667View attachment 222668View attachment 222669
Once you installed the CHE, did it melt the lid?
 

Mrsbongi

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Joined
Sep 16, 2019
Messages
11
Location (City and/or State)
Georgetown
It needs to be 75% covered with plants (plastic are best) for them to hide and feel safe. If not, they'll get very stressed as they live the first 6-8 years of their life spending most of their time buried in leaf matter, in old logs, wherever the can hide, be warm and damp and safe from predators.

Here's a pic of the setup I've used (with some variation) for 17 years for these guys. For the indoor shot I hadn't put all the plastic plants back in (had just redone it) so only about 50% of the 75% coverage we use and replaced the light with a very low watt (use 13W now) but this is from 2008-2009 I think.

View attachment 223712

View attachment 223713
What substrate are you using here?
 

dmills4229

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Joined
Jul 19, 2020
Messages
8
Location (City and/or State)
CRYSTAL CITY
This post has been super helpful for me -- I have acquired a little sweetheart cherry head.

I have setup my container, and temps and humidity are working out nicely, but there is a super strong smell of hot plastic inside. I am afraid to stick my little tort hatchling in there due to the smell. Has anyone else experienced this? Does the smell eventually go away? It's going on 4 days so far.
 

Srmcclure

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Mar 10, 2020
Messages
1,791
Location (City and/or State)
Oklahoma city
This post has been super helpful for me -- I have acquired a little sweetheart cherry head.

I have setup my container, and temps and humidity are working out nicely, but there is a super strong smell of hot plastic inside. I am afraid to stick my little tort hatchling in there due to the smell. Has anyone else experienced this? Does the smell eventually go away? It's going on 4 days so far.

Is there burning on the plastic around the edge where the lights are?
 

Srmcclure

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Mar 10, 2020
Messages
1,791
Location (City and/or State)
Oklahoma city
I actually repurposed a CHE, so it has had months of runtime.
Hmm... im not sure then, I'm sorry.... the only other thing I can think of is that the plastic is giving off fumes because of the heat, but if ifs hooked up to a thermostat and all that it shouldn't be getting got enough ambient wise to do that...
 

dmills4229

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Joined
Jul 19, 2020
Messages
8
Location (City and/or State)
CRYSTAL CITY
Hmm... im not sure then, I'm sorry.... the only other thing I can think of is that the plastic is giving off fumes because of the heat, but if ifs hooked up to a thermostat and all that it shouldn't be getting got enough ambient wise to do that...

That's exactly what it seems like -- fumes. I wonder if I just got a lemon storage tote that doesn't like the heat. Cheap enough to get another, except I already went through the work of sticking all my controls to the side of it, lol.
 

Srmcclure

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Messages
1,791
Location (City and/or State)
Oklahoma city
That's exactly what it seems like -- fumes. I wonder if I just got a lemon storage tote that doesn't like the heat. Cheap enough to get another, except I already went through the work of sticking all my controls to the side of it, lol.
Lol I feel ya. Easy enough done, but, ugh... does your tort already have an enclosure and can wait a bit? If so, get the new tote and only set up the lights and heater and see if its the tote or something possibly up with the bulbs or fixtures. That way if its not the tote you don't have to go through ALL of that again
 

Srach

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Joined
Aug 22, 2019
Messages
5
Location (City and/or State)
Arkansas
This is how I do it . This small setup will keep a few hatchlings for the first year or so . I paid a little over one hundred dollars for everything .
One t5 5.0 uvb/ uva fixture.
One ceramic Dome fixture.
One thermostat.
One timer.
Two terracotta bowls.
One hide.
One digital thermometer.
One 50 watt ceramic heat emitter.
One plastic box with lid.
Set timer to five hours for the uvb fixture .Set thermostat for 80/85 degrees Fahrenheit . Add mulch and Coco chor bedding. Run the setup for a few days to dial everything in. The hole for the plugs will give the setup the right air flow to hold humidity without over wetting the substrate.View attachment 222665View attachment 222666View attachment 222667View attachment 222668View attachment 222669

Thank you for sharing this! It looks do-able for a newbie. :)
 

saleena.lewis

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Joined
Apr 20, 2020
Messages
232
Location (City and/or State)
Massachusetts
This is an older picture of my baby redfoot enclosure before i got him.
 

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Hotsause

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Joined
Mar 3, 2021
Messages
61
Location (City and/or State)
Connecticut
Finally took the first step after like 6 months of research and made some purchases today. How’d I do ?
3109196C-0554-4B2C-8098-ABA680FD8349.jpeg
Now time to figure out the lighting and heating. Also was wondering what you guys think about foggers ? I noticed none of the other setups I’ve seen in this thread use them but I‘ve seen then in lots of other setups. Am I better of without one or was it just not included to keep the design as cheap as possible?
 

Toddrickfl1

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Jan 7, 2018
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Finally took the first step after like 6 months of research and made some purchases today. How’d I do ?
View attachment 319895
Now time to figure out the lighting and heating. Also was wondering what you guys think about foggers ? I noticed none of the other setups I’ve seen in this thread use them but I‘ve seen then in lots of other setups. Am I better of without one or was it just not included to keep the design as cheap as possible?
If you set your enclosure up correctly a fogger is unnecessary.
 
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