Help me close my open-top enclosure?

[Agathaade]

Hi all,

I’ve been avidly browsing this forum for a few weeks, this is my first post.

I am getting an eight week old baby Greek Ibera in August from Chris Leone at gardenstate tortoises. It’s been a lifelong dream of mine to care for a tortoise so I am preparing everything for it to live well.
I live in Los Angeles, so in a dry climate. Eventually I will build an outdoor enclosure for my tortoise to live outside, but as a baby it will be indoors.

Outside for now I am starting seeds in a container garden for dandelion, plantain, chicory, clover, thistle, mallow, wild strawberry and a few other weeds and seed mixes I hope to feed it. I have a few cuttlebones and some mazuri diet (small pellets). I hope to be able to grow what I feed my pet exclusively, or close.

Inside where it will live for a few years, I have collected what I thought was a thorough baby tortoise kit. A cement mixing tub (it sits in a fir wood garden planter that is just slightly larger), cypress mulch, a 100 Watt MVB bulb and fixture, terra cotta saucers, a slate plate, various hides (resin, terra cotta and wood, rocks, a few safe plants (spider plant and praying hands) a driftwood log for enrichment.
I have a UV meter and hygrometer/thermometers to make sure I set everything up right and can keep monitoring.
I have included a photo below, it’s not all assembled but gives you an idea of how it was going to be an open air enclosure.

And then I started digging around this forum and finding out about closed chambers for babies...

After reading so many testimonies from many of you with decades of experience in multiples threads on here, I want to go that route.

I have an idea for ‘closing’ my habitat, based on a diy cold frame I saw online. Would you take a look and tell le what you think? Attached below is a pic of what inspired me, and my sketch.

I’m thinking of using corrugated plastic board in the back, and vinyl plastic sheet (thick, clear, flexible with a little bit of weigh to it) for the sides and front ‘curtains’. I would line the inside of the planter the tub sits in too so no humidity escapes through the bottom. Possibly forgo the plastic tub then, that would have the benefit of making the bottom of my enclosure bigger.

My enclosure questions

- Does this look like a good design?
- Any sorts of plastics I should avoid for toxicity or heat resistance reasons?
- How long does the baby need to be housed in the closed chamber?
- How long would a baby Greek be happy in a 24x36 closed chamber?
(Asking those two last questions because I am wondering if I should just use my planter outside and get a different larger enclosure altogether?)

I apologize if this is a lot of questions at once!
The last thing I want to do is get an animal and not treat it the way it deserves.
Reading about tortoises is a quest, I am probably not be the first person to come here with this sort of realization, and I appreciate the dedication, patience and support I have seen here so far.

 

[Lokkje]

I probably shouldn’t jump in here as I don’t know much of anything about Greek tortoises, but I don’t think you need to be as worried about the humidity for a Greek as you do for leopards or Sulcatas. I will assume that you read the care sheet for Greek tortoises under the Mediterranean/Greek forum link. I’m sure there are people who would have some suggestions for you about what will work best for your tortoise. You might want to post up if you haven’t done it yet in the string for the Greek tortoises and see what people who are expert with Greek tortoises think about your set up. It looks like you’re going to be a great new tortoise parent as you are clearly working hard and thinking quite a bit before you acquire your new family member. Congratulations and I wish you the very best of luck. Please post up a picture when everything is set up and you have your new baby.

 

[Agathaade]

Huh. I have read the Greek tortoise care sheet on the forum a bunch of times and somehow had missed the additional hatchling guide in a separate comment below... Just saw it now.
Going to dive into it further, but at first glance I’m not too far off. The enclosure needs a way to close at least at night.

 

[Agathaade]

After reading the second part of the Greek care guide that I somehow had missed until now - the part about hatchlings - it turns out I should lose my mercury UVB bulb, and at the very least mix something else into my cypress mulch. Or maybe not use cypress mulch at all...
You read you learn...!

 

[method89]

I probably shouldn’t jump in here as I don’t know much of anything about Greek tortoises, but I don’t think you need to be as worried about the humidity for a Greek as you do for leopards or Sulcatas. I will assume that you read the care sheet for Greek tortoises under the Mediterranean/Greek forum link. I’m sure there are people who would have some suggestions for you about what will work best for your tortoise. You might want to post up if you haven’t done it yet in the string for the Greek tortoises and see what people who are expert with Greek tortoises think about your set up. It looks like you’re going to be a great new tortoise parent as you are clearly working hard and thinking quite a bit before you acquire your new family member. Congratulations and I wish you the very best of luck. Please post up a picture when everything is set up and you have your new baby.

Humidity is important in ALL baby tortoises. The setup looks like it should work in theory. You will need to set it up and see how it holds temp and humidity for a week or so.

 

[method89]

Hi all,

I’ve been avidly browsing this forum for a few weeks, this is my first post.

I am getting an eight week old baby Greek Ibera in August from Chris Leone at gardenstate tortoises. It’s been a lifelong dream of mine to care for a tortoise so I am preparing everything for it to live well.
I live in Los Angeles, so in a dry climate. Eventually I will build an outdoor enclosure for my tortoise to live outside, but as a baby it will be indoors.

Outside for now I am starting seeds in a container garden for dandelion, plantain, chicory, clover, thistle, mallow, wild strawberry and a few other weeds and seed mixes I hope to feed it. I have a few cuttlebones and some mazuri diet (small pellets). I hope to be able to grow what I feed my pet exclusively, or close.

Inside where it will live for a few years, I have collected what I thought was a thorough baby tortoise kit. A cement mixing tub (it sits in a fir wood garden planter that is just slightly larger), cypress mulch, a 100 Watt MVB bulb and fixture, terra cotta saucers, a slate plate, various hides (resin, terra cotta and wood, rocks, a few safe plants (spider plant and praying hands) a driftwood log for enrichment.
I have a UV meter and hygrometer/thermometers to make sure I set everything up right and can keep monitoring.
I have included a photo below, it’s not all assembled but gives you an idea of how it was going to be an open air enclosure.

And then I started digging around this forum and finding out about closed chambers for babies...

After reading so many testimonies from many of you with decades of experience in multiples threads on here, I want to go that route.

I have an idea for ‘closing’ my habitat, based on a diy cold frame I saw online. Would you take a look and tell le what you think? Attached below is a pic of what inspired me, and my sketch.

I’m thinking of using corrugated plastic board in the back, and vinyl plastic sheet (thick, clear, flexible with a little bit of weigh to it) for the sides and front ‘curtains’. I would line the inside of the planter the tub sits in too so no humidity escapes through the bottom. Possibly forgo the plastic tub then, that would have the benefit of making the bottom of my enclosure bigger.

My enclosure questions

- Does this look like a good design? Sure
- Any sorts of plastics I should avoid for toxicity or heat resistance reasons? Just make sure plastic isn't touching lights
- How long does the baby need to be housed in the closed chamber? As long as possible, cant get enough of the right temps and humidity
- How long would a baby Greek be happy in a 24x36 closed chamber? definitely your first year if not your second....but not much after that
(Asking those two last questions because I am wondering if I should just use my planter outside and get a different larger enclosure altogether?)

I apologize if this is a lot of questions at once!
The last thing I want to do is get an animal and not treat it the way it deserves.
Reading about tortoises is a quest, I am probably not be the first person to come here with this sort of realization, and I appreciate the dedication, patience and support I have seen here so far.

answered in your post

 

[Agathaade]

Thank you method89 for your insights.
Good idea, I should build it and test it before the baby comes.
If it doesn't work for the tortoise it will work for growing its food outside

 

[method89]

Thank you.
You're right, I should build it and test it before the baby comes.
If it doesn't work for the tortoise it will work for growing its food outside

It will work for sure, but may need tweaks. You'll only know once you test it.

 

[Tom]

Hi all,

I’ve been avidly browsing this forum for a few weeks, this is my first post.

I am getting an eight week old baby Greek Ibera in August from Chris Leone at gardenstate tortoises. It’s been a lifelong dream of mine to care for a tortoise so I am preparing everything for it to live well.
I live in Los Angeles, so in a dry climate. Eventually I will build an outdoor enclosure for my tortoise to live outside, but as a baby it will be indoors.

Outside for now I am starting seeds in a container garden for dandelion, plantain, chicory, clover, thistle, mallow, wild strawberry and a few other weeds and seed mixes I hope to feed it. I have a few cuttlebones and some mazuri diet (small pellets). I hope to be able to grow what I feed my pet exclusively, or close.

Inside where it will live for a few years, I have collected what I thought was a thorough baby tortoise kit. A cement mixing tub (it sits in a fir wood garden planter that is just slightly larger), cypress mulch, a 100 Watt MVB bulb and fixture, terra cotta saucers, a slate plate, various hides (resin, terra cotta and wood, rocks, a few safe plants (spider plant and praying hands) a driftwood log for enrichment.
I have a UV meter and hygrometer/thermometers to make sure I set everything up right and can keep monitoring.
I have included a photo below, it’s not all assembled but gives you an idea of how it was going to be an open air enclosure.

And then I started digging around this forum and finding out about closed chambers for babies...

After reading so many testimonies from many of you with decades of experience in multiples threads on here, I want to go that route.

I have an idea for ‘closing’ my habitat, based on a diy cold frame I saw online. Would you take a look and tell le what you think? Attached below is a pic of what inspired me, and my sketch.

I’m thinking of using corrugated plastic board in the back, and vinyl plastic sheet (thick, clear, flexible with a little bit of weigh to it) for the sides and front ‘curtains’. I would line the inside of the planter the tub sits in too so no humidity escapes through the bottom. Possibly forgo the plastic tub then, that would have the benefit of making the bottom of my enclosure bigger.

My enclosure questions

- Does this look like a good design?
- Any sorts of plastics I should avoid for toxicity or heat resistance reasons?
- How long does the baby need to be housed in the closed chamber?
- How long would a baby Greek be happy in a 24x36 closed chamber?
(Asking those two last questions because I am wondering if I should just use my planter outside and get a different larger enclosure altogether?)

I apologize if this is a lot of questions at once!
The last thing I want to do is get an animal and not treat it the way it deserves.
Reading about tortoises is a quest, I am probably not be the first person to come here with this sort of realization, and I appreciate the dedication, patience and support I have seen here so far.

I've never had any luck trying to modify an open topped enclosure into a closed chamber.

Check this out for current care info:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

I don't agree with much of what is in those old care sheets. Tortoise knowledge has advanced and we've learned a lot about what to do and not do, but some people keep doing things the old way anyway.

 

[Leo Mota]

Im a new member as well, and I also happen to be from Los angeles. The climate here seems perfect for my russian. He has an indoor enclosure, but a play pen outside where I let him roam plenty. I decided to build my own tortoise table since I couldnt find anything big enough for him to be happy that wouldn't damage my bank account, and it's let me customize it as much as I'd like which is a plus.

I own some other reptiles that need humidity, but I actually just keep my entire room humid. The place I live is like one big room, and since I also own some instruments that require humidity I just decided to make the whole room humid.

I think your plan looks good, but like others have said test it out before baby arrives, and make sure that there is still good ventilation. You could also look into a reptile humidifier, and add some moss in the hiding spaces. Just spray them with a mister every morning and they'll keep the hiding spots nice and humid.

Best of Luck!

 

[Agathaade]

Hi Tom,

Thank you for replying.
It is very much because of that very care sheet as well as threads (by you and others) I have read on this forum that I’m thinking of covering my enclosure I had not encountered information about closed chambers until I started browsing this forum some weeks ago. I'm glad I came here.

It shouldn't cost much to build my cover and test it, so I'll try it out over a week and report back here to get some feedback on the temp and hygrometer readings I get.
I'm happy to change course if things look amiss.
I'll get cracking on it this weekend!

 

[KarenSoCal]

A minor detail...if you do go with your sketched enclosure. Don't use the stand for the light. Clamps fail, stands can fall over. Instead, just hang your lights from the bar overhead that supports your plastic cover. It's safer, and you can raise or lower the light to fine tune the temp.

 

[Agathaade]

So, I finished adding a top to my indoor enclosure.
I’m starting a week of tests now.
Currently with a 75W incandescent flood bulb I get f98 an inch above the basking rock, temp on the opposite end is 80 and humidity 78%.
I’m thinking of forgoing UV lights because I have an outdoor enclosure in the works. I plan to go by Tom’s rule of an hour of sunlight per inch of shell.
The tortoise we are expecting is an 8 week old greek ibera.

 

[Agathaade]

Oh and I forgot to mention, I kept the lamp stand but fastened it to the sides of the enclosure so it can’t topple, and will add a tie to the top bar for safety once I have the light situation and the height figured out. That stand feels sturdy and that way I’ll have two safeguards instead of one. Thank you Karen for pointing out the lights need to be extra secure!


I used basic pine wood and EPVA shower curtains for the cover. EPVA is slightly less clear than PVC but doesn’t contain chlorine and other chemicals PVC does, especially the soft kind, so I figured it would be safer.
- Cost for the cover was $30 worth of wood (i got too much in case I made mistakes), three $14 shower curtains plus another $20 worth of nails/screw and hardware (hinges, hook and eye). I’m hoping it works!

 

[KarenSoCal]

It looks great! I'm hoping it works too! ?