New enclosure about finished. Looking for feedback or ideas before moving everyone to their new home.

[Spicytort]

Hello, I’m just finishing up a new indoor home for some yearling cherryheads. It is 4x8x2 with a partial second story. Running at 80 F for temp and 80% humidity. The water area is filtered by a canister filter. Running 2 48” UV Arcadia bulbs on a timer and 2 CHE attached to a thermostat. Eventually I’ll add some tort safe plants. I think I need to add a piece of plexiglass for the second floor that goes to the open side to prevent any strong climbers but that’s all I am seeing. I think I’m just looking for a sanity check that I didn’t miss anything crazy that could harm the torts. Doing a few days of temp and humidity testing still so let me know if you have suggestions.

Thanks all!

 

[wellington]

I think 2 uvb is a bit much. They don't like bright lighting and it may make them try to hide away
The water dish makes me nervous. I see drowning happening.
I agree there may be a need for sides on the upper level.
Otherwise looks great.
@ZEROPILOT

 

[Spicytort]

I think 2 uvb is a bit much. They don't like bright lighting and it may make them try to hide away
The water dish makes me nervous. I see drowning happening.
I agree there may be a need for sides on the upper level.
Otherwise looks great.
@ZEROPILOT

Yeah, I was on the fence with the lights, easy enough to turn one off though and I think once plants are in, it will break it up. The water dish has a false bottom so it is only an inch or so deep and is about the level where I soak the torts at the deepest end. The slate adds a bit of ramp so they can choose the depth.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Hello!
So far the enclosure looks great (I am a bit envy ). Instead of plexiglass you might do a "border" to prevent them from climbing (this reduces risk of flipping themselves as well): wall profile will look like letter F or T instead of I. Maybe you can just put the same platic border on top the wall.

I would replace one of the UV lamps with a non-UV tube or LEDs to provide ambient light without excessive UV.

Many hides and shade is a good thing, so plants are good (maybe a bit less safe, but more "shady" like pothos or tradescantia, spider plants don't give much shade and ferns drop the leaves all the time, which easily mold).

The ramp in the water basin is a slate? It might be slippery when wet - not sure, but something to check from time to time. As a minor thing - it should be better dug in in the substrate (so torts front legs can touch the substrate when climbing out).

I would rise temperatures and humidity a bit (82-82F and 85-90% RH).

 

[Spicytort]

Hello!
So far the enclosure looks great (I am a bit envy ). Instead of plexiglass you might do a "border" to prevent them from climbing (this reduces risk of flipping themselves as well): wall profile will look like letter F or T instead of I. Maybe you can just put the same platic border on top the wall.

I would replace one of the UV lamps with a non-UV tube or LEDs to provide ambient light without excessive UV.

Many hides and shade is a good thing, so plants are good (maybe a bit less safe, but more "shady" like pothos or tradescantia, spider plants don't give much shade and ferns drop the leaves all the time, which easily mold).

The ramp in the water basin is a slate? It might be slippery when wet - not sure, but something to check from time to time. As a minor thing - it should be better dug in in the substrate (so torts front legs can touch the substrate when climbing out).

I would rise temperatures and humidity a bit (82-82F and 85-90% RH).

Thanks, bumped the temp. The humidity is raising now that water is running in the setup and reading in the 91 now so thinking humidity will level out right over the next day or two. I just got the substrate and water running this morning so it hadn’t had much time to build up with me having the doors open.

I like the idea on the border. I’ll look through my scraps and see if I have enough of the pvc, trim, or plexi to do something like that.

Thanks

 

[ZEROPILOT]

The twin Arcadia T5 uvb are probably twice as much as you need. And there should be shady spots for hiding options.
My trial and error filtering of water projects all ended in failure. They all turned into swirling bacteria pools quickly. Those filters are good at removing suspended debris. But don't harbor a large enough biological filter bed to truly eliminate the nasties.
I'm not saying you'll fail. Just that the risks and the fact that it'll be a regular pain in the rear probably mean that you'll find it isn't worth the trouble.
Many keepers have utilized two story enclosures. I haven't. The entire long ramp idea just leaves me with visions of upside down tortoises.
I'll be watching your progress. I'm curious to see how it goes.
Welcome to the forum

 

[dd33]

Is it made from wood painted white or PVC sheet?

 

[Spicytort]

Thanks, I made the second level self-standing so it can come out easily if it seems to be a hazard. I have a fair amount of aquariums so hoping if I treat it like another aquarium and do weekly (or more often) changes it will work out. If not, back to the terra cotta standbys and another aquarium gets a filter upgrade.

For hides, do you have any good recommendations? I’ve been using some of the standard half logs and such but have been looking for better alternatives as the tortoises are getting bigger. I was thinking about using the pvc scraps to build some “houses” that would double as stands for plant pots.

 

[Spicytort]

Is it made from wood painted white or PVC sheet?

It is all pvc sheets. I used a pond liner to waterproof the bottom 4 inches or so and used screws for construction as I’ll most likely need to relocate in the next few years.

 

[dd33]

Looks awesome, great work.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

For hides, do you have any good recommendations? I’ve been using some of the standard half logs and such but have been looking for better alternatives as the tortoises are getting bigger. I was thinking about using the pvc scraps to build some “houses” that would double as stands for plant pots.

Plant pots halves - can buried in the ground and make a hill and a cave. Plastic tubs upside down, with an entrance cut on one side.

Plant pot stands is a nice idea, I plan to make these for my outdoor enclosure. Indoors you have to watch, that plant doesn't grow too high under the CHEs.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Plant pots halves - can buried in the ground and make a hill and a cave. Plastic tubs upside down, with an entrance cut on one side.

Plant pot stands is a nice idea, I plan to make these for my outdoor enclosure. Indoors you have to watch, that plant doesn't grow too high under the CHEs.

Those popular half logs always grow moldy in the high humidity enclosure of a Redfoot. And they'll rot in a matter of a few weeks or months at best

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

I confirm! Every piece of wood I've had in the enclosure got green and fluffy in a couple of weeks. It depends on the type of wood, of course.

 

[mojo_1]

Surprisingly the hamster bendable bridge I have in mine has not. But everything else that was wood did start growing things.