Does this enclosure look alright

method89

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Get rid of the clip light... Hazardous to you and the tortoise.

The humidity/temp gauges you have are very unreliable.

Sorry to be a downer.
 

Tom

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Looks a little barren, but not bad other than that. I'd use a large terra cotta plant saucer sunk into the substrate instead of that water bowl, and I'd put a flat rock under the basking lamp.

Does he have a basking area that gets up to around 95-100 F?

What bulbs are in the two fixtures?
 

julietteq

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I think it looks very cute ! What I would def. add is more live plants. Just leave them in their pots when you put them in. Tortoises love to hide under "real" leaves. Screenshot 2020-03-27 at 08.26.12.png
 

bouaboua

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Couple sight barrier will be nice.
 
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I'm not sure if I need to make any adjustments. Any suggestion?
Looks good, the Light is quite dangerous though. I used to have one a couple years back, and it fell. maybe you could add a calcium block of cuttle fish. And if u have a Russian, make sure there is absolutely no possible way for him or her to escape as they are definitely the houndinis of the tortoise world!
 

Levi Schweiger

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Looks a little barren, but not bad other than that. I'd use a large terra cotta plant saucer sunk into the substrate instead of that water bowl, and I'd put a flat rock under the basking lamp.

Does he have a basking area that gets up to around 95-100 F?

What bulbs are in the two fixtures?
Yeah his basking area is usually around 97. I have a UVB and a UVA and a heat emitter
 

Tom

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Yeah his basking area is usually around 97. I have a UVB and a UVA and a heat emitter
You shouldn't use that type of cfl UV bulb, They are ineffective and some of them burn tortoise eyes.

The CHE is for ambient heat. Not to be used for basking unless coupled with a light source close by, but better to use an incandescent flood bulb for that.

There are four elements to heating and lighting:
  1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt floods from the hardware store. I run them on a timer for 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. You can mount a fixture on the ceiling, or hang a dome lamp from the ceiling. Go lower or higher wattage if this makes the enclosure too hot or not warm enough. Do not use "spot" bulbs, mercury vapor bulbs or halogen bulbs.
  2. Ambient heat maintenance. Unless your house gets unusually cold at night, you can skip this step for a Russian or other Testudo species. Night lows above 60 require no night heat for Testudo species.
  3. Light. I use florescent tubes for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most tubes at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. I've been using LEDs lately and they are great, and run cooler than a florescent. This can be set on the same timer as the basking bulb. If your tortoises room is already adequately lit, you don't need this one either.
  4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside in a safe secure enclosure for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. If you want it anyway, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. It helps to have a UV meter to test and see what your bulb is actually putting out at your mounting height. Plexi-glass or screen tops will filter out some or all of the UV produced by your bulb. Regular "T 8" type UV tubes produce hardly any UV. CFL type UV bulbs are also ineffective, and sometimes dangerous, and should not be used.
 

matheny00

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I think it looks very cute ! What I would def. add is more live plants. Just leave them in their pots when you put them in. Tortoises love to hide under "real" leaves. View attachment 288950
I love the live plants and grass. Few questions if you don't mind. First the plants do you remove them to water or for sun and is that regular bark type substrate around them? I noticed a barrier between the grass and plant area is that due to using dirt for the grass to grow in? I am at step 1 of our new enclosure so any info given now would be great.
Thanks
 

Levi Schweiger

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You shouldn't use that type of cfl UV bulb, They are ineffective and some of them burn tortoise eyes.

The CHE is for ambient heat. Not to be used for basking unless coupled with a light source close by, but better to use an incandescent flood bulb for that.

There are four elements to heating and lighting:
  1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt floods from the hardware store. I run them on a timer for 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. You can mount a fixture on the ceiling, or hang a dome lamp from the ceiling. Go lower or higher wattage if this makes the enclosure too hot or not warm enough. Do not use "spot" bulbs, mercury vapor bulbs or halogen bulbs.
  2. Ambient heat maintenance. Unless your house gets unusually cold at night, you can skip this step for a Russian or other Testudo species. Night lows above 60 require no night heat for Testudo species.
  3. Light. I use florescent tubes for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most tubes at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. I've been using LEDs lately and they are great, and run cooler than a florescent. This can be set on the same timer as the basking bulb. If your tortoises room is already adequately lit, you don't need this one either.
  4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside in a safe secure enclosure for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. If you want it anyway, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. It helps to have a UV meter to test and see what your bulb is actually putting out at your mounting height. Plexi-glass or screen tops will filter out some or all of the UV produced by your bulb. Regular "T 8" type UV tubes produce hardly any UV. CFL type UV bulbs are also ineffective, and sometimes dangerous, and should not be used.
Okie thank you I think I'll be making some adjustments :)
 

julietteq

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I love the live plants and grass. Few questions if you don't mind. First the plants do you remove them to water or for sun and is that regular bark type substrate around them? I noticed a barrier between the grass and plant area is that due to using dirt for the grass to grow in? I am at step 1 of our new enclosure so any info given now would be great.
Thanks
Sorry it took me so long to reply. You can find detailed info about how I build my very first tortoise enclosure under this link.


Hope it helps.

Greetz Jul
 

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