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[Kaden 17071]

I need some help with the dimensions of the tortoise box I want to build. I have a Russian Tortoise (4-7 years old). My tortoise scratches at the corners of her terrarium and for a bit, I did not know why she was doing this. Then I asked the folks here on the tortoise forum and it turns out you need a pretty large terrarium, and you can't buy one anywhere. It took me a while to get to this because now that schools are out and all of my activities after school are done I can finally get to it and get help from my parents because I am still under the age of 14 and legally a child so I need my parents to use power saws and stuff like that etc.

 

[Kaden 17071]

Oh, and when I fill up the water dish for my tortoise what should the temp be?

 

[Tom]

I need some help with the dimensions of the tortoise box I want to build. I have a Russian Tortoise (4-7 years old). My tortoise scratches at the corners of her terrarium and for a bit, I did not know why she was doing this. Then I asked the folks here on the tortoise forum and it turns out you need a pretty large terrarium, and you can't buy one anywhere. It took me a while to get to this because now that schools are out and all of my activities after school are done I can finally get to it and get help from my parents because I am still under the age of 14 and legally a child so I need my parents to use power saws and stuff like that etc.View attachment 345883

It would be best to have a large secure outdoor enclosure for the warmer months.

Indoors you need at least 4x8 feet. Essentially, this is a full sheet of plywood with 18 inch tall walls. You can add legs, and also casters if you want to move it around.

Room temp is fine for the water. That is what it will be in minutes even if you put warm water in.

What is in those two hoods? You know not to use the cfl type UV bulbs, right?

There are four elements to heating and lighting:

1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
2. Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night. Some people in colder climates or with larger enclosures will need multiple CHEs or RHPs to spread out enough heat.
3. Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html A good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day.

 

[Lyn W]

Your tort now needs a minimum space of 4 x 8 feet but the bigger the better.
If space is limited you could opt for a 2 storey design with an adjoining ramp (with safe sides of course) or an L shaped design to fit around a corner.
If you have a look in the Enclosures thread you may find some good ideas there.
If you aren't too handy you could look to buy something like uvpc raised garden beds.
Does he have a large secure outdoor enclosure for warmer days?

Your substrate looks quite dry for a Russian - they like moist (not wet) substrate they can dig in and your thermometer is a bit high, that type sold by pet stores can be inaccurate- you need to measure temps at tort level. A digital thermometer/hygrometer would be a good buy along with a digital temp gun to spot check temps around the enclosure.

This may help you get it all right.

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Kaden 17071]

Ok, thank you. I do not know if that is cfl type bulb and I did not know that those bulbs where not good. Can you tell me where I would check that? and Thank you for telling me that the uv bulbs don't have to be on all day

 

[Tom]

Ok, thank you. I do not know if that is cfl type bulb and I did not know that those bulbs where not good. Can you tell me where I would check that? and Thank you for telling me that the uv bulbs don't have to be on all day

Is your UV bulb a compact florescent lamp? Look this up on the internet and see what a cfl is. Does the UV bulb screw into the hood there like a normal incandescent light bulb? If yes, then you have a cfl which is not a good UV source and can sometimes be damaging.

 

[Lyn W]

Ok, thank you. I do not know if that is cfl type bulb and I did not know that those bulbs where not good. Can you tell me where I would check that? and Thank you for telling me that the uv bulbs don't have to be on all day

If it's a coiled or curly type of bulb it's a cfl.
MVB bulbs that give heat, light and uvb in one have also been found to dry and damage shells so they're not recommended now.

 

[Kaden 17071]

Ok, that picture is kind of old I use a heat lamp that produces heat and light and a separate Uv lamp that is cfl.
Then we will go to the store and get a non-cfl