Enclosure and other questions

[iloveturtles88]

I brought my box turtle inside for the winter and right now I have her in a 35 gallon tote, I've had a couple people tell me it's too small but the box turtle is still tiny (shown in my picture, if you can see it, might be too small). I went to the store and I couldn't find a bigger tote right now, so since I have another 35 gallon tote that is empty here at my house, I thought about putting them together and just making a little walkway out of a PVC pipe/pipe fitting to the other tote.

I am using Repti bark for the substrate. I have a food and water dish, a log/hide, leaf litter, sticks, a couple rocks and a 3 way PVC pipe in there that she loves crawling through. I want to add some bark and more rocks and maybe a few other things in there but I can't add too much more until I add on to her enclosure or she won't have much room to walk around. I also have a cuttlebone, a temperature and humidity gage and the heat lamp and UVB light.

For the UVB light I have a Exo terra 13w Reptile UVB 100, is that okay?? I asked at the pet store and the guy told me that this one would be okay but sometimes I feel more comfortable asking on here than the people at the pet store.

Is there anything I should add in the enclosure?? And does the adding the other 35 gallon tote with the PVC pipe as the walkway to the other tote seem okay??

Sorry for all the questions, I just want what's best for my box turtle.

 

[lisa127]

The UVB bulb you are talking about is the coil type I believe and that is not ok. You want the fluorescent tube type UVB bulbs. 5.0 - Reptisun or Reptiglo. I would also mix some organic peat moss or coco coir in with that bark to give the turtle a diggable dirt type substrate.

 

[iloveturtles88]

http://www.amazon.com/Exo-Terra-Repti-Glo-Fluorescent-Terrarium/dp/B000YS06JI/ Here is the link to the UVB the pet store told me would be okay

http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-ReptiSun-Compact-Fluorescent/dp/B00A8RI8TK Would this UVB be okay?

Right now, I have the UVB in the light fixture/hood that goes on top of an aquarium but I do have an extra light dome I could use, if that would be better for the Reptisun.

I think my cousin has some eco earth left from using some in her turtle enclosure that I might mix in with the bark.

 

[lisa127]

http://www.amazon.com/Exo-Terra-Repti-Glo-Fluorescent-Terrarium/dp/B000YS06JI/ Here is the link to the UVB the pet store told me would be okay

http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-ReptiSun-Compact-Fluorescent/dp/B00A8RI8TK Would this UVB be okay?

Right now, I have the UVB in the light fixture/hood that goes on top of an aquarium but I do have an extra light dome I could use, if that would be better for the Reptisun.

I think my cousin has some eco earth left from using some in her turtle enclosure that I might mix in with the bark.

This is what you want -
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00061V548/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

 

[terryo]

I would not use any of the bulbs you posted. The one that Lisa just posted is the only one I use for light and UVB. Also I would suggest a ceramic heat emitter...no light just heat. Repti bark isn't too good for a small turtle. I would just mix garden soil with coco coir with added leaf litter. Much easier for them to dig into. Just what I would do.

 

[iloveturtles88]

http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-ReptiCare-Ceramic-Infrared/dp/B0002AQCPK Would this emitter be okay?
Would the emitter fit in this http://www.amazon.com/2-Inch-Mirror-fixture-ultraviolet-therapy/dp/B00DOZGK66

The aquarium hood that I have is for a 10 gallon tank and the UVB won't fit in it.... so any idea what kind of dome or hood the UVB that Lisa posted fit?

Other than that, the enclosure and adding the other 35 gallon tote with the PVC pipe seem okay?

Thanks for all the help, appreciate it.

 

[leigti]

I like your idea about connecting the two totes. One question about your PVC pipe, I'm assuming it is pretty slick how do you give your turtle some traction? You may need a bigger fxture I mean wider like eight or 10 inches for the heat emit a fire.you can get the hoods to fit any of those bulbs on Amazon or at the pet store. I think they are zoomed brand.they are very similar to the aquarium hoods, just make sure there is no plastic or glass between the bulb and the turtle. Do you plan on having a UV light over both totes?I use a mixture of coconut coir
and orchid bark for my box turtle. And I threw some leaves in there too.

 

[iloveturtles88]

The PVC pipe in her cage that she crawls through I have repti bark and leaves in it, she has no problem going through it. I can't really think of another way to connect the two totes together, other than using another PVC pipe unless someone else have an idea on how to do it?

The only reason I was going to connect the two totes together is cause I've had people tell me the 35 gallon is too small but as you can see in my pic, she's still so tiny so it might work for a while? What are your thoughts?

 

[leigti]

About how big is she? I do not see well at all and I am on my app on the iPhone so I can't really see the picture if she is 2 inches long then one tote is probably fine but as I have learned the hard way you might as well go as big as you can. Otherwise you will end up in large unit every year like I have done I have seen other pictures of people who connected to totes together my making a tunnel in between so I think the PVC pipe is a great idea. You'll have to show us some pictures when you're done with it.

 

[iloveturtles88]

Here is a pic of her.

She's only inside for the winter, then she'll be back outdoors so that's why I was trying to decide if I should just use the one tote or just connect two since it's only for the winter time. She loves to explore though, she's very active. She hasn't been eating very much since I've brought her inside though. Her outdoor enclosure was way bigger than what she's in now so that might be why but don't know what to do to get her to eat.

 

[leigti]

She is cute. I would suggest replacing that water bowl with the terra-cotta plant saucer. Less chance of her flipping over.just make the rim level with the dirt. she may not be eating as well because she doesn't have the UVB and enough heat.I would go ahead and put the two totes together, she'll have to be in there again next winter too right?and she'll be bigger by then.

 

[iloveturtles88]

I had a plant saucer while she was outside but it wouldn't fit in the tote very good once I added everything else that I needed to, so I put that water bowl in there, once I connect the two totes together, i'll be able to add the plant saucer back in there and also add everything else and she'll still have room to walk around. Yeah, she'll be back in it next winter too. I am going to the pet store this weekend, so i'll be getting a couple other things I need (the right UVB this time, since I know what to get now cause I was told wrong by the guy at the pet store) so hopefully once I get that, she'll start eating better again.

My plan is to work on connecting the totes this weekend, I already have the PVC pipe and other tote. I just need to cut the holes for it to fit. I seen two other ways I could try to connect the totes but I wasn't sure how that'd work. I read where one person was going to use a platform and just connect a half log on the platform so it could cross that way and then i also read where someone somehow overlapped the totes and made a "door" for it to cross over, but i figured the PVC pipe might work for me, since she already has one in there she loves crawling through.

 

[johnsonnboswell]

Plant saucers come in all sizes, and the small ones are cheap.

You can put totes together without pipe. Just make sure there are no sharp edges.

It would be better to have fewer rocks and more substrate that holds moisture & can be burrowed into.

The proper bulb makes such a difference in activity & appetite & health. Put it on a timer & run it 14 hours a day.

 

[iloveturtles88]

How could I put the totes together without the pipe?

 

[terryo]

I know there is a thread here someplace where someone attached totds together, but I'm just not too good at finding them. I'll try again.

 

[johnsonnboswell]

I'm sure duct tape would work.

 

[Yvonne G]

Cut off opposing ends then set one just inside the other one. You can either tape the raw edges together with gorilla tape, or silicone them.

 

[iloveturtles88]

Someone also told me I could go ahead and use the PVC pipe but put a "non skid strip" on the bottom of the pipe and that should give her traction and if I wanted, I could add leaves or bark in there as well. Thoughts?

 

[leigti]

Someone also told me I could go ahead and use the PVC pipe but put a "non skid strip" on the bottom of the pipe and that should give her traction and if I wanted, I could add leaves or bark in there as well. Thoughts?

I don't see any reason why that wouldn't work.

 

[Ally]

The people at the pet store where I got most of my supplies told me that the non skid strip was good for turtles to keep traction so I have used it before. But other people on here might know more about it.