Newbie needing enclosure advice please!

[Sammio]

Hi everyone!

Hope you guys can help. I am currently building my own indoor enclosure and all was going well until I have read so much conflicting information. I have read many topics on this forum and also the beginner mistakes and care sheet but I am still stuck at one particular point and I want to provide the best for my little one as and when I get him (which will be once the enclosure is complete).

I am in the UK so our weather here isn’t as warm as the USA which a lot of you guys seem to be from. My original design was to have a mesh lid that I could lift to get to the tortoise as I have a cat. I have since read about humidity which to me means that a mesh lid wouldn’t be any good. Looking on another website, which is more aimed at UK, there is not much mentioned about humidity and that people on that particular forum had open topped enclosures.

My question is, what would you say is suitable for a cover/lid for the enclosure? The walls and base are made of wood. I have done a covered section which I will keep as is for a hide but it is the rest of the home that I need some sort of cover.

Another thing I have found conflicting on forums is if to put a ceramic heater in it or not. I was thinking a ceramic heater between the hide and the middle of the box to be set to a temperature, basking lamp at one end and a uv light to run the whole length of the enclosure. Does this sound right?

Any advice will be very much appreciated! Many thanks, Sam

 

[daniellenc]

If you’re getting a hatchling humidity is quite necessary so you need a closed chamber. Plexiglass is a good option or wood. You can use CHE’s or radiant heat panels for the heat and mount your lighting. Another bonus of a closed chamber is temps remain stable and can be controlled easier!

 

[LaLaP]

Hello and welcome Sam!
I agree with @daniellenc, in the case of a hatchling or baby you'll need a closed chamber and high humidity. You'll also want to line your wood enclosure with plastic like a shower curtain or pond liner.
But if you're getting an adult Russian you won't need to worry quite as much about humidity. A mesh top is fine and you can spray down the substrate now and then and give regular soaks and your tort will be fine.
As far as the CHE, it depends on your indoor ambient temperature. You'll want a basking area of 95-100 which is achieved by a heat lamp but on the cool side you want it to be about 75ish during the day and 60ish at night. The CHE comes in handy if you can't achieve this some other way. For example, my house stays at these ideal temperatures just with my furnace and on cold nights I have a little heater in their room that will kick on. So a CHE is one of many tools to help you maintain the ideal temp. A radiant heat panel is another way to go.
I just realized I gave you temps in Fahrenheit and you use Celsius but I think you know the ideal temps so hopefully you get the idea. Hope this is helpful.

 

[Sammio]

Thanks so much to the both of you! That has answered me exactly what I need and now know how to go further.

Haha I’ve noticed you guys use Fahrenheit compared to Celsius. Don’t get why we all cant use the same measurements etc!!

Can I ask one more question, so before with a mesh top I was going to have the lamp basically above the mesh was the ideal scenario but all depended on how hot it was near the top of the shell. So with plexiglass, how would you fix up the lamps? I was hoping to keep it flat but not sure if this would work?

 

[JoesMum]

Thanks so much to the both of you! That has answered me exactly what I need and now know how to go further.

Haha I’ve noticed you guys use Fahrenheit compared to Celsius. Don’t get why we all cant use the same measurements etc!!

Can I ask one more question, so before with a mesh top I was going to have the lamp basically above the mesh was the ideal scenario but all depended on how hot it was near the top of the shell. So with plexiglass, how would you fix up the lamps? I was hoping to keep it flat but not sure if this would work?

Some of us are British I am always around if you need a translation.

Basking 35-37C for 14 hours a day.

Ambient 26C day and night maintained using a Ceramic Heat Emitter with a thermostat

 

[LaLaP]

Thanks so much to the both of you! That has answered me exactly what I need and now know how to go further.

Haha I’ve noticed you guys use Fahrenheit compared to Celsius. Don’t get why we all cant use the same measurements etc!!

Can I ask one more question, so before with a mesh top I was going to have the lamp basically above the mesh was the ideal scenario but all depended on how hot it was near the top of the shell. So with plexiglass, how would you fix up the lamps? I was hoping to keep it flat but not sure if this would work?

So with a plexiglass top your choices are to have the "roof" tall enough that the lamps and lights can be inside and under the roof or to cut holes in the plexiglass where the lamps can go.
I haven't made one of these closed chambers so I'm not clear on the details but if you looked in the enclosure section and searched for "closed chamber" you'd get to see what others have come up with.
Thanks @JoesMum for the translation!

 

[Sammio]

Some of us are British I am always around if you need a translation.

Basking 35-37C for 14 hours a day.

Ambient 26C day and night maintained using a Ceramic Heat Emitter with a thermostat

Hello fellow Britain!! Thank you for the translation. Will definitely need a CHE to reach them sort of temperatures!

So with a plexiglass top your choices are to have the "roof" tall enough that the lamps and lights can be inside and under the roof or to cut holes in the plexiglass where the lamps can go.
I haven't made one of these closed chambers so I'm not clear on the details but if you looked in the enclosure section and searched for "closed chamber" you'd get to see what others have come up with.
Thanks @JoesMum for the translation!

Thanks so much for all your help. I will have a nosey and see what I can find!

 

[JoesMum]

Some people use an indoor greenhouse over the lights and the enclosure. Something like this
https://www.amazon.co.uk/AHOME-Greenhouse-Flowerpot-Gardening-Backyard/dp/B01NBKWAVB/

 

[Sammio]

Thanks JoesMum. I’ve decided to go with the greenhouse idea as much cheaper and quicker than building my own top.

A couple of questions if you guys could help.

How many hours in the day does the uv tube need to be on for? 14 hours like the basking light? It will be going from one end of the table to the wall for the hide.

I started building this table before I realised about the humidity so I have a lip along the back which is where I was going to attach an opening lid too. It will still come in use but my question is, I was going to be fastening the uv light to the underside of this lip. Would this be ok or does it need to be fastened to the side of the wall? And also do I need to use a reflector even though it’s going to be under the lip?

Thanks guys!

 

[Yvonne G]

Thanks so much to the both of you! That has answered me exactly what I need and now know how to go further.

Haha I’ve noticed you guys use Fahrenheit compared to Celsius. Don’t get why we all cant use the same measurements etc!!

Can I ask one more question, so before with a mesh top I was going to have the lamp basically above the mesh was the ideal scenario but all depended on how hot it was near the top of the shell. So with plexiglass, how would you fix up the lamps? I was hoping to keep it flat but not sure if this would work?

Hey! You guys are the ones that moved away from the norm. We were all quite happy with farenheit until you celcius people came along!!!

You can't use mesh because that filters out the UVB rays. With plexi, you would cut out a circle for the light to shine through.

The best scenario is to have the side walls tall enough that you can mount the lights inside, under the plexi. Also, I like to use fluorescent UVB tubes instead of lights that have to be mounted in a clamp type fixture.