Our current enclosure!

[Beetle_Rain]

Hi I wanted to share my baby’s current enclosure and maybe get some feed back on how I can improve! He currently lives in a 4 foot by 2 foot custom built wooden enclosure the inside is lined with plastic then a garden fabric to keep the moisture in along with a completely covered top! This gives me an average humidity of 85-95% so long as I mist twice a day! His basking area is where I’m having some troubles it’s still way to high at 112 Fahrenheit but I believe it’s because my lamp is way to close to the enclosure and have since been trying different distances and so far it’s improving! The ambient temperature is about 85 during the day and never below 80 at night. His bedding is cypress mulch (Zoo med forest floor) and he has plenty of hiding spots! For UVB I use the Reptisun T8 30inch hood and the 10.0 uvb bulb that goes with that. I have tried having this as a planted enclosure and always end up with gnats and mushrooms so unfortunately unless I get some help on that I was out of ideas and just moved the plants outside.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Hello!
Parameters look good so far. For the basking lamp you may get lower wattage or change flood lamp to a regular "pear shaped". Another option is to use casual lamp dimmer, but lower wattage lamp is better.

What is the distance between the UVB lamp and substrate? Do you use any ambient lights when UVB is off?

I'm not sure if the water dish is safe to use - borders look too steep to get in and out easily. A shallow non-glazed terracotta saucer may be a better option.

Is it a hay in the food dish? I'm not a leopard keeper, so may be wrong here, but they aren't hay eaters. Fresh grass clippings, succulents and leafy greens is their primary diet as I remember it.

To avoid gnats you may bake plant soil before potting plants. Yet the enclosure is not very large so without plants you have more roaming space. You may cut branches of mulberry or hibiscus and put them in the enclosure from time to time.

 

[wellington]

How old/big is your tort? This size enclosure won't last long. Everything sounds good once you get the basking down. I would agree on changing the water dish. Also take out some of the stuff. You need the roam space, to much clutter may stop him from roaming all over.
Also remove the hay. Feed arugula, escarole, endive, cactus, dandelion, hibiscus, mulberry leaf, and any other natural growing foods that's are tortoise safe. No fruit and he likely will not eat the hay.

 

[Beetle_Rain]

Hello!
Parameters look good so far. For the basking lamp you may get lower wattage or change flood lamp to a regular "pear shaped". Another option is to use casual lamp dimmer, but lower wattage lamp is better.

What is the distance between the UVB lamp and substrate? Do you use any ambient lights when UVB is off?

I'm not sure if the water dish is safe to use - borders look too steep to get in and out easily. A shallow non-glazed terracotta saucer may be a better option.

Is it a hay in the food dish? I'm not a leopard keeper, so may be wrong here, but they aren't hay eaters. Fresh grass clippings, succulents and leafy greens is their primary diet as I remember it.

To avoid gnats you may bake plant soil before potting plants. Yet the enclosure is not very large so without plants you have more roaming space. You may cut branches of mulberry or hibiscus and put them in the enclosure from time to time.

Heading to the store today then to pick up a lower bulb! Thank you!! And I’ll change his water dish tonight as well I have a stock pile of supplies I can dig through!

 

[Beetle_Rain]

How old/big is your tort? This size enclosure won't last long. Everything sounds good once you get the basking down. I would agree on changing the water dish. Also take out some of the stuff. You need the roam space, to much clutter may stop him from roaming all over.
Also remove the hay. Feed arugula, escarole, endive, cactus, dandelion, hibiscus, mulberry leaf, and any other natural growing foods that's are tortoise safe. No fruit and he likely will not eat the hay.

Thank you! He is around 5 inches maybe a little less! I’ll definitely be changing the water dish and removing the hay area and some of the items he really only climbs through them. He gets a very varied diet the hay was just more of an option so no worries there!