NEW TORTOISE ENCLOSURE

[Mzee "Wise Old Man"]

Well i have finished my first little tortoise enclosure, was gonna be a table but then i decided to make it on the ground level. I took ideas from what i have seen a lot of you guys doing on here.

I used melamine coated wood, and sealed with aquarium silicone. Used various rocks that i have found bleached and boiled. Mounted the UVB on the wall, have two heat sources, used a ceramic tile for a feeding area, one little corner water dish. Aspen bedding, and Coco Coir. A hide log on the cool side and the little house area on the warm. With various plants that i pruned from my wifes fake tree... As you can see i have added another to the enclosure. Male. They seem to love it. Much more than the 40 gallon breeder. He runs laps while she eats everything. The enclosure is 3' X 7' Does anyone see anything i should add, or remove? Also in the pics there are no river rocks but i have added a couple to break up the view since.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

I don't know the specifics of how to house a Russian, but I can say that visually your enclosure is very appealing.

 

[kimber_lee_314]

It looks great!!!

 

[biochemnerd808]

What a great enclosure! I bet your torts love having all that space to explore. Good job! Lucky little Russians.

You might add some logs for them to have to scramble up and over - you can bake them to disinfect them and to make sure there aren't any bugs.

What are your temperatures like in the basking area? Also, how far is the UVB light from the top of the substrate? You *might* need to move it down a ways, since I think the recommended distance for an effective UVB light is 12-14 inches from the tort.

Great job!

 

[Mzee "Wise Old Man"]

What a great enclosure! I bet your torts love having all that space to explore. Good job! Lucky little Russians.

You might add some logs for them to have to scramble up and over - you can bake them to disinfect them and to make sure there aren't any bugs.

What are your temperatures like in the basking area? Also, how far is the UVB light from the top of the substrate? You *might* need to move it down a ways, since I think the recommended distance for an effective UVB light is 12-14 inches from the tort.

Great job!

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My temps are about 70' on the cool side and 80-85' on the warm side. Basking spot at about 95'F. UVB light is about 14" from the substrate. I live in Wisconsin so the temp thing is a bit tricky. Ambient temps in my house are usually about 60-65'F. My female has not really moved much at all since i bought her. 10-21-2012. She eats from my hand, or on the tile, and eats like a pig...but she does not walk around much at all. I took her to the vet and they said she was fine. She seems alert when you pick her up...but is content to do nothing more than sleep all day. She has clear eyes, and does not have discharge from the nose. On occasion after shed eats she will yawn and sometimes a little bubble will appears when she does so. Should i be concerned. The male i have seems like a marathon runner. I just picked him up 2-3 days ago and he is very active. However he is nipping at my female. Should i return him to the store. I can't simultaneously run two setups?

 

[pam]

Great job

 

[laney]

Bazinga!!

Looks good