Ideas on my sulcata tortoise enclosure

[derangedplanet]

I live in an apt currently. I have a pool that is still working on growing grass on my porch for tortilla. This way she can be in grass without having to deal with the apt pesticides. She lives in a tub. Originally I had her in a clear sided tub but she can be very skiddish around the dogs and people and clear sided tubs aren't exceptionally large. We recently opted for a 60 gallon solid colored tub. She's a slow growing tortoise so I'm not exceptionally worried about her not having enough space. since converting to her solid sided tub her humidity has never been below 70 (usually it sits at 85 but there have been exceptionally dry days where misting was necessary for once in forever). We no longer use the mister we bought for her because it just started turning her tank into a swamp. She has a reptisun long flourescent. It's a 10.0. We recently have upgraded our other reptiles enclosures and now have (2) 40 g breeders, and a 55g.

We've been debating switching her back to a clear tank so we can see her again but this time have her up on a table so she'll be away from feet and stuff. I'm wondering if she's over a year should I be keeping her humidity up still? I can't find any info on when I should stop on humidity. And would it be okay to put her in one of the tanks like the 55 as long as she's still allowed out and to roam regularly like in her pool.
And because I'm sure you will ask
She has some pyramidding from prior to us getting her and some serious humidity struggles when we were living in a house with the ac constantly kept at 62 degrees.(roommates). Which is why we bought the mister in the first place. And her Temps are 108 on the hot side, and 83 ambient. So what can/should I change? Should I lower her humidity? Put her in a tank so she can see? I'm uncertain. And I can get pics of her tub if you'd like.

 

[Big Charlie]

Humidity is good for them all their lives, so I wouldn't look to reduce the humidity just because she is older. There are numerous posts on here recommending against clear tanks. When they can see out, they want to try to get out. Even when you put sulcatas outside, it is a good idea not to let them see outside of their enclosure. If you want a clear tank so you can see her, you can try blocking the bottom portion so she can't see out, but you'll be able to see over it. Personally, I wouldn't put her in a container smaller than she is used to, even if she isn't in it all the time. Bigger is always better as long as temperatures are kept good.

 

[derangedplanet]

Well the tub is taller than any of the tanks. I'm under the impression the 55 might offer the same or less than half a square foot less of ground cover. But yeah I've seen that about clear enclosures. Then again, many people I've met seem completely perturbed that I keep her in a closed tote. She seems to enjoy her tote. She gets salads and moist pellets daily as well as grass grows in her tub (though everytime I even see a stub it disappears. Her tote has spring tails and earth worms in it too. I set it up kinda like one would a fully functional terrarium and I used additive free soil mixed with coir for her dirt, which produced some natural ground dwelling bugs the moment it was warm and moist. I doubt any of these would be a problem for her but it seems best to ask. She is rather small. I'd be doubtful if she even doubled in size since we got her a year ago.

 

[Edizzle888]

Z

 

[Alexio]

So to see if I'm understand, your have your sulcata in a non-viewing tub that currently meets her heat and humidity requirements (108 is rather high though I would come down to closer to 100). But you would also like to be able to see her without having to open the tub up? And wondering what your best options are?

 

[derangedplanet]

Yes! But not really planning on buying a new tank to do so. But completely what I was kinda hoping. I was only considering changing her over if the 55 or 40 was actually feasible.

 

[Big Charlie]

What if you added a window to the lid so you could see in?

 

[derangedplanet]

I've been considering it. But I wouldn't want to use screen because it'd lower humidity. I was considering placing her up on a table, and finding a way to add a window to her tank that opens easily. I was also thinking about painting the outside. I just all in all want her tank to be more eye appealing.

 

[Big Charlie]

I was thinking along the lines of plexiglass.

 

[derangedplanet]

Hmm. I could create a hinged door... but then again I do want to upgrade her soon so she has more room to run. I don't really know if it's worth getting all customy with that in mind.

 

[Alexio]

Just my opinion on what I would do if I was you.
I would start considering constructing an enclosure in the comming months. When sulcatas start to grow, they grow. And they don't stop. I think I just saw someone with a 3 year old who was around 13 lbs.
He's going to run out of room in probably about a year or so, so instead of redoing your current setup then later just having to upgrade anyway when he starts to grow and its just too small.

 

[derangedplanet]

I completely agree. The current setup slightly less than 4.5' by 17" was meant to be temporary. We had him in a tub that was like 3.5' by almost 2 for a long time but it was just a bit too short to keep his light inside(this was "clear" sided tub) I wanted to get his humidity up so we got one tall enough to keep his light inside. His current basking light is a 52 watt I believe. I'm not sure how much lower I can really get. But I'll look next time I'm at the store. One of the biggest amazements to me is now his basking is over temp, when his entire time with any openings in the top I struggled like crazy to keep it at 100, with 100 watt bulbs.
Anyways the plan was that when we move we might set up a more open tortoise table like setup for her. Neither of my dogs seem to have any interest in her so we'd eventually like to get her used to them. I'm kind of a woods fanatic, so I'm probably gonna obsess over it being perfect. But at least her setup won't be a giant guitar. (Used to build guitars). We just don't have the space or the tools in this apt and my husband will be getting restationed in Oct. She did grow recently, not sure when it happened but she grew hardly at all the whole year and then I picked her up for the first time in forever and he was finally bigger than my Palm.