Tort table HELP plz (safety,substance,humidity and lighting)

[Rover15]

So its time for me to put up my walls I was going to use plywood but I've changed my mind I plan on using bords they are thicker and stronger but I want to use wood glue but I'm unsure if it will be unsafe :s I plan on making the walls 12-18 inches from the base and use 3-6inches of substance

The help I need:
1. Is it okay to use wood glue?
2. What substance or mix best holds humidity (yellow footed tort)
3. If I close off 2/3s of the top with plexiglass it should help hold heat and humidity right?
4. Should I have two hides? One humide one normal?
5 might sound dumb but should my uvb/uva light be on the same side as the CHE?

Answer some answer them all any help is welcomed ill be starting to build tomorrow afternoon also you should know I'm lining the bottom with shower curtin and ill be doing about 6inches of the wall with the curtian as well.

Thank you in advance

 

[tortadise]

If its a Mercury Vapor Bulb use that during the day and CHE during night. Wood glue is fine just dont letbig globs dry up to where he might wonder what it taste like. Yellow Foots are deep forest dwellers from the Amazon Basin, they tend to get a lot of indirect light filtered through various levels of rainforest canopies and heavily planted areas. More hides the better for this species, the entire enclosure needs to relatively humid so humid hides for both is always best option, as well as ambient humidity in the entire enclosure 70% or better is best for YF. On that note as well, A traditional T8 flourescent tube UVB bulb is going to be a better option 2.0 for this species, 5.0 and 10.0 is a bit much. These guys do like to climb over things too, so I would also add some large branches in the enclosure just for good exsercise and a nice rainforest welcoming enclosure style. Good luck.

 

[Rover15]

What is a mercery vapor bulb? I just planed on using the CHE night and day but rasing it at night to get my drop in temp as for the uvb I have a tube bulb that I was going to put covering the width of the table so that the other end is darkish and so that I can creat a canopy style shade/light on the opposite side.

Humid hides I have one black plastic bucket that ill have on its side its and it will be under half of the substance the second was. Going to be a tubber ware container with a hole in it. Now ill prob search to find out how to make it a humid hide unless someone can answe that as well

Substance is still an issue I want something that doesn't mold and that holds humidity

 

[tortadise]

A mercury vapor bulb is an incandescent bulb that provides heat and UVB, very effective for reptiles but not a good choice for yellowfoot. Just making sure you were going to use a tube bulb. Good so far on your end. Sounds perfect what you have so far. The humid hides are usually easy to keep humid with sphagnum moss. Soak the moss in warm to moderately hot water and place it in the area of the hide then plop the hide over it. Usually a heat pad on the bottom keeps the wet moss to sustain the moisture and humidity. Dont want to let the moss get cold and wet, can cause your tort to get a cold. Yello Foots need pretty high humidity. I would just make sure your entire enclosure is nice and humid and use regular hides instead of humid hides. Coco Coir is a good substrate that does not mold. Being in canada Your trees are mostly fur. You can use bark mulch or peat moss mixed with mulch if you cant find coco coir. But you should be able to order it online from the states if its not availble up there.

If you can find them up where you are.
Orchid bark,
Eucalyptis Mulch,
Hardwood Mulch (can mold after a while and if kept too wet)
Peat moss mixed with dirt or a mulch keeps great humidity.

 

[Watsonpartyof4]

A mercury vapor bulb is an incandescent bulb that provides heat and UVB, very effective for reptiles but not a good choice for yellowfoot. Just making sure you were going to use a tube bulb. Good so far on your end. Sounds perfect what you have so far. The humid hides are usually easy to keep humid with sphagnum moss. Soak the moss in warm to moderately hot water and place it in the area of the hide then plop the hide over it. Usually a heat pad on the bottom keeps the wet moss to sustain the moisture and humidity. Dont want to let the moss get cold and wet, can cause your tort to get a cold. Yello Foots need pretty high humidity. I would just make sure your entire enclosure is nice and humid and use regular hides instead of humid hides. Coco Coir is a good substrate that does not mold. Being in canada Your trees are mostly fur. You can use bark mulch or peat moss mixed with mulch if you cant find coco coir. But you should be able to order it online from the states if its not availble up there.

If you can find them up where you are.
Orchid bark,
Eucalyptis Mulch,
Hardwood Mulch (can mold after a while and if kept too wet)
Peat moss mixed with dirt or a mulch keeps great humidity.

Not to high jack your thread, but would you suggest for a Red Foot? I am moving mine into a 74 inch x 20 inch aquarium ?

 

[tortadise]

A mercury vapor bulb is an incandescent bulb that provides heat and UVB, very effective for reptiles but not a good choice for yellowfoot. Just making sure you were going to use a tube bulb. Good so far on your end. Sounds perfect what you have so far. The humid hides are usually easy to keep humid with sphagnum moss. Soak the moss in warm to moderately hot water and place it in the area of the hide then plop the hide over it. Usually a heat pad on the bottom keeps the wet moss to sustain the moisture and humidity. Dont want to let the moss get cold and wet, can cause your tort to get a cold. Yello Foots need pretty high humidity. I would just make sure your entire enclosure is nice and humid and use regular hides instead of humid hides. Coco Coir is a good substrate that does not mold. Being in canada Your trees are mostly fur. You can use bark mulch or peat moss mixed with mulch if you cant find coco coir. But you should be able to order it online from the states if its not availble up there.

If you can find them up where you are.
Orchid bark,
Eucalyptis Mulch,
Hardwood Mulch (can mold after a while and if kept too wet)
Peat moss mixed with dirt or a mulch keeps great humidity.

Not to high jack your thread, but would you suggest for a Red Foot? I am moving mine into a 74 inch x 20 inch aquarium ?

Redfoot are found in savanas in South America. Almost same humidity, Just a varied diet, but both can be kept almost the same way and both do very well. I give my yellow foots way more plants and hides and much more humidity and water)misting and larger water bowls. The thing with red foots and yellow foots, is keeping them too wet can cause shell rot over a period of time. So its key to boost humidity but not to have a saturated wet or constant damp substrate. That being said, if the substrate is kept damp, wet for long period of time and gets cold this can also cause Upper Respiratory infections as well. A good tool is a humidifer for yellow foots, because high humidty is a good healthy element to keeping them stable. As well for red foots too. But they can take the spikes of lower to higher humidity just by spraying the enclosure middle of the day so the heat bulb has time enough to dry the substrate.

Really in captivity you can keep these two species in almost the same manor and they will do great. I keep all my South American species in a greenhouse, but the reds get less "rainfall" (misting system) than the yellows, as well the plants the reds have more of an open area appose to the yellows.

So after all that 1000 words or less I just typed for yall. Sorry.
You can use the same substrates, temps, hides, and set up if you like. The more hides really the better for any species of tortoise, the more secure they feel the more they are to adapt and do well.

 

[Rover15]

I'm able to get cypress mulch I'm bulk for a good price how ever it wasn't on your list :s I'm hoping its still okay as it would be my back up, to the coco coir. I'm hoping to have the walls up and the shower curtin layed down and ready to add substance and hides by this time tomorrow. Thank you for the help ill take 10 000 words of knowledge over 100 words I already know

And I don't mind if people "high jack" my threads I tend to do it but I don't see it as wrong if you need help on the same subject then ask in an active thread

 

[tortadise]

Cypress works great too. I didnt mention it thinking most cypress trees are down south. I use mostly cypress. its cheap and easy clean up, holds moisture real well. Go with the cypress if you can. If you mix coco coir with the cypress it will hold humidity even better.

 

[Rover15]

Is coco coir and coco fiber the same thing? Foolish question but I'm curious I use a coco fiber sand mix for my monitor so I want to know if I'm buying the same stuff or am I specificly looking for coco coir? Also am I pretty on the money with doing about 3-6" of the substance? I'm thinking of having the basking area higher then the "cool" area just forces climbing up witch is more work for humans to climb up I assume same rule would apply to torts and create a workout

 

[tortadise]

Its relatively the same. Fiber is usually larger chunks mixed in with it. Works just as good. 6" is a good depth, that will allow allocate moisture from the substrate. The less you use the faster it dries out.

 

[Rover15]

6inches it is I figured any more then that would be a waste as I'm not breeding and im not going to hibernate my yellow foot

 

[tortadise]

That is correct. Yeah do not even attempt to hibernate this species. They wont hibernate anyways nor will red foots. You can kill them by doing so.

 

[Watsonpartyof4]

That is correct. Yeah do not even attempt to hibernate this species. They wont hibernate anyways nor will red foots. You can kill them by doing so.

You have a lot of knowledge! Thank you for sharing!

Today is supposed to get up to 74! I am hoping to take my Redfoot outside...this maybe the last time he gets to enjoy fresh air in Ohio!

 

[tortadise]

Thank you. Sounds like a good day for some last minute outside time to me too