This place is great and I hope you guys don't mind me taping your knowledge once again.
So I got my baby Resfoot about a week ago and my first set up was an open top and turned out to be an epic failure. I don't know how to link my other thread to this one but my 1st set up was a plastic tub with lights and moss. It would have been perfectly fine for a baby tort that doesn't need to be in as high humidity as my Redfoot. Live and learn I guess. It was my intention to keep him in that tub for about 3 more months. My little guy is supposedly 3 months now. Durring that 3 months I was going to design and build him a table but I'm glad this was a failure because I was designing anther open top table.
That failure made created the need for a table now. I wanted my first table to be relitivly small (as far as tables go) so I could make sure I could make something that works and is easily cleaned. I think I accomplished that so we'll see how well this design works. He should be able to stay in the table for what I'm thinking will be 6 months to a year before I build him something 3 times this size. I can also expand this table some as he get larger I need be.
Sorry or the long read but I'm super stoked about this and have some questions so please keep reading, I'll owe you one for sure.
My wife suggested that I use our old baby changing table for the frame instead of starting from scratch (she was worried how a plywood box was going to look in the living room). She is a smart lady!
So I stripped the table down to the frame and got some plywood for the bottom and 3 sides. The lid is half plywood (over the basking area) and half plexiglass. The front is all plexiglass. I used 10mill plastic to line the bottom and the basking arwa. I put top soil down (plain soil not potting soil or anything like that) and put long strained stag moss over that. I have a flat rock in the basking area (which should work perfectly for checking the temps there) a flat rock near his hide for him to eat off of. The sauser is his water/soak zone. I've used natural stone to create a hide. There's a plant shelf for looks and helping to hold humidity and I've put a ramp in there leading to his loft aka basking area. There is a secondary hide too, between the stairs and his rock hide. I cut all kids of groves into the ramp for traction and I added safety rails on the ramp and loft area. The best part is the plexiglass. I use strip magnets all the way way around the plexi an I added handles. I can just pop the plexi half of the kid or the entire face off in two seconds, do what needs done then snap it right back in place. So now into my questions.
#1. What do you guys think. Don't hold back; if I messed something up please tell me. I've got thick skin and can take it. It's my first tort table so it's experimental.
#2. Someone mentioned a fan. How should i do that? This set up is completely enclosed and I don't want it to get nasty inside and I think air movement will go a long way.
#3. How do you guys keep for getting mold in your enclosed tables?
#4. Should I lign the inside face of the plywood with fake background to help with the mold?
#5. How often do you guys change out the stag moss?
#6. My biggest question is what temp shoul the inside of his hide be and should it be dry or wet? I know wet and cold = sick tort so for now I left it dry.
The way it's set up is the bottom half (right side) is wet and it slowly get dryer moving to the left where his hide is. All the plants in there are on the safe for RF to eat list.
Thanks for looking and please tell me what you think.
Kevin
So I got my baby Resfoot about a week ago and my first set up was an open top and turned out to be an epic failure. I don't know how to link my other thread to this one but my 1st set up was a plastic tub with lights and moss. It would have been perfectly fine for a baby tort that doesn't need to be in as high humidity as my Redfoot. Live and learn I guess. It was my intention to keep him in that tub for about 3 more months. My little guy is supposedly 3 months now. Durring that 3 months I was going to design and build him a table but I'm glad this was a failure because I was designing anther open top table.
That failure made created the need for a table now. I wanted my first table to be relitivly small (as far as tables go) so I could make sure I could make something that works and is easily cleaned. I think I accomplished that so we'll see how well this design works. He should be able to stay in the table for what I'm thinking will be 6 months to a year before I build him something 3 times this size. I can also expand this table some as he get larger I need be.
Sorry or the long read but I'm super stoked about this and have some questions so please keep reading, I'll owe you one for sure.
My wife suggested that I use our old baby changing table for the frame instead of starting from scratch (she was worried how a plywood box was going to look in the living room). She is a smart lady!
So I stripped the table down to the frame and got some plywood for the bottom and 3 sides. The lid is half plywood (over the basking area) and half plexiglass. The front is all plexiglass. I used 10mill plastic to line the bottom and the basking arwa. I put top soil down (plain soil not potting soil or anything like that) and put long strained stag moss over that. I have a flat rock in the basking area (which should work perfectly for checking the temps there) a flat rock near his hide for him to eat off of. The sauser is his water/soak zone. I've used natural stone to create a hide. There's a plant shelf for looks and helping to hold humidity and I've put a ramp in there leading to his loft aka basking area. There is a secondary hide too, between the stairs and his rock hide. I cut all kids of groves into the ramp for traction and I added safety rails on the ramp and loft area. The best part is the plexiglass. I use strip magnets all the way way around the plexi an I added handles. I can just pop the plexi half of the kid or the entire face off in two seconds, do what needs done then snap it right back in place. So now into my questions.
#1. What do you guys think. Don't hold back; if I messed something up please tell me. I've got thick skin and can take it. It's my first tort table so it's experimental.
#2. Someone mentioned a fan. How should i do that? This set up is completely enclosed and I don't want it to get nasty inside and I think air movement will go a long way.
#3. How do you guys keep for getting mold in your enclosed tables?
#4. Should I lign the inside face of the plywood with fake background to help with the mold?
#5. How often do you guys change out the stag moss?
#6. My biggest question is what temp shoul the inside of his hide be and should it be dry or wet? I know wet and cold = sick tort so for now I left it dry.
The way it's set up is the bottom half (right side) is wet and it slowly get dryer moving to the left where his hide is. All the plants in there are on the safe for RF to eat list.
Thanks for looking and please tell me what you think.
Kevin
