Vivariums for Tortoises

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Yvonne G

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Years ago I started out with 50 gallon aquariums for all my turtles and tortoises...mostly rescued then adopted out, but in aquariums, none-the-less.

Then we went through an educational period where we were indoctrinated that aquariums were bad for tortoises, so all of my 50 gallon aquariums went out to the curb on trash pick up day and were smashed into the garbage truck.

Now we've come around again saying that aquariums are ok.

I like to think that I have grown as a tortoise keeper. I no longer tell people not to use aquariums, but rather I try to impart good tortoise-keeping habits and setting up the correct habitat per type of tortoise. If someone can get that in an aquarium, then more power to them.

But, in my case, plastic tubs are way cheaper than aquariums and I much prefer them. But that's because I require so many.
 

brymanda

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I have a 50 gallon glass semi-aquatic terrarium that sits on my outdoor covered patio (Florida). My torts aren't in it yet since I'm still setting it up and monitoring conditions, but with the heat lamp on one side, I get a 10 degree gradient from one side of the tank to the other. In florida, the hottest it got over the summer (I have a fancy thermometer/humidity inside) was 95. (Without the heat lamp on). Since it's winterish now, I'm still working on getting good winter readings. Humidity inside is generally between 70 and 100% and I can vary it pretty well by exposing or covering pieces of the top. Also, Florida is naturally humid so the outdoor humidity generally stays above 60. I have a ton of plants in there so I'm actually not too worried about air quality.

That being said, my setup is for a redfoot, which thrives in eactly those conditions. And when they get too big, like many florida redfoot owners, I can build an outdoor enclosure for them. I've thought a lot about how I would keep a mediterranean tort or a desert tort and my problem, being in florida, is I would need to *remove* humidity somehow. In that situation, I think I would again go for a tank, just because it has a smaller air exchange surface, and I would be able to remove humidity more effectively. But, I would also need to consider a size that was appropriate for the maximum size of the tort, since putting them outside wouldn't be appropriate in my climate.

So, in conclusion :) I like having a glass tank because it's durable, pretty, and allows me to control the conditions inside better. But that's just me. And I agree with earlier posts that people who have a fish tank with just some mulch in there are really no different from people who have a plastic tub with just some mulch in there. It's all in how you manage what you have, and whether your environmental conditions are already set up for the kind of tort you have/want. In my case, a large outdoor tub wouldn't have worked as well because of heat issues since baby torts are temperature sensitive. But technically a vivarium is just a "place of life". So any enclosure can be a vivarium :)

As per the glass issue:
I have my torts in a temp 10 gallon indoor and they've never had any problems runnning into the glass. In fact, they seem more upset when they're in their playcage and can't get past the bars.

Oh - this is a nice vivarium site/forum for people who are interested. http://www.vivariumforum.com/community/ There are some pretty amazing pictures of what people have done. (caveat: I generally stick to the construction and plants sections, so I don't actually know much about the turtle forum there).
 
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