ATTN: TERRYO

[dwright27]

Good morning!

I have been searching through the forum and I have seen quite a few people recommend that others "copy TerryO's" enclosure lol.. But @terryo I can't find the right thread of your enclosure(s) since you're such a popular poster! Could you or someone link me to pics of your indoor setup for your redfoots?

Thanks!

Dawn

 

[ascott]

Good morning!

I have been searching through the forum and I have seen quite a few people recommend that others "copy TerryO's" enclosure lol.. But @terryo I can't find the right thread of your enclosure(s) since you're such a popular poster! Could you or someone link me to pics of your indoor setup for your redfoots?

Thanks!

Dawn

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/solos-new-vivarium.24768/

 

[ascott]

Good morning!

I have been searching through the forum and I have seen quite a few people recommend that others "copy TerryO's" enclosure lol.. But @terryo I can't find the right thread of your enclosure(s) since you're such a popular poster! Could you or someone link me to pics of your indoor setup for your redfoots?

Thanks!

Dawn

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/pios-new-vivarium.24736/

I really like the angles on these pics, you can see the layers of substrate..very important...

 

[dwright27]

Ah, thank you @ascott!

 

[terryo]

That's the 125 gal. This is the 95 gal for the smaller one.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/solos-new-vivarium.24768/

 

[ascott]

That's the 125 gal. This is the 95 gal for the smaller one.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/solos-new-vivarium.24768/

LOL...I actually did attach both...but was a little slow so they ended up in two posts....I would never leave one out...I absolutely adore your two set ups...

 

[terryo]

Thank you. I just wanted to add that when Solo got older she was too big for the natural wood hide, so I just put a bunch of artificial plants on one side hanging over to form a cave and that was her hide. I noticed the silk plants held mosture well and kept the humidity high inside the cave. As you can see the substrate was dry when I took this picture, but under the silk plants it was pretty humid.

 

[terryo]

what a minute I can never figure out how to upload a picture.....

 

[terryo]

You can also make a nice enclosure with a Christmas tree storage bin. It's what I use when I first put a baby outside. I throw in a lot of seeds...spring mix seeds and when they sprout the RF's love to eat them. The one's they leave grow nicely too.

 

[dwright27]

He's in a 4ft x 2x terrarium right now. I found someone who is working on a quote for me for a build... Something I can expand, so I'm looking at an L shape, 4x6 for one side and 4x8 for the other.

 

[dwright27]

Oh, Terry, is a closed chamber setup good for a 2+ year-old RF? How about an adult? I need to know when I do up a sketch for the guy.

 

[terryo]

I can only tell you how I raised mine with very good results. I liked the glass vivariums as they kept the humidity in well. I had a screen top with holes for the heat emitters, and across the top I had a long tube UVB. The rest of the screen top was covered with clear wrapping tape and the big vivariums, when I upgraded, had Plexiglas but with the same light and heat set up. Mine was never totally closed and they were out all Summer from the time they were small. I only raised the two of them, and I was told that the most important thing was a humid hide when they were small. I never kept the whole vivarium with wet substrate because when I first got them I did, and one got shell fungus. So I kept the substrate dry and only thing wet was the plants to keep the humidity. I know how hard it is because there is so much conflicting advice. I raised them the exact same way I did my box turtles, except for the food. I'm in New York, and it was hard to take advice from people who lived in warm climates and didn't know the difficulties I faced here with dry heat all Winter. There are good breeders on this forum who probably can tell you better than I could, as I only had the two Cherry Heads. Here's a picture of Pio and Solo.

 

[dwright27]

Do you still have them? My problem is that I have found a ton of info for hatchlings but not a lot for adult care. He's only a couple years old, so he's not fully grown. But I don't want to invest the $1,000+ and have it be wrong.

 

[terryo]

I gave them to a friend in a warm state. They will never have to come inside again. The reason I did this.....The largest size indoor enclosure I could give them was a 150 gal. tank. There was nothing else I could fit in my house. Pio would hate coming in and just couldn't settle down, so I would let her roam the house downstairs in my kitchen. She would sit in front of the sliding doors and sometimes bang on the door so hard I thought the glass would crack. Solo was a little better about being inside (the one with the full red cap). Since I raised them from the time they were 1 month old, they were my pets and my only two tortoises. I am a box turtle person. I thought this was cruel watching them wanting to go out all the time so I have to make an unselfish decision. Believe me, it was extremely hard to do. If you are planing to keep them inside I think your enclosure would be good enough for 1. Just my opinion. I know keepers who keep them inside for the Winter with a much smaller enclosure.....something I just couldn't do.

 

[dwright27]

Sorry to hear that, Terry. I like boxies too, but I've never had one. Story is my only tort. Hopefully he'll be okay in a larger indoor enclosure during the colder months.. I'm in Canada and it wasn't a very hot summer this year. I feel like the 75g is already too small for him. I started learning Google Sketchup and it's going pretty well so far, I think. I'll post pics once I have a design and see what people think before I send it to the guy for a quote.