Enclosure tips!

[Torts&Turts]

please help! What am I doing wrong with their enclosure? Greek and box live in it measures 42"x24". Small about 1 1/2 year old. I have no substrate only bark, under the bark I have a plastic liner attached with duct tape to prevent from molding with urine or feces. I'm confused about the lighting.

 

[wellington]

First your mixing species and that is a big No No. These two need totally different care. Second, the enclosure is too small for one adult tort let alone two. Third, hay/straw is a bad drying substrate.
Get them their own enclosure, their own che (ceramic heat emitter) and their own UVB bulb, and not the spiral kind. Dirt or coconut coir or what your using under the hay are all good for substrates, not the hay.
Others can add further.

 

[Yvonne G]

I turned the picture around so we can see it without having to turn our monitors on their sides:



That is an ok size for the one tortoise, but your box turtle needs a different habitat. Not only because of the size, but because the tortoise and turtle require two different types of habitat.

My suggestions:

Move the two planks over to the left end.
Make some sort of bar that goes across about 15" above the length of the enclosure and hang your light from the bar. Put the light on a chain and you can raise or lower it to get the temperature you're looking for. I like to have my UVB light at one end and a night time heat fixture over the other end. . . in this case it would be over the right edge of the planks.
Move the two hiding places to underneath the planks. this gives the tortoise more space.
Add a couple or three small potted plants sunk down into the substrate.
Remove the hay. In this case it is serving no purpose.
Add a clay plant saucer a little bigger than the tortoise and sink it into the substrate for water.

You can make the same thing for a box turtle, but in his case he needs a substrate he can bury into, and that you can moisten. He also needs more plants and a bigger waterer.

 

[Torts&Turts]

I turned the picture around so we can see it without having to turn our monitors on their sides:

View attachment 193947

That is an ok size for the one tortoise, but your box turtle needs a different habitat. Not only because of the size, but because the tortoise and turtle require two different types of habitat.

My suggestions:

Move the two planks over to the left end.
Make some sort of bar that goes across about 15" above the length of the enclosure and hang your light from the bar. Put the light on a chain and you can raise or lower it to get the temperature you're looking for. I like to have my UVB light at one end and a night time heat fixture over the other end. . . in this case it would be over the right edge of the planks.
Move the two hiding places to underneath the planks. this gives the tortoise more space.
Add a couple or three small potted plants sunk down into the substrate.
Remove the hay. In this case it is serving no purpose.
Add a clay plant saucer a little bigger than the tortoise and sink it into the substrate for water.

You can make the same thing for a box turtle, but in his case he needs a substrate he can bury into, and that you can moisten. He also needs more plants and a bigger waterer.

Any suggestions where i can get a products for my tort.Things such as uvb lamps and night time heat fixtures.

 

[Yvonne G]

I try to not shop specialty shops, like pet stores. You can buy things much cheaper at home improvement stores, lighting stores, etc. I buy my UVB lights at amazon smile, but you can also get lights at lightyourreptiles.com. The fixtures are sold much cheaper at home depot, etc.

 

[Torts&Turts]

Posting pics about the enclosure I had to kind of move stuff around make some changes. The box turtle got removed and placed at my daughters magnet program that studies with zoology.

 

[Torts&Turts]

Here are the rest. Also Shelly knew I was moving stuff around and she seemed more active now that the box turt is gone.

 

[SarahChelonoidis]

What is that you are feeding in this photo?

 

[Torts&Turts]

What is that you are feeding in this photo?

yellow squash. Shelly likes to eat yellow squash, dandelions, romaines, collards, and outdoor grasses.