Any Ideas For An Indoor Enclosure?

[Gillian M]

I've recently been thinking of a new enclosure for my beloved tort. However, I need some help here as far as: type of enclosure (i.e. what it is made of), its size, (I want my tort to feel comfy), and what to put into the enclosure. Would soil be fine? I believe that torts living in extremely dry weather conditions need humidity. What about fake plants? Could a tort take them for true ones and eat them? I definitely don't want to take such a risk.

I don't think that transparent enclosures are suitable (and please correct me if I'm mistaken). A poor tort may keep trying to get out of it. What of an enclosure made of wood? That is the one I'm thinking of I have seen some pics of different enclosures, but some advice would be very much appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Gillian M]

Would somebody please be kind enough to answer my alert as far as a new indoor enclosure is concerned, which I posted yesterday. Thanks very much.

 

[TortsNTurtles]

What kind of tortoise do you have and what is the age? Have you looked at the enclosure section of the forum? You could spend hours there getting ideas.

 

[Gillian M]

What kind of tortoise do you have and what is the age? Have you looked at the enclosure section of the forum? You could spend hours there getting ideas.

Mine is a Greek tort however I do not know its age. I was told by members that it wouldn't be easy to tell its age. Its pic is on the left hand side of the screen. Yes, I did see the enclosures but at the same time this is something relatively new to me therefore I need help!

Thanks your alert anyway.

 

[cmacusa3]

Both my indoor enclosures have fake plants and my torts never touch them, also I have live plants and they very rarely nip at them. They pretty much know where the food is.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Gillian, with wood, you would need to either seal it or place a water barrier or a liner down before adding substrate.
Also, MY tortoises DO try to eat plastic plants...And anything red.

 

[WithLisa]

Make it as big as you can. For me the minimum size would be 4 square meters, in some care sheets you can read 4x8'.
Wood is fine if you put a liner in and soil is a very good substrate.

I don't really understand why you want to use fake plants. If you plant weeds instead, your tortoise would always have fresh food available.

 

[leigti]

You can use a very large bookcase laid on its back. You may have to reinvest force the back of it. Plywood also comes in a 4 x 8 sheets. So you could build it with plywood and then other wood for the sides. Then line it with a shower curtain or a pool liner. You can use regular soil or coconut Coir. You can plant plants directly into the soil or put them in pots. My Russian tortoise continually nibbled on one fake plant and ignored another one. So now I just go with live plants. If your tortoise is an adult then it doesn't need the higher humidity levels the babies do. You can add water to the substrate and then stir it around with your hands to make it evenly a little damp.
You can also use a large plastic kiddie pool. It wouldn't need a liner. If you don't have a lot of floorspace you could build a double-decker enclosure also.
Does your tortoise have an outdoor enclosure? How much time will your tortoise be spending inside? If your tortoise is inside rarely or just at night you can get away with a smaller enclosure.

 

[Gillian M]

Gillian, with wood, you would need to either seal it or place a water barrier or a liner down before adding substrate.
Also, MY tortoises DO try to eat plastic plants...And anything red.

Am I to understand that you would not encourage a wooden enclosure? Your reply would be highly appreciated, thanks.

 

[Gillian M]

You can use a very large bookcase laid on its back. You may have to reinvest force the back of it. Plywood also comes in a 4 x 8 sheets. So you could build it with plywood and then other wood for the sides. Then line it with a shower curtain or a pool liner. You can use regular soil or coconut Coir. You can plant plants directly into the soil or put them in pots. My Russian tortoise continually nibbled on one fake plant and ignored another one. So now I just go with live plants. If your tortoise is an adult then it doesn't need the higher humidity levels the babies do. You can add water to the substrate and then stir it around with your hands to make it evenly a little damp.
You can also use a large plastic kiddie pool. It wouldn't need a liner. If you don't have a lot of floorspace you could build a double-decker enclosure also.
Does your tortoise have an outdoor enclosure? How much time will your tortoise be spending inside? If your tortoise is inside rarely or just at night you can get away with a smaller enclosure.

Thanks a lot your help. Frankly speaking I don't know how old my tort is. And members told me that it's not easy to know a tort's age, when I joined the forum. But it's definitely not a baby. No, my tort does not have an outdoor enclosure: I live in a flat. If I can secure a relatively large, comfortable, and suitable enclosure, then my tort would spend maybe 90% of the time in it.

 

[Gillian M]

Make it as big as you can. For me the minimum size would be 4 square meters, in some care sheets you can read 4x8'.
Wood is fine if you put a liner in and soil is a very good substrate.

I don't really understand why you want to use fake plants. If you plant weeds instead, your tortoise would always have fresh food available.

Thanks your help.

I don't think I am going to be able to make the enclosure that large: I live in a relatively small flat and the bigger the enclosure, the "tighter the flat becomes." As for the fake plants, well, I have read about them and wanted advice from members of the forum, that's all.

 

[johnsonnboswell]

Wooden enclosures are fine. They need to be waterproofed.

 

[leigti]

Since you don't have a lot of floorspace, then I would definitely suggest a double-decker type set up. And since your tortoise is going to be indoors 90% of the time I would also suggest you invest in a UV index meter. Such as the solar meter 6.5. That way you will know that your tortoises getting enough UVB. I have one of those meters and I was absolutely shocked at how little it UVB some of the long fluorescent tubes put out. But there is a lot of things that go into lightning such as type of bulb, distance from tortoise etc. That is basically a whole different thread Research the lighting section, it has a lot of great information in it. Your initial set up is going to cost a lot of money but after the initial set up there shouldn't be much else to do except replace bulbs occasionally. And you can always have a temporary portable outdoor enclosure such as a kiddie pool or large low sided tub so that your tortoise can get some natural UVB when you can be outside with it.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Wooden enclosures are fine. They need to be waterproofed.

Wood is good. I also use a lot of wood. Just treat it or seal it or make a barrier beforehand because if you don't, there is no fix for wood that is becoming moldy or rotten except throwing it away and starting over. Moisture will rot the wood. It will make the wood expand and in the case of most "book case" type wood, will make it completely fall apart.
A little preventative work now will save a lot of heartache later.

 

[Gillian M]

Wood is good. I also use a lot of wood. Just treat it or seal it or make a barrier beforehand because if you don't, there is no fix for wood that is becoming moldy or rotten except throwing it away and starting over. Moisture will rot the wood. It will make the wood expand and in the case of most "book case" type wood, will make it completely fall apart.
A little preventative work now will save a lot of heartache later.

Thanks very much your advice It is a nice wooden enclosure that I have been thinking of for some reason, keeping in mind what you mentioned sealing it well, then putting soil, plants and the UVB light of course.

 

[Gillian M]

Since you don't have a lot of floorspace, then I would definitely suggest a double-decker type set up. And since your tortoise is going to be indoors 90% of the time I would also suggest you invest in a UV index meter. Such as the solar meter 6.5. That way you will know that your tortoises getting enough UVB. I have one of those meters and I was absolutely shocked at how little it UVB some of the long fluorescent tubes put out. But there is a lot of things that go into lightning such as type of bulb, distance from tortoise etc. That is basically a whole different thread Research the lighting section, it has a lot of great information in it. Your initial set up is going to cost a lot of money but after the initial set up there shouldn't be much else to do except replace bulbs occasionally. And you can always have a temporary portable outdoor enclosure such as a kiddie pool or large low sided tub so that your tortoise can get some natural UVB when you can be outside with it.

Thanks your help, appreciate it

How could the double decker enclosure suit a tort? (Please excuse my ignorance here: I've never dealt with such a subject). Oh yes, it is going to cost a lot, but I want my tort to really feel "at home" if so I may put it. As for the portable pool, well, a friend of mine suggested that for the indoor enclosure so as to save money. "No way" I said. "My tort could tear it into bits and pieces", couldn't it? When I take my tort out for "a wak" I let it roam around on the pavement and as soon as we return home I give it a good bath

 

[leigti]

Try to find some dirt and grass for it to crawl on, too much on the pavement can be hard on the bottom shelf. A double-decker enclosure is just to tabletop enclosures connected by a ramp. There are some very good ones listed in the enclosure section. The favorite one I've seen it was made with bunkbeds. It just gives the tortoise more floor space and a little ramp to go up and down that's all. It's a week easy way to get more room for your tortoise without taking up more of your own floorspace.

 

[lismar79]

I have made two of my enclosures out of twin bed frames, if you have the room, these are a nice size.

 

[leigti]

I have made two of my enclosures out of twin bed frames, if you have the room, these are a nice size.

Do you have pictures of those? Can you post them here to give us some idea? I like to see what creative people do to make enclosures, it helps us people who aren't very creative

 

[lismar79]

Do you have pictures of those? Can you post them here to give us some idea? I like to see what creative people do to make enclosures, it helps us people who aren't very creative

Here's the thread

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/old-bed-enclosed-chamber.88366/