Happy to join your amazing team:).

[Marivladi]

Gorgeous baby! And warm welcome from the Heart of Texas My babies' bedroom is a similar set up to yours, I'm experimenting with the substrate now also had orchid bark and coir but lately added little organic soil and peat for plants and seeds. They love to graze on sprouting plants. I also have a bunch of earthworms living in there, bought them for the babies' protein but they showed no interest, much preferring waxworms, chicken or cooked egg so the "protein" now happily lives and thrives in the thick layer of organic substrate. I also have lamps sitting on top of the screen cover and keeping humidity up was impossible in the air conditioned house. After trying few other things I ended up getting insulation at Home Depot. I'll see if I can attach picture for you to see how I did it.View attachment 146927View attachment 146928View attachment 146929I also ended up getting the fogger and LOVING IT! Enjoy your little beauty! I wish we could keep Sulcata, but the size they grow to is just not practical for us at this time. That and our climate zone were deciding factor in selecting the Redfoot breed but I love Sulcatas! Love them all!!!! All the torts! Big and small! I hope you stick around here and keep us posted. Have you named your baby yet?

Wow!! You sure put a lot of work and thought into creating a habitat for your little one! Great job! Yes, torts are fascinating animals. As for the name we named him Rafael, but it kinda seemed like too big of a name for a little guy, so he goes by Speedy for now)).

 

[Pearly]

Wow!! You sure put a lot of work and thought into creating a habitat for your little one! Great job! Yes, torts are fascinating animals. As for the name we named him Rafael, but it kinda seemed like too big of a name for a little guy, so he goes by Speedy for now)).

Cute name! And he truly is beautiful. Our enclosure is the result of few trials and errors in search of effectively creating a "closed chamber" that there is so much discussion about on here. I had to make few trips to pet stores, fabric stores and finally found what I liked at my local Home Depot in the construction/insulation area of the store. The material I used is called "REFLECTIX", it's soft and easy to work with. My daughter (who is the babies' "mom" configured the placement of both light fixtures and CHE, we also added fogger. She did a great job cutting openings for the fixtures and I helped her with placing the fogger hose. To secure things in place we used silver metal looking tape that I also found in the same isle by the insulation stuff, and voila! We have since been able to keep the temps and humidity at nice levels and it was very inexpensive which is great because the babies will soon grow out of this temporary nursery. I can't really take much credit for my ideas as most were inspired by this forum. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I have

 

[Marivladi]

 

[Marivladi]

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

View attachment 147656

Very nice photos of a very beautiful tort.
I would sink the water bowl deeper into the substrate to make it easier for the little one to get in and out and reduce the chances of flipping.

 

[Marivladi]

Very nice photos of a very beautiful tort.
I would sink the water bowl deeper into the substrate to make it easier for the little one to get in and out and reduce the chances of flipping.

Will do

 

[Marivladi]

A little guy went on a big adventure today, exploring our yard and taking some rays in.

 

[Marivladi]

 

[Pearly]

What a cutie! Sounds like you are getting things down! Good for you! You probably know this but while on the outside, keep your eye on your baby at all times to prevent escapes or encouter with some random predator. They can walk very fast and are so tiny that it can be easy to lose sight of them, or some animal may grab it, or something/one big can step on it... And many other scenarios that desperate owners post here at times. Better to be safe than sorry. I have an escape and predatorproof enclosure for our babies when outdoors. They spend time in it when I have to work in my garden. But I also try to let them run loose for at least 20-30 min to an hour. They seem to run much faster when out of the enclosure. They love the outdoors but seem very happy to be brought back to their warm/humid nursery tank where they head straight for their hides for their nap after the workout Please keep us posted and we love those pictures!

 

[Marivladi]

Pearly, thank you very much for your advices. I am trying to learn as much as possible about proper care for our little guy and this forum seems to be the right place for that. My neighbor has a 32 years old box turtle (?) for ten years and seems to be learning a lot from me ). We had a blast watching him exploring the grass today, especially looking from behind, the way he moves his legs is hilarious )). Yes, you are so right, I never expected him to be this fast and at first thought he is scared and just trying to find a safe place, but no, he is just roaming munching on grass and dandelions . Cute little guy brings a lot of fun to the whole neighborhood. I warned my neighbors already that we will have tunnels to everyone's houses later on.

 

[Marivladi]

Exhausted baby after playing outside.

 

[Marivladi]

Made some changes to the tank in an attempt to raise the temp and humidity level. Part of the top is covered with plexiglas taped to the tank and the rest has the light fixture covered by foil to keep more heat inside.

 

[Marivladi]

So my little guy started to dig. Came back home yesterday to find out he has been busy. My daughter flatten everything up, but today he was digging again and went to sleep in his cozy little burrow. I have one set up for him, I guess he likes this spot better.