Ideas for a Leopard Tortoise Enclosure

[TheWarTortoise]

Hey everyone!

I'm redoing my 4 year old Leopard Tort's table tomorrow, and wanted some ideas for things to do in the cage. This ideas could be aesthetic, or something that would make my tortoise feel like he's in his natural habitat. Also, an idea for a hide for him would be great, since he unfortunately outgrew his half-log. Please note that his table is 5 feet by 3 feet.

Would love to hear some ideas.
Thanks!

 

[Levi the Leopard]

What size is your 4 year old? My leopard turns 4 next week and he's a foot long, 8lbs. Too big for indoors so he lives outdoors full time. Is outdoors a possibility?

 

[Yvonne G]

Leopard tortoises like to hide under shrubs. That's why they have the pattern on their carapace that they do. When under a bush, with the sun shining down through the branches, they're almost invisible.

 

[TheWarTortoise]

What size is your 4 year old? My leopard turns 4 next week and he's a foot long, 8lbs. Too big for indoors so he lives outdoors full time. Is outdoors a possibility?

I have a good sized garden in my backyard (not sure of dimensions, but it's pretty big) that both of my tortoises stay in most of the time in the spring, summer, and about half of the fall. I live in Pennsylvania, so his table is more for the colder summer nights, and all of winter. Also, my Leopard is around 7.5 inches long.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Ok, well yvonne is right, hiding under shrubbery is a fav of theirs.
Use good lighting so you can have a decent amount of plants in the enclosure. Maybe a few patches of ornamental grasses to navigate around and nestle into.

I've heard it said that good tort keepers really should be expert gardeners that just happen to have tortoises.

 

[Tom]

First, I would go bigger. At least 4x8' for a tortoise that size and growing.

Second, I would not do a table, unless the whole room is kept warm and humid. With an open table the air in the room will be the same air in the table which is going to be too cold and too dry. Closed chambers work much better and they make maintaining heat and humidity much easier. Closed chambers also allow you to maintain the proper temps with just a fraction of the electricity needed for an open table. Using so much less electricity also means you are desiccating the carapace less which will contribute to healthier carapace growth and less pyramiding.

Examples:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/closed-chambers.32333/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/2015-growth-experiment.119874/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/our-new-closed-chamber-for-our-new-group-of-tortoises.138430/

If the table will be in a reptile room that is already heated and humidified, then it will work great for you.

 

[TheWarTortoise]

First, I would go bigger. At least 4x8' for a tortoise that size and growing.

Second, I would not do a table, unless the whole room is kept warm and humid. With an open table the air in the room will be the same air in the table which is going to be too cold and too dry. Closed chambers work much better and they make maintaining heat and humidity much easier. Closed chambers also allow you to maintain the proper temps with just a fraction of the electricity needed for an open table. Using so much less electricity also means you are desiccating the carapace less which will contribute to healthier carapace growth and less pyramiding.

Examples:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/closed-chambers.32333/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/2015-growth-experiment.119874/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/our-new-closed-chamber-for-our-new-group-of-tortoises.138430/

If the table will be in a reptile room that is already heated and humidified, then it will work great for you.

Thanks a bunch Tom. I do have plans to close the table very soon, the threads on it really helped.