Hello all!
Well, Emrys will have been in my life a month tomorrow, and using everything I've learned about him (and about myself) in the past month, I've made a few changes to his enclosure today.
Emrys' original set up was one that I saw as being fairly practical. I'd done a lot of research before I bought him, and the result of that research was that I bought a large built-for-purpose tortoise table, bought my own clamp lamp and attached it, used a soil and aspen substrate with additional sphagnum moss, and set the enclosure up as follows (the hide is to the left, and extends across quite a way):
Over the past month, I've changed my opinions about his enclosure a little. Firstly, I've learned that aspen and sphagnum moss just don't work for either of us. Mostly me, though - I don't like the way it looks, and the moss gets absolutely everywhere. I've tested to ensure I can keep humidity without it, so that's now gone - his enclosure is purely soil.
Emrys also wasn't using the built-in hide. He wasn't keen on it and preferred to sleep out in the open. I paid a lot for his table, because I wanted one with the hide built in, but it just wasn't working for him. He wasn't even walking in there, removing a lot of usable space. So, I decided the best thing to do would be to remove the hide completely and make his table seem much bigger. I've been experimenting with various hide options this past week, but the only solution he's liked has been a half plant pot, used as a bunker. I've been monitoring temperatures in, around and on it to ensure that it's safe, and I've been watching Emrys climbing on it to make sure he's stable. It's now included in the new enclosure.
Pictures are below. I'm incredibly happy with it. I'm no good at craft, and I'm not creative in the slightest, but Emmy's a little inspiration and he's led me to give it everything I've got:
Well, Emrys will have been in my life a month tomorrow, and using everything I've learned about him (and about myself) in the past month, I've made a few changes to his enclosure today.
Emrys' original set up was one that I saw as being fairly practical. I'd done a lot of research before I bought him, and the result of that research was that I bought a large built-for-purpose tortoise table, bought my own clamp lamp and attached it, used a soil and aspen substrate with additional sphagnum moss, and set the enclosure up as follows (the hide is to the left, and extends across quite a way):
Over the past month, I've changed my opinions about his enclosure a little. Firstly, I've learned that aspen and sphagnum moss just don't work for either of us. Mostly me, though - I don't like the way it looks, and the moss gets absolutely everywhere. I've tested to ensure I can keep humidity without it, so that's now gone - his enclosure is purely soil.
Emrys also wasn't using the built-in hide. He wasn't keen on it and preferred to sleep out in the open. I paid a lot for his table, because I wanted one with the hide built in, but it just wasn't working for him. He wasn't even walking in there, removing a lot of usable space. So, I decided the best thing to do would be to remove the hide completely and make his table seem much bigger. I've been experimenting with various hide options this past week, but the only solution he's liked has been a half plant pot, used as a bunker. I've been monitoring temperatures in, around and on it to ensure that it's safe, and I've been watching Emrys climbing on it to make sure he's stable. It's now included in the new enclosure.
Pictures are below. I'm incredibly happy with it. I'm no good at craft, and I'm not creative in the slightest, but Emmy's a little inspiration and he's led me to give it everything I've got:
Nice job!!
