Indoor enclosure

[brid]

It’s been a while since I’ve been on, so while I’m here I’ll post a picture of Darwin’s indoor enclosure. Any suggestions to improve are welcome!

He seems to enjoy it. I never hear or notice him trying to get out which I hope means he’s happy with his space. He waits for me every morning to deliver his food and races over to eat. He’s been checked out by the vet, has some new shell growth, and seems to be doing really well. He does get supervised outdoor time when the weather is nice until we can provide him with a secure outdoor enclosure. I really, really love this little guy and I constantly tell him that I hope we get to spend the rest of our lives together.

The spider plant hanging in the middle will hopefully have some babies to drop off/plant at some point. He did have a few in his table but he eats at every given opportunity so they were very short lived.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Very nice looking enclosure! Only thing that I’m wondering is if you’re using a top soil? It’s best to just use coco coir if so, trouble with top soils is, unless you’ve composted it yourself, there’s no telling what plants have gone into it, could be something toxic, however if it is just coir that’s fine

The other thing I’m seeing is your humidity looks to be reading a little low, you want in more in the 50% range.

You might find this thread I made useful to go over because I include how to maintain your humidity for longer, you can also use it to double check you’ve got the right kind of basking bulb and basking temperature

Housing adult Russian and Hermans indoors

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information an example of an appropriate indoor set up for an older Herman/russian. As much as it’s encouraged to have tortoises in a safe outdoor enclosure, I understand being from the uk myself, that some climates make it difficult to...

tortoiseforum.org

Oh just a heads up on the spider plant, I wouldn’t let them have babies inside the enclosure itself because the flowers and seeds are actually toxic, I’d get one established as your mother plant outside of the enclosure that will give you the baby plants, then for any planted in the enclosure, just cut off any baby stems you see starting to grow.

Do you know how old your little cutie is? They’re adorable!

 

[brid]

Very nice looking enclosure! Only thing that I’m wondering is if you’re using a top soil? It’s best to just use coco coir if so, trouble with top soils is, unless you’ve composted it yourself, there’s no telling what plants have gone into it, could be something toxic, however if it is just coir that’s fine

The other thing I’m seeing is your humidity looks to be reading a little low, you want in more in the 50% range.

You might find this thread I made useful to go over because I include how to maintain your humidity for longer, you can also use it to double check you’ve got the right kind of basking bulb and basking temperature

Housing adult Russian and Hermans indoors

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information an example of an appropriate indoor set up for an older Herman/russian. As much as it’s encouraged to have tortoises in a safe outdoor enclosure, I understand being from the uk myself, that some climates make it difficult to...

tortoiseforum.org

Oh just a heads up on the spider plant, I wouldn’t let them have babies inside the enclosure itself because the flowers and seeds are actually toxic, I’d get one established as your mother plant outside of the enclosure that will give you the baby plants, then for any planted in the enclosure, just cut off any baby stems you see starting to grow.

Do you know how old your little cutie is? They’re adorable!

I’m using organic peat moss. I couldn’t find any top soil around here to mix in that didn’t contain added fertilizer, so this was the best bet as far as what was available. I was using reptibark but unfortunately, I seem to have an allergic reaction to it and I would break out and itch horribly every time I had to do anything with his enclosure.

The humidity was definitely a bit low when I took this picture, I didn’t even notice! I try add water and flip the substrate weekly or so, and I’ll be doing that tomorrow now that you brought it to my attention.

Thank you for the heads up on the spider plant babies! I had no idea and really appreciate the info. So when this one has babies ready to plant on their own… how long do I allow them to establish themselves before adding them to his enclosure? I have an array of houseplants but no spider plants until this guy, so I want to make sure I’m doing it right to avoid any harm to my little guy.

I would estimate that Darwin is anywhere between 5-10 years. I wish I knew his exact age but I assume he was wild caught before he came to me, so I can’t be entirely sure. Thank you so much for your input. This forum is amazing and I’m so happy it exists to help these wonderful animals thrive with us!

 

[Tom]

I’m using organic peat moss.

Peat moss is no good as substrate. It can burn their plastron. There are three safe ones. Orchid bark, coco coir and cypress mulch.

The only other thing I would change is a matter of preference. I don't like feeding slates. The tortoises just wipe the food right off of there and drag it into the substrate. I prefer terra cotta saucers for the food, just like the water.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

I’m using organic peat moss. I couldn’t find any top soil around here to mix in that didn’t contain added fertilizer, so this was the best bet as far as what was available. I was using reptibark but unfortunately, I seem to have an allergic reaction to it and I would break out and itch horribly every time I had to do anything with his enclosure.

The humidity was definitely a bit low when I took this picture, I didn’t even notice! I try add water and flip the substrate weekly or so, and I’ll be doing that tomorrow now that you brought it to my attention.

Thank you for the heads up on the spider plant babies! I had no idea and really appreciate the info. So when this one has babies ready to plant on their own… how long do I allow them to establish themselves before adding them to his enclosure? I have an array of houseplants but no spider plants until this guy, so I want to make sure I’m doing it right to avoid any harm to my little guy.

I would estimate that Darwin is anywhere between 5-10 years. I wish I knew his exact age but I assume he was wild caught before he came to me, so I can’t be entirely sure. Thank you so much for your input. This forum is amazing and I’m so happy it exists to help these wonderful animals thrive with us!

As Tom mentions I’d switch out the peat moss, it’s actually too acidic a ph and can indeed burn their plastron. Seeing as your allergic to the reptibark, I’d suggest just using coco coir, perhaps with some forest floor bark if you wanted
With the spider babies, wait until they look a bit bigger/more established, you’ll start seeing the beginnings of tiny roots, once you do, pick them and place the bottom in water for a few weeks until you see the roots sprouting underneath, they’re then ready to be planted
Aw bless him! Very gorgeous looking lad

 

[brid]

Peat moss is no good as substrate. It can burn their plastron. There are three safe ones. Orchid bark, coco coir and cypress mulch.

The only other thing I would change is a matter of preference. I don't like feeding slates. The tortoises just wipe the food right off of there and drag it into the substrate. I prefer terra cotta saucers for the food, just like the water.

Ugh. I feel horrible for making the switch and possibly hurting him. I’ll change it out as soon as possible.

I have noticed him dragging some food off and I do my best to rinse and put it back onto the slate, but I have an extra terra cotta saucer so I’ll switch that now. Thank you!

 

[brid]

As Tom mentions I’d switch out the peat moss, it’s actually too acidic a ph and can indeed burn their plastron. Seeing as your allergic to the reptibark, I’d suggest just using coco coir, perhaps with some forest floor bark if you wanted
With the spider babies, wait until they look a bit bigger/more established, you’ll start seeing the beginnings of tiny roots, once you do, pick them and place the bottom in water for a few weeks until you see the roots sprouting underneath, they’re then ready to be planted
Aw bless him! Very gorgeous looking lad

Ok, awesome! The few I’ve given him were all in water before doing so and had roots so I’m glad I did that correctly so far.

Thank you guys for the heads up on the peat moss. I feel so bad and hope I didn’t cause him any harm. I’ll change it out as soon as possible.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Ugh. I feel horrible for making the switch and possibly hurting him. I’ll change it out as soon as possible.

I have noticed him dragging some food off and I do my best to rinse and put it back onto the slate, but I have an extra terra cotta saucer so I’ll switch that now. Thank you!

Don’t worry! I had no idea about peat moss before jointing the forum too! Easy mistake to make, least you’re aware of it now