LemmyBites
Member
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2015
- Messages
- 34
Hi there, I am user Rutibegga's other half. We live in Philly and just bought a redfoot baby from a breeder on this site. While I was originally very apprehensive of my partner's tortoise obsession (we already have a bunch of furry mouths to feed), the fact that I get to build a cool indoor tropical enclosure sold me. I have been researching and working on the enclosure for the past few days. Trogdor the Burninator (the baby) will be living primarily indoors for the first year and definitely during the winter, so I want to be sure this enclosure will work for ~4-5 years. So far, this is my plan:
Layout:
Equipment:
Layout:
- 3' x 4' fully enclosed wood table with a 1 x 3' upper level accessible via ramp, for a total of 15 sqft
- Plywood floor will be sealed with a wood sealant and covered with a shower curtain
- 20" walls with plexiglass viewing windows on 2 sides
- plexiglass and plywood hinged top
- Basking rock on upper level approx. 8" below the UV + heat lamps (is this OK?)
- food and water dishes + several hiding areas on bottom level
- Plants: aloe, a few tortoise-safe herbs, lamium, maybe some moss. All will be organic.
- Rocks & driftwood to add interest
- Substrate - still researching what's best for babies. Looks like sphagnum moss and coco coir?
Equipment:
- ZooMed combo lamp fixture and turtle lamp combo pack
- LED or compact fluorescent strip for plants (TBD)
- MistKing system with 2 misting nozzles and a timer (unsure of how often to mist - anyone know?)
- ZooMed digital thermometer/humidity gauge placed at substrate level