Feedback on Redfooted Tortoise's Enclosure

[Lenah_m]

First time caring for a red footed tortoise and am looking for feedback on if his enclosure looks suitable/would need any adjustments? Left side is a combo of coconut coir and topsoil, ~85 degrees (little less than 90 directly under lamp), usually between 70-85% humidity. Right side is just topsoil, ~80 degrees, between 80-95% humidity. I know a glass enclosure can potentially be stressful for them, but it's what we have right now - we'll probably eventually switch him to a tortoise table.

We've had him for a little over a week now and he seems to be doing well. He LOVES to eat and explore, but he keeps his eyes closed most of the time except for during his daily soaks and while eating. His eyes aren't swollen or sunken or anything like that and he's just a baby so he's probably just sleepy, but could his humidity or heat possibly be too low?



Thanks in advance!

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Hello
The light is probably too harsh for his eyes.
Please photograph pr describe them.
Redfoot dislike bright lights.
And I'd replace all of the soil with something like Orchid Bark.
Soil contains sand. Sand can cause impaction risks

 

[wellington]

Also those disc gauges are unreliable, replace with a digital placed at tortoise height. Also the water dishes although not the worse one out there, it can still be a flip hazard. Get a low sided clay saucer. And only one water dish. The enclosure is too small to have stuff in there that's not needed taking up walking space.

 

[Lenah_m]

Hello
The light is probably too harsh for his eyes.
Please photograph pr describe them.
Redfoot dislike bright lights.
And I'd replace all of the soil with something like Orchid Bark.
Soil contains sand. Sand can cause impaction risks

Thank you for your response! I think you were right - the issue was the lights being too bright. We have a CHE, a 80w UVA/UVB, and a 10.0 UVB light strip 39w. After looking into it a bit more we found we don't need the UVB light strip since we have the UVA/UVB bulb? We took off the UVB light strip today and he has been roaming around with his eyes open all morning. I'll also look into getting some orchid bark. Thank you!

 

[Lenah_m]

Also those disc gauges are unreliable, replace with a digital placed at tortoise height. Also the water dishes although not the worse one out there, it can still be a flip hazard. Get a low sided clay saucer. And only one water dish. The enclosure is too small to have stuff in there that's not needed taking up walking space.

We have two digitals on both sides of the enclosure; we just haven't taken the disc out yet, it was just a place holder for the first couple of days while we were waiting for the digitals to arrive in the mail. I took out the smaller water dish and am planning on buying a terracotta saucer today. Thank you for the feedback - it is much appreciated!

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Thank you for your response! I think you were right - the issue was the lights being too bright. We have a CHE, a 80w UVA/UVB, and a 10.0 UVB light strip 39w. After looking into it a bit more we found we don't need the UVB light strip since we have the UVA/UVB bulb? We took off the UVB light strip today and he has been roaming around with his eyes open all morning. I'll also look into getting some orchid bark. Thank you!

Actually it's the other way around. The light strip is what you want.
The UVA/UVB bulb does nothing very well except cost money and disappointment people

 

[TammyJ]

The setup is quite beautiful!

 

[COmtnLady]

My redfoot is very social and watches us through the sides of her enclosure all the time. It must be other types of torts that don't like to have a window.

And, like others have said, she doesn't like bright lights.

I don't use a mister. I just pour water on the wall in the corners. It keeps it humid without there being concentrated droplets in the air.

Remove the soil as soon as possible. Those little white specks are vermiculite that cause impaction when swallowed. Its great stuff for plants, not at all for torts. Have a lower strata of coco coir (2-4" deep) topped by orchid/Reptibark (also 2-4 inches deep). It is so much safer, healthier for the tortoise, and easier to deal with.

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