Homemade Tort table

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Howdy! Thought I'd give an update to the status of our mid-centuryTortoise Table creation. It's all built, waterproofed, substrated and fancy. :)

So here is the scoop on style- It's an Ikea bookcase flipped upside-down with a piece of ply on the bottom for structure. It's 2'x4' which seemed adequate for now, the babies are about and inch and a half long currently. Steel hairpin legs with the bottoms painted blue. The exterior is a walnut veneer treated with stain and urethane- properly degassed. The interior was rubberized and caulked for moisture protection and then papered over with a walnut vinyl film (like a drawer liner). It's pretty cool stuff, easy to work with and it looks just like the real thing! I made a little modern house for them out of birch. My husband painted and added the fake stone while I was away in Europe on business. What a guy!

For the substrate we wanted them to have a variety and also we wanted it to look cool (artists- ugh, can't ANYTHING be simple?!). So we started off with lining the entire bottom with a thick black plastic tarp so that removal of the substrate was an easier process. On top of that we used acrylic boxes of varying heights for terrain. We attached a reptile grass mat to a few of the boxes and filled in the gaps with smooth river rocks. After that we filled in the rest of the habitat with moistened coco coir. We shlepped over to home depot for rock tiles... these are awesome! They have all the rocks attached to this mesh and it's super easy to drop onto the coco coir and fill all the gaps, we cut holes in it to recess their water dishes. The little babies have a halved flower pot as a hide in their fancy modern house that they can dig into and snooze.

What we have left to do is add living forage plants. They can be dropped in both in the rocky side of the habitat and at the sides of their little house. I think once we get to that, the habitat will look super swanky. I'm almost sorry I am posing the photos without it, but I am too excited about it finally being done and having the babies out of their sweater box.

They have a UVB light and a basking lamp on the rocky side and we're adding their heating rope on a thermostat to heat their night area. Currently in southern California it's been SO hot that it's not gotten below 80 at night. Cold snap is coming though, so we're prepared.

The babies prefer the rocky side. They don't seem to like walking in the coco coir much. They seem to be having a great time exploring their enclosure. As soon as they get big enough we'll create their outdoor habitat.

Bonus baby pics! Of course with their first salad in their new villa.

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Tom

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It looks very nice.

What is your humidity level? I think it will be much too dry. You ought to give them a humid hide to use.

What sort of UV bulb are you using. I'm presuming its a coil type since that is all that will fit in those fixtures. Those can burn their eyes and should not be used.
 

johnsonnboswell

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How beautiful!

They prefer the rock side because that's where the light & heat is. Hard to tell in the picture, but it seems the coco coir is too dry. That would make for hard footing for the little ones. It needs to compact as well as to hold moisture. That's an easy fix. Just pour it on.

Be prepared to toss the reptile carpet when it gets nasty.
 
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It looks very nice.

What is your humidity level? I think it will be much too dry. You ought to give them a humid hide to use.

What sort of UV bulb are you using. I'm presuming its a coil type since that is all that will fit in those fixtures. Those can burn their eyes and should not be used.

The UVB light is a 13 watt CFL looking thing. I've been observing the little guys, they sorta just sit under it with their eyes closed. I'd hate to burn their eyeballs. If possible I just open the window next to the hab and let them get actual sunlight. I've been using this for mornings and overcast days.

Don't know the humidity level is. I'd love to know what a humid hide is, you've mentioned humid hides a lot, but it's not been explained what it is exactly. I have a halved flower pot via Yvonne's suggestion with damp substrate piled up over it and into it. I also mist the habitat before I leave for work and after I get home. It's pretty moist but surely evaporates. I also soak them.
 
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How beautiful!

They prefer the rock side because that's where the light & heat is. Hard to tell in the picture, but it seems the coco coir is too dry. That would make for hard footing for the little ones. It needs to compact as well as to hold moisture. That's an easy fix. Just pour it on.

Be prepared to toss the reptile carpet when it gets nasty.

Oh yes! Already have a ton of the "grass" I'm expecting loads of poops. It's also where we're feeding them so it's going to get super dirty. I wanted them to have a somewhat coco coir free area for food and it's easily replaceable! The second picture looks SUPER dry, it's just the camera exposure it has I bet a gallon of water in it! I spray the top twice a day. If you look at the tighter shots of the substrate between the rocks you can see it's pretty saturated. It evaporates off fairly quick.
 

Yellow Turtle01

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Hi, yep, that will be very hard to get the hubity right! A humid hide is a, well, hide, that is very humid, This can be achieved by adding wet moss or wet substrate.
http://www.tortoise.org/general/descare.html Tom might have a better care sheet, I believe he owns desert tort too :)
UVB through a window will provide them with enough, and yes, coil bulbs are bad. Here's a pic- upload_2014-10-15_15-22-31.jpeg How deep is the coir? Repti carpet really isn't good for them in the long run! http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/repti-carpet-for-a-cherryhead-is-it-ever-appropriate.98567/
I do love your idea!
 

Tyanna

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I've learned (as @Tom told me), open topped tables are extremely hard to keep humidity high. I don't have much of an issue since my Russian is an adult and they do not need very very high humidity like some species, and babies. I would try to find a way to close it off. People use plexiglass, or foil.
 
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Hi, yep, that will be very hard to get the hubity right! A humid hide is a, well, hide, that is very humid, This can be achieved by adding wet moss or wet substrate.
http://www.tortoise.org/general/descare.html Tom might have a better care sheet, I believe he owns desert tort too :)
UVB through a window will provide them with enough, and yes, coil bulbs are bad. Here's a pic- View attachment 100264 How deep is the coir? Repti carpet really isn't good for them in the long run! http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/repti-carpet-for-a-cherryhead-is-it-ever-appropriate.98567/
I do love your idea!

The coir is about 4 inches+ deep, wetted and packed pretty well. Their hide is a half flower pot with moist coir and it's packed all around it and inside it... kinda like a hobbit hole. :) It's under the house so you can't see it in the pictures. Though I did see what Tom had done with tupperware so we'll just swap it out for that. They're pretty little still. Much work for an arid species! I mean c'mon, I grew up in the Mojave desert... how humid do these guys need to be?! Crazy I tell you.

From what I understand about modern building is that window glass blocks UVB so the window has to be open in order for the torts to get the benefit. Totally okay on moderate days, but it's going to get cold soon and I might not want the windows open all the time. I won't be hibernating them their first year.
 

Yellow Turtle01

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I get your thinking, but just recently we've learned that most 'desert' tort species hatch in the monsoon season, grow rapidly, and then 'survive' throughout the very dry season. So for most tortoise species to grow up healthy and right, they need to have high humidity for the first few few months of their life, and even after.
This is where pyramiding comes from, very low humidity. Idk if @Tom has a better sheet for you :)
Yes, it does :D hibernating the first year is usually a nono, plus they'll need a checkup if you're doing it in the future. Do they go outdoors for fresh air and real sun?
 
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I get your thinking, but just recently we've learned that most 'desert' tort species hatch in the monsoon season, grow rapidly, and then 'survive' throughout the very dry season. So for most tortoise species to grow up healthy and right, they need to have high humidity for the first few few months of their life, and even after.
This is where pyramiding comes from, very low humidity. Idk if @Tom has a better sheet for you :)
Yes, it does :D hibernating the first year is usually a nono, plus they'll need a checkup if you're doing it in the future. Do they go outdoors for fresh air and real sun?

Sure do! They have supervised visits outdoors as much as possible. Harder now though since the days are getting shorter and it's dark when I get home.
 

Yellow Turtle01

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That's good, natural UVB is really good for them! (and, of course, be able to wander and graze :D )
 

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