adult red setup ideas

[blackcat38]

I’ll soon be finishing uni and moving back in with my mum until me and the other half have saved for our own house (can’t wait!) But I’m guessing were going to be at my mums for a few years. I’m thinking of building a new table for my reds, something bigger for them to grow into while we’re at my mums, so I’m looking for some ideas. At the moment they are in an L shaped table measuring 6 x 5.6 foot and then the width of each L part is 2.6 foot if that makes sense.

I was thinking of a massive table but covering the top with Perspex so it’s a sort of viv (with adequate ventilation) so it would be more economical with the heating and so it would hold in the humidity more (it's hardly ever warm where I live). And I was thinking of making some sort of sprinkler system to come from the lid to mimic the rain.

How do you lot house your adult reds? Are they in massive tables, have rooms, sheds, sort of viv type setup? What sort of sizes do you have for how many torts? And how do you heat such large enclosures? If people could post pictures to go with it that would be fantastic

At the mo mine are only little (biggest is 16cm) but would like something for them to grow into

 

[Itort]

If my figuring is right, you now have a habitat of 24 square feet. That should be quite good for them to grqw into. For heating this I suggest ceramic heat emitters.These would be mounted in about a 12 inch reflector (with ceramic socket). Keep these fixtures away from plexi as it will warp or melt. I mist mine with a hand mister 2 or 3 times a day and a warm air humidifer in the winter in the herp room.

 

[blackcat38]

ok i forgot to say I have 5 torts, that's what they are in at the mintue and its fine but when I move I'm going to build and design a bigger one. I have 3 ceramic heaters now but I was just wondering what other people use (does anyone use tubular heaters?) and what sort of set ups do they have for their adults? To give me some ideas or the future

 

[dewbert]

Here are some pix of my indoor RF setup. (I've since added more plants.) Their outside setup is a 10' x 10' dog kennel.
http://picasaweb.google.com/wwingler/Tortoises

 

[Madkins007]

Some guidelines.

The European 'standard' is 8 tortoise lengths by 4 tortoise lengths (long rectangles are preferred over square to give them a long 'run'.) For Red-foots, this means about 8'x4' for one or two tortoises. Add 10% more for tortoises #3 and 4 (each), and 20% for 5 and 6 (each). I figure my herd of 5 needs about 14'x7'.

At this size, you generally either need multiple tables, or a room. When you build it, aim for a 'warm floor'. With the humidity needs, if the floor/substrate is cold, it will get clammy and chilly when wet. On the other hand, making a warm floor can be tricky because of the wetness. While I have not built mine yet, I plan on using greenhouse cables to warm the substrate to about 80F and a thermostat for safety. A warm substrate also means that water in the substrate will vaporize and add to the humidity.

You might consider making a higher framework with PVC and using poly plastic instead of rigid plastic. This gives you are larger air space which would allow for more fresh air, and let you use a warm air vaporizer for humidity and some heat.

The biggest thing to me is 'go big'. A bigger habitat means you can add hills, hiding places, plants, and other elements of interest.

 

[Candy]

Dewbert I would love to see pictures of your dog run for your Redfoots. Do you have any or have you posted them on this forum yet?

 

[blackcat38]

Some guidelines.

The European 'standard' is 8 tortoise lengths by 4 tortoise lengths (long rectangles are preferred over square to give them a long 'run'.) For Red-foots, this means about 8'x4' for one or two tortoises. Add 10% more for tortoises #3 and 4 (each), and 20% for 5 and 6 (each). I figure my herd of 5 needs about 14'x7'.

At this size, you generally either need multiple tables, or a room. When you build it, aim for a 'warm floor'. With the humidity needs, if the floor/substrate is cold, it will get clammy and chilly when wet. On the other hand, making a warm floor can be tricky because of the wetness. While I have not built mine yet, I plan on using greenhouse cables to warm the substrate to about 80F and a thermostat for safety. A warm substrate also means that water in the substrate will vaporize and add to the humidity.

You might consider making a higher framework with PVC and using poly plastic instead of rigid plastic. This gives you are larger air space which would allow for more fresh air, and let you use a warm air vaporizer for humidity and some heat.

The biggest thing to me is 'go big'. A bigger habitat means you can add hills, hiding places, plants, and other elements of interest.

bigger is better maybe not that big yet as we'll only be at my mums for about 2 years hopefully, but when we get our own house they will have there own room! I'd love to make some thing like this if my bf will let me take over a room lol
http://calder.hobby-site.com/Terrarium.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbAYPUVsKlc
His whole room is his iuana's viv and then he has a turtle living on the floor
But for me, that is years off yet. Just out of interest do you think it would be safe to cohabit redfoots with an iguana or some other aborial species? If I converted a room like this guy? Has any one cohabited redfoots with anything eles before? I really like this guys mixed viv too http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLkMJEAGzPE&feature=related


Madkins007- what sort of setup do you have for you reds? And how many have you got?

Thanks
Rachel

 

[dewbert]

Dewbert I would love to see pictures of your dog run for your Redfoots. Do you have any or have you posted them on this forum yet?

Hi Candy--
The first few photos in that link I posted are in the dog pen. It's about 15x15 ft, square. Today I spent time cutting the waist-high grass down. It looks kinda bad, but the torts love going into the "forest" and chomping grass and burrowing down. It took us 10 minutes to find Lucille in the mess last night!

 

[Candy]

I also have a dog run for Dale and I know what you mean. The other day I couldn't find him and started to panic. Then I was afraid that I was going to step on him because the grass and weeds are so high in there. I have to be very careful, but at least he has a lot of hiding places.