Need help involving indoor enclosures

[aliceG]

Hi my name is Alice.
I have a 3 year old tortoise who is healthy and well although I need to ask for some help in regards to my friend's tortoise and its housing. My friend is picking up her 2 year old horsefield tortoise in the next couple of weeks and was unsure of what indoor enclosure to buy for him. She is on a very low budget and is was having trouble finding a cheap tortoise table. Recently she had been looking for second hand enclosures but found a cheap fish tank up for sale (around £10) the one she has bought has a large floor space. My real question is: would this tank be safe for her tortoise? After doing research before getting my tortoise I know glass can stress tortoises and vivariums/tanks can cause breathing problems and do not allow the tortoise an area to cool down in. Although, we thought a way to get around these problems would be to remove the lid off the tank and to border up the edges so the tortoise can't see out the glass. I thought this would be safe as I used to keep hamsters in fish tanks with the lid off (which is safe according to many websites) and I thought this must be the same for tortoises as hamsters too need lots of ventilation. I'm obviously not an expert and would like to ask if there is any problems with keeping a tortoise in a fish tanks this way?
Sorry for the long paragraph, hope you can help.x

 

[bouaboua]

Hello and Welcome to the forum.

The glass vivariums/tanks can work if you tape up all four side of the vivariums wall about 15 CM with cardboard or just even the white paper. As long as they can not see through the glass, they think this is it, then they will not try to consistently try to get out.

Or a large storage container with lid are even better.

Good to have you here

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Hi, Alice, and a very warm welcome to Tortoise Forum to you, your tortoise and your friend and tortoise!
A book case lying on down with the shelves ripped out can provide a cheap and bigger enclosure.
Line it with a shower curtain and off you go.
Have a look at http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
and http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
Russians need an enclosure of a minimum of 4' by 8' as they are very active tortoises.

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello Alice

Why not have your friend join the TFO it's free and so is all the help ! And please when you have 22 leopard torts , 2 pancakes , 6 Greeks , 3 marginals , 3 Egyptions , 11 water turtles , 6 box turtles ,9 Russians ,and desert torts you got to find inexpensive ways to do the right things . And we'll help your friend I promise . Have a great tort day !

 

[aliceG]

Hello Alice
View attachment 139208
Why not have your friend join the TFO it's free and so is all the help ! And please when you have 22 leopard torts , 2 pancakes , 6 Greeks , 3 marginals , 3 Egyptions , 11 water turtles , 6 box turtles ,9 Russians ,and desert torts you got to find inexpensive ways to do the right things . And we'll help your friend I promise . Have a great tort day !

Haha that's quite a collection - thank you!

 

[aliceG]

Hi, Alice, and a very warm welcome to Tortoise Forum to you, your tortoise and your friend and tortoise!
A book case lying on down with the shelves ripped out can provide a cheap and bigger enclosure.
Line it with a shower curtain and off you go.
Have a look at http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
and http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
Russians need an enclosure of a minimum of 4' by 8' as they are very active tortoises.

Yeah, I suggested that to her but unfortunately she doesn't have a bookcase and I don't have one I could give her plus to buy a new one would be more expensive than the fish tank. Thanks for the links, I'll show her them as well as reading them myself! Yeah, since the tank is about half this size hopefully it should only be temporally until she is able to purchase something more expensive/larger.

 

[aliceG]

Hello and Welcome to the forum.

The glass vivariums/tanks can work if you tape up all four side of the vivariums wall about 15 CM with cardboard or just even the white paper. As long as they can not see through the glass, they think this is it, then they will not try to consistently try to get out.

Or a large storage container with lid are even better.

Good to have you here

Thank you.
Yeah, I have thin wood that I was willing to cut and border the edges up for her with at least that will seem a little more natural than paper I suppose? Yeah, that's a good idea! Thanks x

 

[Tom]

There is nothing wrong with fish tanks. All that stuff is pure hogwash. I and many others here have been using them for decades with no issues. I just started 20 russian hatchlings in glass tanks last year. Glass tanks are actually good for all the reasons "they" claim they are bad. The one problem with them is that they are too small for anything but a tiny hatchling.

I don't know how expensive lumber is over there in the UK, but plywood and 2x4s aren't very expensive over here.

Show these to your friend:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...or-other-herbivorous-tortoise-species.107734/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

 

[aliceG]

There is nothing wrong with fish tanks. All that stuff is pure hogwash. I and many others here have been using them for decades with no issues. I just started 20 russian hatchlings in glass tanks last year. Glass tanks are actually good for all the reasons "they" claim they are bad. The one problem with them is that they are too small for anything but a tiny hatchling.

I don't know how expensive lumber is over there in the UK, but plywood and 2x4s aren't very expensive over here.

Show these to your friend:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...or-other-herbivorous-tortoise-species.107734/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

Yeah, so do you think a 3 foot long tank is too small for a 2 year old tortoise (temporally of course)? I thought to help increase the floor space I would help her make a second level in the tank as the walls of the tank are tall, is this idea safe for the tortoise?
I'm not too sure but I'll look into the costs.
Thanks for the links, I'll be sure to show her them.

 

[Yvonne G]

Welcome to the Forum, Alice!!

Plastic tubs are pretty cheap. You can have your friend buy two of the largest plastic tubs she can afford, cut out opposing ends, and put them together to make one big tub. Or you can cut holes in the ends of two tubs and put a tunnel between the two. The bigger the better with russian tortoises. They may be small, but they need a lot of room. Here's what I'm talking about:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/what-i-finally-came-up-with.5276/

 

[Tom]

Yeah, so do you think a 3 foot long tank is too small for a 2 year old tortoise (temporally of course)? I thought to help increase the floor space I would help her make a second level in the tank as the walls of the tank are tall, is this idea safe for the tortoise?
I'm not too sure but I'll look into the costs.
Thanks for the links, I'll be sure to show her them.

3 feet is on the small side. Okay for a hatchling, but getting cramped for a two year old once you add in all the furniture. Two story enclosures can work. I prefer bigger one story types.

 

[aliceG]

3 feet is on the small side. Okay for a hatchling, but getting cramped for a two year old once you add in all the furniture. Two story enclosures can work. I prefer bigger one story types.

Yeah I thought that as well although I'll work with her to try make the most of the space. She says she will get him out for exercise for 20 minutes+ every day to help make up for the small enclosure. Although it's not ideal, hopefully it should only be his home for at the most a year.x

 

[aliceG]

Welcome to the Forum, Alice!!

Plastic tubs are pretty cheap. You can have your friend buy two of the largest plastic tubs she can afford, cut out opposing ends, and put them together to make one big tub. Or you can cut holes in the ends of two tubs and put a tunnel between the two. The bigger the better with russian tortoises. They may be small, but they need a lot of room. Here's what I'm talking about:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/what-i-finally-came-up-with.5276/

Thank you
Love the idea, thanks for the link I'll talk to her about it!!

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Most of my inside habitats are fish tanks, granted they are 250 to 300 gallons, but that way I can watch the silliness box turtles do and it's enjoyable for me. Glass tanks don't hurt a bit. I also have an outside pen for everyone of them....My tortoises are in tort tables or sheds, and so are 3 box turtles....

 

[aliceG]

Most of my inside habitats are fish tanks, granted they are 250 to 300 gallons, but that way I can watch the silliness box turtles do and it's enjoyable for me. Glass tanks don't hurt a bit. I also have an outside pen for everyone of them....My tortoises are in tort tables or sheds, and so are 3 box turtles....

Yes. I suppose that's one of the things I find annoying with owning a wooden tortoise table is I don't get to see much of what my tortoise does unless I go over to the cage!

 

[pam]

Welcome