Moving: New enclosures...

[-ryan-]

As you may have noticed, I just picked up a very large used vision enclosure for my Male Red footed tortoise. I will be moving into my own house sometime over the next six months (hopefully sooner rather than later), and that means that I will be able to build a larger enclosure for my russian group. The goal is to eventually Keep all of the russians together in one large enclosure (right now I have a 1.3 group, then a lone female and lone youngster who's sex I am unsure of right now). The group is in a 72"x30" enclosure with a nesting bin measuring 36"x24"x8" sunken into the floor under the basking area. This enclosure is just large enough for that group, and I would like to go with a larger enclosure so that I can add my lone female to the group, and eventually hopefully the other younger tortoise once he/she has grown large enough.

I am looking at a couple of options. After purchasing that used vision enclosure, I kind of feel as though I would like to get another one of the same model so that I could modify (aka: Cut a hole in the floor for a substrate bin) and use it with my russian group. This is the most costly option, especially considering the fact that I would have to take a big risk by cutting a hole in the floor of a very expensive enclosure. However, some of the benefits are that they last forever and would create a nice, organized looking stack with my red foot enclosure above it. There would not be a huge increase in floor space, but really I would be looking at around a 3 square foot increase (the depth makes a huge difference).

Another option, sticking with the buying rather than making option, would be to get an 8' boamaster enclosure and again, modify it by cutting a hole in the floor for the substrate bin. I encounter a lot of the same problems with this method as with the vision method, though the enclosure will be notably larger.

Then I could build something. This would be the least expensive (presumably) but given the fact that I will be working 60+ hour weeks starting after the 10th of December, I have a genuine concern that I would not be able to complete an enclosure of this magnitude in a reasonable amount of time. So I am really leaning toward buying and modifying something for my needs.

I am also looking for something front-opening so that I can stack the enclosures. I understand this goes against how many of you feel tortoises should be kept, but I've done so for years with nothing but success.

Thanks for any insight you can lend!

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Oh, and something I forgot to say. If I go with a 6' long enclosure, I will likely not add the other torts in. I'm leaning towards an 8' enclosure at the moment.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I would think that putting a lone female in with males would lead to the males fighting with each other and simply breeding the female to death. Am I wrong? I know that Russian males are very aggressive and I know they don't leave the female alone so I think that putting them all together isn't a good thing. Or am I misreading what you're saying?

 

[Floof]

This page might be worth looking at with what you're talking about doing. It's written for Savannah Monitors, but it turns out a Sav's enclosure size/dimension/substrate level needs are very similar to those of breeding Russian tortoises... http://savannahmonitor.org/housing/adult/

What if you skipped cutting out the bottom, and ordered from Animal Plastics or a similar company that ships the enclosures out broken down? It's not as convenient that you have to build the enclosure when you order from Animal Plastics and the like, but it would make it easier since you could just leave off the bottom and attach a wooden box or something instead, for your substrate... It may be worth an email to the manufacturer, anyway, to see if that would work. AP does one cage that comes standard with ceramic light fixtures... Too small for a breeding group of torts, but, presumably, you should be able to order the same feature on whatever size you need. AP's site: http://animalplastics.com/

I would think that putting a lone female in with males would lead to the males fighting with each other and simply breeding the female to death. Am I wrong? I know that Russian males are very aggressive and I know they don't leave the female alone so I think that putting them all together isn't a good thing. Or am I misreading what you're saying?

I believe his current group is just one male, and 3 females, so adding in the lone female would make it 4 females to one male.. Not all males and one female... That's how I read it, anyway.

 

[Angi]

I am glad you clairified that Taylor. I had an awful picture in my head. Wouldn't it be better to wait until you move to start anything big?

 

[-ryan-]

yes, the clarification is correct. I have one male and four females, but one of the females is on her own as I've been raising her since she was a hatchling (at over 7" now, I don't think she would have any trouble as long as they have a little more space). The sixth russian is still too young to tell. I was thinking it might be a male, but it is too soon to tell. If it is a male, there is still a possibility that he could move in with the group and make it a 2.4 group (so long as I monitor them to make sure the males aren't acting aggressively toward one another), but more than likely it will be a female, in which case I can then have a 1.5 group.

As far as waiting until I move, I agree. Actually, the only reason I picked up that huge vision enclosure for my red foot was because it was a great deal, and after the fact I realized that it would actually make moving easier (as it is much much lighter than his old enclosure). If everything goes well, we will be moving into a house in January or February. If things don't pan out, it will be more like late spring or early summer. I am actually thinking at this point that I would like to have the new enclosure purchased, assembled, built, or whatever I end up doing before we move the group into the new house, because that would save a lot of moving and a lot of stress on the animals (having to have them in containers all day while we tear apart their setup and reinstall it in the new house). So yes, the plan is indeed that we will wait until we move to get a new enclosure in place, but right now I am working on the planning phase.