Need opinions on my next enclosure

Joined
Jul 15, 2016
Messages
57
Location (City and/or State)
Wisconsin
So right now I have my 7 month (or so) leopard tortoise in one of those 20 gallon concrete mixing tubs. I'll attach a picture below. He seems perfectly content in here, but what I am worried about is the humidity. I know leopards must grow in humid environments, and soon Wisconsin will not have the humidity I need in the air, as it does right now which is why I started him in an open enclosure.

enclosure.jpg

Moby likes his basking temperature at around 93-95 degrees, so that's that. Warm side temperatures are in the high 80s, closer to 90. And the cool side is 80-83 generally. I do not have a meter for humidity currently. We have a forrest sort of substrate that has coco coir and some other sort of dirt or soil almost, got it from a local pet store. It's working the best out if what I've used so far. And I have moss around the hot side of the enclosure. I don't remember the brand of my light but it's a 100w uvb light.


What I'm really wondering about, is what's next for me? We need to move up in the enclosure world as fall is coming and we need to prepare. I will keep it visually simple and list my questions below:

  1. Should I use an aquarium, with a little edge put up against the glass on the bottom to avoid seeing out, or should I stick with open enclosure (I would make out of wood)?
  2. Is there anything I should be doing different with my enclosure from the information I've given you?
  3. If I do go with an aquarium/vivarium, how many gallons would you recommend? I was looking at a 55 gallon one recently.
  4. If I do go with open enclosure, is there any measures I can take to help with humidity?
  5. Would giving my tort a SAFE ramp up to a second story be a bad idea? Seems more stimulating to me, which is why I'm hoping to have one.

I was originally wanting to make another open enclosure, this time out of wood, more like a tortoise table. But now I'm worrying about the humidity and am thinking that a vivarium.aquarium might be a better option because of this.

Thank you for reading, and all of the help in advance. Just trying to prepare myself correctly, and think of every possible route.
 

GingerLove

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2016
Messages
1,287
Open enclosure is probably a better option, but the glass enclosure works for me. I had a fifty-five gallon but it didn't work for long, I eventually had to get a ninety gallon. If you do go with a tank this size, a second shelf would be a great idea! I'm actually thinking of installing one myself. And yes, definitely put some siding up on the glass or else they WILL run into the glass repeatedly for long hours into the night. ;) Eventually, you will probably have to go to an outdoor enclosure or a large tortoise table because yours is a leopard, and those get pretty big.
 
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