Take a closer look. The CHEs are pointing down, not up. If you look at the video, you will see that the "ceiling" is actually two lids that are hinged along the back side and open from the front, allowing easy access to the torts inside.
Alan
It is three feet deep by six feet wide by 20 inches tall. Total of three, 24" lights (outer two fixtures will use UV bulbs during the winter). Four CHEs heat the place. Heat cable under the substrate on the left side. All heaters controlled with thermostats.
Alan
Just a quick vid of the new table I recently finished for our small leos. Once they graduate from the 40 gallon breeder tank, they get to move into this. It is similar to the smaller one on the left I built last fall for our pancake torts.
Alan
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I've got a juvenile male pancake about 4" long (about 4 years old) that is starting to mount my two females. I'm not really interested in breeding tortoises, therefore I'm looking to see if there is anyone within a day's drive from me that has a known female (juvenile or adult) that might be...
Tim/Robin, thank you for that tidbit of information. I've now separated the male from the two females, and will hope that neither female will produce an egg. I'm now thinking that maybe I'll try to find someone to trade my male with in exchange for a female. As I said earlier, I'm not in the...
I'm monitoring the females' weight at the moment. I first noticed the behavior a few weeks ago between the male (about 4 years old now) and a young female who is about two years old now. They were in a 40 gallon breeder tank at that time. I've since added an older female (a little larger than...
Their enclosure is 6' by 3' by 14" tall. Should be plenty of room. Several rock hides, rocks, and fake plants in there. The male mounts both females all the time, and when they sleep he is on top of either or both to some extent.
Anybody have an idea how long breeding season lasts? My one male is constantly bothering my two females. I'm not too worried about incubating eggs, but am curious as to how long the male will do this? I hope not forever, otherwise, I'll have to keep them separated. Any thoughts?
I've had my ZooMed Reptifogger for about 18 months with no troubles at all. Of course, I only run distilled water through it, and every 6 months or so I run white vinegar through it for an hour to help clean it out some. However, when it eventually does fail, I'll probably save a few bucks...
I rescued a leo that was under 3" long and several years old. Pyramiding was definitely underway. After 16 month in a warm and humid enclosure, he/she has grown 1.5 inches, gained 100 g in weight, and the pyramiding has stopped. The shell is obviously a little smoother! I'm a fan of warm and...
Plus, the hardware store's mulch may have bugs in it from sitting outside much. Be sure to either freeze the mulch for awhile or heat it in an oven or microwave (my favorite for safety!) to kill anything alive in the mulch before you put it in your tort enclosure. If you heat it in an oven, BE...
I was just going to reply that it is not, in any way shape or form, cruel to house an adult leopard indoors during the winter in a cold climate. You just have to build a "bigger" tort table. I would not recommend letting one just "roam the house". Unless you really heat your house a good bit...
I do intend to build a stand for this table one of these days. If anything, to lower the table down a few inches to make it easier for my wife to get to the rear of the table. For now, this is working, but I agree that the load on the plastic table is more than it was designed for. So far...
Thanks for the specifics and the pictures. These are helpful.
In what order did you build your frames and floor? Did you, for example, glue, clamp, drill, then screw?
How deep is your substrate?
Do your Torts ever dig to the heating cables?
I really like that power strip you have...
I agree with ascott. The ultimate answer is "none." You will almost always be dealing with "gnats" of some sort. I use the above substrates, along with cypress mulch, and mix in some ground up diatomaceous earth.
Alan
Ok. Here are a few more pictures and discussion:
Here is a shot of the left side. Right side is identical. 1x4 poplar across the bottom with 1x3s on both sides and across the top. All joined with wood glue and screws. I used 1.5" screws (#10s I think?) when drilling through the 3/4"...
I'm hoping this table will last between 3 and 5 years. After that, I'm building an outdoor enclosure that the leopards can live in even during the winter months.
As for plans, if you look closely you can figure out how I built it. Besides the 3/4 maple floor and back, the rest is just 1x3...