Molly/Enclosure Update

[Nmcgowan]

Hello all! I have been away from the forum for a while but I wanted to give an update on Molly! In the upcoming January she will turn ~1 year of age and she is about 6-7 inches long.

She is still getting a mixture of organic spring mix, raddicio (I'm very sure she is clinically addicted to it XD), and grassland tortoise pellets. She tries her hardest to avoid the watered down pellets but I stir them up with the mix. Gotta have that fiber!

She gets a good long warm soak every day and during these soaks she usually poos and it looks as normal as tortoise poo can I suppose. No diarrhea or oddities. Though she likes to wait until I carry her back to her enclosure to pee all over myself and the floor. (She's doing it on purpose...I know it...)

Speaking of enclosures, it was time for a major upgrade for Molly. She has grown much faster than anticipated and her 40 gallon tank wasn't enough. My fiancé and I successfully created a tortoise table after scoping out enclosures here on the forum and other Internet sources. Pics attached.

It's not exact but it's basically a 4x4x12 box, made out of plywood and lined with 3mil plastic. Still using a mixture of coco coir/reptibark for substrate. The light bulb is a MVB (I change them every 6 months just to be safe) and the other hanging lamp seen in the pic is a heat emmitter. Not included in pic: I have added a 3rd heat emitter in the far corner of the box.

I got myself a super duper fancy hand thermometer and humidity gauge, all areas directly under the bulb and emitters reach 95 degrees F. The coolest areas haven't dropped below 78 degrees F.

The black square in the corner is her new hide, inside there is sphagnum moss and I've been able to maintain 80% humidity within. I will be going to Lowes tomorrow to pick up more supplies to make more hides, she needs to have variety. This was just completed today btw XD.

I'm pulling an all night er to ight so I can stalk y tortoise and make sure she does ok in her new environment. It is 1am here currently and instead of sleeping she is still walking the perimeter of her new home. I expected this.

As usual, any advice is good advice and I'm always willing to listen. I want to take this oppurtunity again to thank this forum for the awesome advice I obtained from its members. Especially Yvonne!

Sorry for long post! Thaaaaanks!

 

[Jennifer Nicole]

That is really nice!

 

[Nmcgowan]

Ty, we worked really hard on and she seems to be enjoying it.

 

[Yvonne G]

That's a good size for your tortoise. I worry about it being on the floor though, because it's so much colder at floor level. See if your fiance can figure out a way to build a framework so you can drape more plastic over it and close it in. At least for winter. It should be ok as is when warmer weather arrives.

 

[wellington]

I agree with Yvonne and with the proper temps of 80 and basking 95-100 you need to still have 80% humidity otherwise your housing him the old outdated bad way of hot and dry instead of hot and humid.

 

[Nmcgowan]

Hello guys, thank you for the input. We are super lucky in that we live in an apartment on the third floor. Our building has resonating heat that comes up through the floor. I keep our own apartment thermostat at 75 ( as high as it will go). Using my hand thermometer/hydrometer I'm happy to report that there is no area in her table that drops below 79 degrees. That one degree irks me to high heaven and my SO ajd I are looking to try to raise it so that maintenance would be easier as well. It's weight is a cause for concern though. I've added an extra heat emitter in each of the corners and we have enclosed a large area of it, stuffed with sphagnum moss, while using a reptile fogger this area does not drop below 89% humidity. She has a basking area where a 150 watt MVB bulb is in place. She is self regulating pretty well. I see her basking then she will go hang out in a cooler corner.

 

[Nmcgowan]

Forgot to add, we had to enclose off a section with more wood because she absolutely refused to use the black hide boxes I gave her. Idk why, she is stubborn but she uses the new area all the time.