Greetings from Colorado

Torbak

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Joined
Dec 12, 2016
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9
Hello everyone! Glad to be a member of this very informative forum.

I live in Colorado and have 2 hatchling Western Painted Turtles, as well as a hatchling Red Foot Tortoise.

The turtles and tortoise are really for my son, who is 4 and loves animals. I have cared for water turtles and box turtles before with great success. Actually 2 red eared sliders I caught in South Caroline when I was 8 years old are still alive and thriving in an outdoor pond environment. They are almost 30 years old. I am new to tortoise care, but everything has been going great so far.

Our 2 Painted turtles live in a 20 gallon aquarium at the moment and are growing fast.

The Red Foot Tortoise is about 3 inches in length and lives indoors now, but as summer comes I have a nice large partly shaded area for him/her to live outside while it is above 50 degrees at night. His indoor enclosure is 2ft x 4ft and 18 inches off the ground with 16 inch high walls. The bottom is lined with EPDM rubber liner and is 2.5 inches tall leaving space for 2.5 inches substrate depth. This has really helped to keep moisture high, around 60%, without rotting the wood box, or the substrate, which is a base of Sphagnum Peat Moss and covered with Cypress Mulch. He has a UVB bulb that runs for 10 hours during the day only, and a Ceramic Heat Emitter on a Thermostat that is set to keep his hide 80 degrees 24/7.

I did make the box out of Cedar, but it has been baked under the sun for a year, and is sealed on the outside, not the inside as I don't want any polyurethane chemicals leaching into his area. I know there is a lot of talk about not using Cedar, but after discussing with a reptile veterinarian, she indicated that as long as it isn't used as a substrate and isn't soaking wet all the time, (thus the EPDM Pond liner), that it will pose no threat to the Tortoise whatsoever. Actually the bottom under the liner is plywood 3/4" thick. The box is also completely open on top with the Light and Ceramic Heat Emitter overhanging the enclosure.

Look forward to discussing topics with you all.

Cheers,

Torbak
 

Gillian M

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Aug 28, 2014
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15,417
Location (City and/or State)
Jordan
Hello @Torbak and a very warm welcome to the forum! :D

Any pics of your torts? ;)
 

Torbak

New Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2016
Messages
9
Can't wait to see them. :D
Photos as requested. He/She is about 3 inches in length and very active. Loves to snack on the African Violet, but I guess that is why I put it in there.

Excuse the thermometer under the basking area, I was just making sure the new bulb I am using was keeping that area between 90-95 degrees. I can just pull the cord up through the copper pipe to adjust the height, very convenient. The lamp over the hide is a Ceramic Heat Emitter that runs 24/7, or unless it gets over 80 degrees then the thermostat probe shuts it off, and keeps that area right at about 80 degrees F.

IMG_2132.JPG IMG_2131.JPG IMG_2130.JPG IMG_2128.JPG IMG_2127.JPG
 

Gillian M

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Messages
15,417
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Photos as requested. He/She is about 3 inches in length and very active. Loves to snack on the African Violet, but I guess that is why I put it in there.

Excuse the thermometer under the basking area, I was just making sure the new bulb I am using was keeping that area between 90-95 degrees. I can just pull the cord up through the copper pipe to adjust the height, very convenient. The lamp over the hide is a Ceramic Heat Emitter that runs 24/7, or unless it gets over 80 degrees then the thermostat probe shuts it off, and keeps that area right at about 80 degrees F.

View attachment 194972 View attachment 194973 View attachment 194974 View attachment 194975 View attachment 194976
A lovely setup. :D

Thanks for posting. ;)
 

Torbak

New Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2016
Messages
9
A lovely enclosure..
How do you keep your humidity in there ?

So that has been challenging for me. I have a huge whole room humidifier that keeps it at about 55% in the room the table is in, and actually it will move to a room near a bathroom after Christmas when I introduce it to the kids.

In the table itself, it keeps right around that 55%-60% humidity, but I put a humidity gauge in the hide where it likes to burrow, and I get about 70-75% in there. It's not as high as I would like it to be, but its about the best I am going to achieve in Colorado, where our outdoor humidity is around 20% right now even with the recent snow.

The bottom of the box is lined with an EPDM pond liner that comes up the sides about 2.5". Then I filled in the bottom 1.25" with New Zealand Sphagnum Peat Moss, then covered that with Forest Floor (Cypress Mulch). I put a gallon of water sprinkled over the whole table every other day. If you stick your finger to the bottom it is definitely damp, but not standing water. The tortoise is usually burrowed down into the peat moss when he sleeps.

I could technically flood the table with 2.5 inches of water due to the pond liner, but I want everything damp all the time, not soaking or I fear the substrate will rot.

If you have any recommendations I am open to hearing them.
 

Tidgy's Dad

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Feb 11, 2015
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Fes, Morocco
You need a closed chamber.
You could use something like plexiglass with holes cur out for the lights.
or even just plastic sheeting or tin foil.
Not pretty, but does the job.
 

Torbak

New Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2016
Messages
9
O-o-o. . . I love your light stands!
So the light stands are really just 1/2" copper pipe with 90 degree elbow connectors then attached to the sides with 2 copper connectors. I didn't solder them as they are a fairly snug fit already and if I ever need to add a different length pipe, I could easily. I re-wired both lamps to remove the inline switch and run a new 16 gauge lamp wire to new plugs. Each tube can swing 180 degrees to reposition it wherever I need, and I can raise or lower the lamp height to adjust heat by just letting more cord or less cord through the pipe.

The ceramic heat emitter is controlled by a thermostat outlet with a probe that goes in the turtles hide. It will shut off at any temp above 80 degrees, and will stay on until it reaches that temp. This stays on 24/7. The basking light is a UVB Halogen Bulb and reads 92 degrees at the top of the substrate directly under the light. This is on a 6:30am to 6pm timer.

Here's a pic just for reference. When this moves to the new room none of this will be visible as it will be against the wall. The cords are secured under the table by a (boat tie down), not sure what the correct name for this is, to prevent the cord from changing level.

lamp-fixtures.JPG
 

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