Hello everyone! Our little redfoot (225g) is named Sprout.
This is our second attempt at a enclosure for her. The first enclosure we had was a big dog house we converted to suit Sprout. We kept it outside within a covered and screened patio. It had a heat and UVB lamp..... which we thought was securely attached to the ceiling... but, unfortunately on an ExTeMeLY windy day, the heat lamp fell and burnt it down! By a miracle Sprout survived with no injuries (she was in her brick hide which was just far enough)
After that traumatic event we decided to move her indoors. We found this two story house on amazon. We think this enclosure will be perfect for the next few years, and since its made of wood, whenever she out grows it, we can customize it.
We have a ceramic heating bulb 100W (13" from the floor). This is connected to a temp regulator to keep it around 92F.
For lighting we have a reptisun T5 HO 14" UVB light (8" from the floor), and an LED strip for supplemental lighting. This is connected to a timer for 8am-7pm.
For water we have a 6" terracotta bowl inside a 9" terracotta bowl with large river pebbles. Both have water to help increase humidity.
For food we do mainly dandelion greens (handful/day) and Mazuri Tortoise Diet pellets (2-3/day). Once a week we give her a fruit snack like mango or strawberry. (before using the pellets we would also do hard boiled egg whites and calcium powder)
We also added plexi glass to the roof to try and increase humidity.
Substrate is coco coir and large pieces of red pine bark. To help increase humidity we water under the areas covered in bark, that way she doesn't spend her time walking through wet substrate. The house on the second floor is mainly coco coir. (Also, before we settled on coco coir, I tried mixing in sphagnum moss. Problem was that Sprout kept on trying to eat it! She would even go for the dry bits. We didn't want to risk any health issues, so we took as much as we could out.)
~~~Also, while we were transitioning Sprout to her new enclosure, we put her in a temporary box with coco coir and a small brick hide. From what we could tell, the hide was small yet big enough to where she could turn around just fine to get in and out. Well.... turns out, every time she turned within the hide, she was grinding down her outer two nails on both front feet. This resulted in her little front feet developing a small infection. We caught it in time to get her some antibiotic shots from the vet. That was a few weeks ago, and today the area is much better!!! ~~~
Sprout eats with a hearty appetite, goes to the bathroom regularly, and she walks around plenty.... and quite quickly!
Any feedback is appreciated! Our goal is to keep our little Sprout happy and healthy!
Tips we are looking for: Is it okay for the basking stone to be directly under the heat bulb? What is the max temperature the stone should get? Also, humidity is still challenging. We are trying a few new things but we would love to hear some advice.
Thank you!!
For
This is our second attempt at a enclosure for her. The first enclosure we had was a big dog house we converted to suit Sprout. We kept it outside within a covered and screened patio. It had a heat and UVB lamp..... which we thought was securely attached to the ceiling... but, unfortunately on an ExTeMeLY windy day, the heat lamp fell and burnt it down! By a miracle Sprout survived with no injuries (she was in her brick hide which was just far enough)
After that traumatic event we decided to move her indoors. We found this two story house on amazon. We think this enclosure will be perfect for the next few years, and since its made of wood, whenever she out grows it, we can customize it.
We have a ceramic heating bulb 100W (13" from the floor). This is connected to a temp regulator to keep it around 92F.
For lighting we have a reptisun T5 HO 14" UVB light (8" from the floor), and an LED strip for supplemental lighting. This is connected to a timer for 8am-7pm.
For water we have a 6" terracotta bowl inside a 9" terracotta bowl with large river pebbles. Both have water to help increase humidity.
For food we do mainly dandelion greens (handful/day) and Mazuri Tortoise Diet pellets (2-3/day). Once a week we give her a fruit snack like mango or strawberry. (before using the pellets we would also do hard boiled egg whites and calcium powder)
We also added plexi glass to the roof to try and increase humidity.
Substrate is coco coir and large pieces of red pine bark. To help increase humidity we water under the areas covered in bark, that way she doesn't spend her time walking through wet substrate. The house on the second floor is mainly coco coir. (Also, before we settled on coco coir, I tried mixing in sphagnum moss. Problem was that Sprout kept on trying to eat it! She would even go for the dry bits. We didn't want to risk any health issues, so we took as much as we could out.)
~~~Also, while we were transitioning Sprout to her new enclosure, we put her in a temporary box with coco coir and a small brick hide. From what we could tell, the hide was small yet big enough to where she could turn around just fine to get in and out. Well.... turns out, every time she turned within the hide, she was grinding down her outer two nails on both front feet. This resulted in her little front feet developing a small infection. We caught it in time to get her some antibiotic shots from the vet. That was a few weeks ago, and today the area is much better!!! ~~~
Sprout eats with a hearty appetite, goes to the bathroom regularly, and she walks around plenty.... and quite quickly!
Any feedback is appreciated! Our goal is to keep our little Sprout happy and healthy!
Tips we are looking for: Is it okay for the basking stone to be directly under the heat bulb? What is the max temperature the stone should get? Also, humidity is still challenging. We are trying a few new things but we would love to hear some advice.
Thank you!!
For
Water always finds a way so it's better to overthink a bit.
