I'm Considering Doing an Enclosure Overhaul - I Need Your Opinion Please

Julian32122

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Nov 1, 2020
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Vallejo
I'm considering possibly doing an enclosure overhaul depending on the feedback I receive.

I'll keep things short and simple: I have a ~1.5 year old Russian Tortoise that is almost 4.5 inches long. He/she needs more space to burrow in and I just want a bigger enclosure for it in general.

The new option I'm considering is this plant bed from Amazon:

A1L1WlgfDBL._AC_SL1500_.jpg

It is 6 feet long and almost 3 feet wide. The depth ranges from 6-15 inches so it can burrow to his hearts desire. The plant bed will have a liner so the wood doesn't warp when I wet the substrate.

I plan on hanging a 46" T5 HO 12% above the enclosure at the appropriate distance (using a solar meter), using 100-150 watt flood bulbs for his basking and I plan on keeping his coco coir nice and moist all the time + I will add a humid hide as well.

My MAIN concern with this setup is that it is an open table setup. Open table = less humidity. For a Russian tortoise that's 1.5 years old and 4.5 inches in length, is having an open table setup an absolute no-go or will he be fine given that he will have plenty of moist substrate to burrow in + a humid hide + frequent soakings?

Hoping to hear some feedback (I would appreciate if @Yvonne G or @Tom could please give some input as well) Thank you guys!
 
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Tom

The Dog Trainer
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Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
I'm considering possibly doing an enclosure overhaul depending on the feedback I receive.

I'll keep things short and simple: I have a ~1.5 year old Russian Tortoise that is almost 4.5 inches long. He/she needs more space to burrow in and I just want a bigger enclosure for it in general.

The new option I'm considering is this plant bed from Amazon:

View attachment 336148

It is 6 feet long and almost 3 feet wide. The depth ranges from 6-15 inches so it can burrow to his hearts desire. The plant bed will have a liner so the wood doesn't warp when I wet the substrate.

I plan on hanging a 46" T5 HO 12% above the enclosure at the appropriate distance (using a solar meter), using 100-150 watt flood bulbs for his basking and I plan on keeping his coco coir nice and moist all the time + I will add a humid hide as well.

My MAIN concern with this setup is that it is an open table setup. Open table = less humidity. For a Russian tortoise that's 1.5 years old and 4.5 inches in length, is having an open table setup an absolute no-go or will he be fine given that he will have plenty of moist substrate to burrow in + a humid hide + frequent soakings?

Hoping to hear some feedback (I would appreciate if @Yvonne G or @Tom could please give some input as well) Thank you guys!
An open table design should be fine, but as has been said already, you need to go bigger. A sheet of ply wood with sides is what you need. 3x6 is 18 square feet of space. 4x8 is 32.

And you don't need a 46" UV tube. a 22" or 34" will do nicely. Only run it for 2-3 hours mid day, and have LED lighting to keep it bright the rest of the time.
 
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