Trevor's "Big Boy" Mansion Enclosure Photos!

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tortoisenerd

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So...it finally arrived...spoiled the tortoise and spent all our xmas money on a 18 sq ft (upgrade from 7/8 sq ft) Vision plastic tub and the lighting & heating to go with the larger enclosure! We have to wait until a weekend to test him out with the new fake plants I bought (he likes to climb on them and jump off), so it's a bit bare still with just the safe stuff.

New ramp water dish too that we bought awhile back and finally got painted a nice color (with safe paint). Got it at Lowe's and cut it in half (used to be a waterfall). One 100 Watt Mega Ray, one 75 Watt Halogen energy saving (not spiral) bulb, and two 60 Watt heat emitters (have a third to use if needed...thinking yes).

Anyone have tips to encourage the tort to bask under the MVB not the light bulb besides make the MVB hotter and in a more desirable location if possible?

The little guy went straight in and explored...which surprised us as during the three hours it took us to get everything done, he hid in his mini tub (which he's been in probably 10 times). Basking and looks happy! This enclosure is 4 inches shorter so we have a much better view of him. I think another reason he's so adventurous is we can't sneak up on him...with the shorter & larger enclosure, he sees us coming instead of us popping our head in.

We also need to get a board that is a better fit under the enclosure because it hangs off the cabinet (the old tort table was the exact fit), so we can't use just it and the lamp stands as they need support for the "foot". We had to (as planned) take apart his old tort table to use the boards. Eventually he's going to have his own room in the office (not in the middle of the dining room like he is now...pretty awkward), so we planned the enclosure more for that...he'll get a better fit cabinet/table to go under. I had thought the tub was tan, but it turned out clear. Better color for down the road for our black office furniture than the dining room. I plan to contact Vision because the tub has some pretty bad defects in the molding (looks like some parts got burnt as it bubbled)...I expected some defects and the roughness like we got but, but I'm hoping to get a little money off for the unexpected defects. For a $199 + $255 freight shipping product cost, we have pretty high expectations! Nice tub though, for anyone else considering them. I'd ask about the color as I swear all the photos looked tan...I should have asked.

Any comments besides the need for more hides and stuff to break up the space?















 

zzzdanz

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That's really nice!..The shipping was a killer eh!
 

russianhenry

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Im looking for some plants to put in my enclosure, what type is that one on the side?
 

ChiKat

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LOVE it!! That Trevor is one spoiled little tort :)
I love the idea of using a plastic tub- I'm seriously considering that for when I upgrade Nelson's enclosure. I like the look of the wooden tort tables, but plastic is more practical, especially for damp substrate and humidity purposes!
I can't believe how big Trevor is getting- they grow so quickly :) Nelson's catching up to him ;)
 

Candy

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I love it and I don't blame you guys a bit for spending all of your Christmas money on that little guy. :D He looks so happy in there with all of that space to walk around in. :)
 

tortoisenerd

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Its the 68 x 35 medium. Ordered from LLL Reptile but you can get them straight from Vision. I'd probably do it straight as anything you ask LLL they end up having to call Vision about. They were able to set up a 4 hour window for delivery, but only a couple days before (we got very lucky it finally arrived our last day of xmas break! Their estimate of one week from my purchase to delivery was pushed out a bit (we ordered Monday the 20th) even though I didn't count holidays and weekends, as due to the holidays I guess it got out later than they usually would get it out). I couldn't imagine needing bigger for a Russian, and I love the 14 inch height on it.

Yes, we had quite the deliberation on wood table vs. stock tank (plastic or metal) vs. this tub, as this was the most expensive. My hubby and I are both very long-term financial people, so we're cool with making an investment on something we and the shell baby will enjoy. I guess we're very blessed to have the income too! We're excited about trying to get a cabinet made as its a bit wobbly and unsightly currently! I am liking the clear better the longer I look at it though. He's still having a ball exploring and it being very brave. We even got a cool 8 socket timer power strip (4 on schedule and 4 always on, so we can do the lights and one heat emitter during the day, and the other heat emitter always on). Only $20 at Home Depot.

FYI we're using the ZooMed mini deep domes with 60 Watt CHEs, against the instructions (see http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-CHE-fixture-and-feeding-surface-s?pid=197837#pid197837). The bell temp with our temp gun isn't getting any hotter than the MVB fixture, so we're pretty comfortable with it. I wouldn't put any higher wattage CHE in there though as I could imagine it getting too hot for the wires/fixture.

Used an entire 45 lb bag of aspen in there if anyone was wondering. Only $20 from the Bean Farm! Another one of my favorites, and one thing we can save on shipping since we're within driving distance. Not planning to do any full substrate changes, but just dig up the stuff where he burrows, and the top layer.

No idea what the name of any of the plants are, but all were from Michael's craft store, under $12 each I think. Even better, see if you can get a 40% or 50% off one item coupon in the newspaper or online. I like the ones with the large leaves but that are tough to climb (the shrubs can be bad). I have three more to put in but they are all ones I either haven't used or had a problem with in the past, and now I have the enclosure height to think about (my other one was so tall I could put anything in the corner and he couldn't climb out).

Loving it!
 

Angi

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I love it. I need to ad more lights/heat were did you get the light stands?
 

Isa

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Very niceeeee!!! You guys did a beautiful job! I love the tub, I think it looks very nice! I am sure Trevor loves it (the little guy is very lucky to be spoiled like that :D).
 

tortoisenerd

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Thanks Katie! If anyone else wants more info on the paint, we used http://www.krylon.com/products/fusion_for_plastic_textured_shimmer/, which from our research seemed safe (I tasted the water from it too and it tastes normal). Adds some good tort footing as the plain plastic was slippery, and the black color freaked him out since he couldn't tell the depth. We first had tried to use ordinary spray paint and then cover it with polyeurethane, but found that wasn't watertight (discolored the pain when wet), so we did more research and found this stuff. You can see in that other thread its plenty big enough for most small torts (unlike the Groovy Jacuzzi, my past favorite). Lots of elbow grease by my hubby to make it work, with the hacksaw and paint and everything! Only thing is we will have to tip it back a bit if we want to make the water any deeper, as its close to spilling out at the current appropriate level for him, but its also deeper in the back so we can keep it at this level for awhile (I think the dish is suitable for any tort who can fit through the opening and turn around in it). Someone else found a cooler mini pond at Lowe's that is what we were trying to get, but they were out...you might get lucky in summer though.

Yes, very spoiled tort. Anyone notice one entire heat emitter is for heating the water? hehe

Light stands are the ZooMed full size (they are a few inches short from hitting the center of the enclosure width if anyone is curious, all the way extended). I have always used these. Fixtures are regular and mini ZooMed deep domes. Love all of those products as they hang nicely (those clamp ones are scary...used that for awhile before I knew better). These were from Amazon ($24.40 and eligible for free shipping over $25, so combined it was a better deal than some other sites where you pay for shipping), but you can get them lots of places (the smaller size doesn't adjust as much...so measure if you are trying to save money). A very weird thing...you can only buy a max of three of these at one time on Amazon (I assume to discourage people from growing stuff besides tortoises lol?). My hubby and I had to beat the system and each buy two on each of our accounts (they didn't check they were sent to the same address...and trying to do two back to back orders didn't work).

Thanks for all the compliments! I was hoping for criticism...kinda just threw it together and realized it worked out ok (except need more hides and a bit more heat and someday a cabinet). Guess I've learned something on the forum!
 

tortoisenerd

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This evening he is running in circles! I wish we didn't have to get him up every evening when we got home from work though...today when we got home he was awake, but just sitting near where he had slept for the night (nice and warm under a heat emitter in the 70s)...no signs of being awake, which is pretty typical for him these past few months. Wish he'd be active during the weekdays. Its so weird he'll get up on his own on the weekends...like he knows we are home?
 

ChiKat

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Aww I'm glad he is enjoying his mansion so much!
When I got home from work today I could tell that Nelson had a fun, active day :p All of his fake plants were knocked over and moved around, and his cage furnishings were pushed around too. I wish I could watch him during the day :)
 
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