The New Tortoise Table

[Sarducci]

Hello!

I'm working on building an indoor habitat for a young adult russian tortoise which I plan to acquire once the table is done. I want to include a built in wood hide box at the cool end, as per the recommendation. How large should the opening be to make the tort the happiest? what height clearance above the substrate will he need to get in comfortably, how wide at the base, and when does the opening become too large for the tortoise to feel secure?

Thanks!

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

Do you know how big said tort is?
I am currently working on a new table for 4.5'' (long) russian, and it has a hide box loft. Because he can still be considered a juvenile in size, and has some growing to do, I'm making the opening 6'' wide for the years to come. Same goes for the height, your tort will grow larger, so make room for future growth. My hide has a 10" ceiling (take away 4 inches for substrate) and I can also add more if the hieght is too much.

 

[Sarducci]

So he'll have 6" of clearance above 4" of substrate to play in? That is roughly what I was thinking.

Don't know the size yet cause I'm trying to build a good habitat before getting the animal. I am debating getting one from the store vs looking on craigslist for a local that needs a new home for a tort. So I'm building assuming im getting a juvenile to young adult, with the box likely to be his habitat for at least 5 years before needing to upgrade substantially.

OT, but I'm not sure how to get a captive bred tortoise in my area (greater Boston) and am considering if adopting a pre owned tort is the better ethical decision than getting a juvenile from Petsmart, but I also have no idea if PS is selling caught or bred torts, or how to find that out.

 

[Sarducci]

Hi all!

Putting the finishing touches on a tortoise table for a soon to be aquired Russian or Greek tort (depending on what needs a new home on craigslist when the table is done!)

My table is 2'x4' inside, and in one corner i have a roughly 1'x1' hide box with the top being a second level. The level will be about 11" of the base of the table, ~6-8" off the surface of the substrate.

I'm putting a ramp in that will be 3' long to go from the top of the box to the base of the table, and burying the end in the substrate, but it will be about a 3 foot to rise 1 foot slope.

What are good/bad surfacing materials to put on the ramp so the tort can get up it? I was going to cover it in coarse sandpaper so it would also serve to file down the claws, but I wonder if that is actually going to scrape up the bottom of his shell. Is sandpaper a bad idea, and what ramp surfacing would you all suggest?

 

[Sarducci]

Working on a habitat for a yet to be aquired Russian or Greek. Images at the link!

https://imgur.com/a/m2iHq

Base box is a 2' x 4' plywood base with 20" high laminated pine walls, glued together and sealed with thompsons. it is high walled, and getting a lid that will be covered by hardware cloth, cause of the two cats you can see investigating the hide box in one pic the hide box is roughly a 1' cube, going to put substrate in the sunken part on top and add a long shallow ramp. more to come!

 

[Yvonne G]

You've got some heavy duty carpentry going on there! Too bad you didn't make it bigger. It's ok for a baby up to about three or four years, but an adult can't live in there without getting stressed by the small space.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

When I had adult Russians (a male and a few male sized females) they easily fit through a 5"high x 6"wide doorway to their hide houses. Not sure how much wider you'd have to go for a big girl.

 

[Sarducci]

You've got some heavy duty carpentry going on there! Too bad you didn't make it bigger. It's ok for a baby up to about three or four years, but an adult can't live in there without getting stressed by the small space.

That makes me sad :/ I did a lot of reading and multiple sites seemed to say that 2 feet by 4 feet was a good size for the smaller breeds? It also seemed to be a common size when I was searching plans. I know bigger is better, but that is, alas, the largest table that can reasonably fit in my own habitat, as I am a renter. I do intend to get a closed playpen for outdoors time in the warm months. And I wouldn't be getting this pet if I didn't like building things...when I own my own place, I intend a larger table once I have a basement to put it in. My hope is in fact to find a youngling from a breeder and that its enclosure will grow with it.

He/she will have a second level with the lengthy ramp and the top of the hide to play on. It will also be straightforward in the future to fuse a second panel of the same area onto one side, and cut some portals in the old wall.

PS, to the admin who fused my threads, sorry for making too many threads, but would you mind making the thread title "New Tortoise Table" instead of the older specific question about hide box openings?

 

[Sarducci]

Hello!

My box is almost finished, and a baby Russian has been reserved for me (from Carol S's recent batch of babies on these very forums). You can see the box open below (with my QA team giving it a careful inspection) and the box with the closed lid and the lights system below. The box is pine that has been sealed with deckseal. The black bits are slate tiles I used to surface the ramp and the upper deck, and the smaller one will be the feeding area.

The lights are fluorescent bulbs, one UVB and one natural light, with an IR heat emitter hanging down in the box. I used this setup rather than the big mercury light as I was concerned the cats would be attracted to the bulb and burn themselves on the hot housing.

The top is thoroughly stapled on half inch hardware cloth and the lid has a latch, this is both to cat proof it and so in the summer I can roll it outside (it is on casters and designed to fit through door frames) so the baby can get some real sun and be safe from predators.

The smaller wooden box has an opening you can't see from this angle, and I will also put a half-log hide on the basking end. The upper level is 10.5" above the base of the box, but I will put a 4" layer of substrate in there.

A few questions:
-What is the reccomended substrate for (very young) Russians? I was going to use a 50-50 mix of organic topsoil and playsand.
-do you think the ramp/upper deck needs a railing to keep the baby from jumping off? Do I need to worry about him falling 6" max onto the substrate, and if so, how high of a railing/barrier should I put up to discourage him from doing that?

Any other advice or suggestions welcome, I have 4-6 weeks before the little guy will be here so I have time to make adjustments.

 

[TortsNTurtles]

Congrats on getting your baby! You sound so excited. I am happy for you. I would worry about the baby falling off the ramp. I would either remove it or add high side rails to prevent falling.

 

[HotdogKnight]

It looks really good! I'd love to be able to build my own enclosure. I'd get to putting an edge along that ramp, your RT could easily upturn themselves if it walked off. Also I'd recommend choosing a more 'soil based' substrate i.e. top soil, coco coir etc and stay away from sand as it's been known to cause impaction if it gets digested.

 

[Sarducci]

It looks really good! I'd love to be able to build my own enclosure. I'd get to putting an edge along that ramp, your RT could easily upturn themselves if it walked off. Also I'd recommend choosing a more 'soil based' substrate i.e. top soil, coco coir etc and stay away from sand as it's been known to cause impaction if it gets digested.

How tall of an edge should I put on that ramp (and the second floor, I presume)? Easy enough to do, I just need to know how tall is enough for the little climbers.

For substrate, I feel like I've seen a lot of contradictory things. This site: http://www.russiantortoise.net/substrate.htm http://www.russiantortoise.net/care_sheet.htm said 50/50 play sand/soil was best, or 50/50 play sand/coconut coir. I've also read that the coconut coir was bad because the fibers could get lodged in their underplates o get inside their shells by their legs and cause irritation and infection.

Is coconut fiber/topsoil the consensus here? Easy enough to order a few bricks to supplement the topsoil I already have.

I'm also planning to grow orchard grass in the top of the hide box to give a little different area for him.

 

[HotdogKnight]

I'm not an expert so I'm not entirely sure, tall enough that it can't easily crawl over I guess. I've seen some before that are only a couple of inches taller than the torts.

Substrate like that is normally purely matter of opinion, for a hatchling the important factor is that it holds a lot of moisture. Top soil alone is probably best as it's closest to mud, I use coir mainly because it looks nicer and holds moisture, I'd just as easily use soil if I had to. As for sand, that also changes regardless of where you look, if you spend long enough on this forum the majority will say they try and stay away from it, it doesn't add anything beneficial to the substrate.

 

[Sarducci]

Thanks, I did some searching and saw the discussions where people say the care sheet is out of date on substrate. I'll order some bricks from carolina pet supply

For the barrier, I'll try a piece of 3" strapping and keep an eye on the guyto see if that isn't enough.

 

[Sarducci]

Some pics of the finished and decorated box:



Baby Meriwether arrived two weeks ago and has acclimated to his/her new home; pics of the tort soon!