Building new tort enclosure.

[NicoleB26]

I am in the process of building a new enclosure for my red foots. It will be 10' by 4' by 3 1/2'. It will be a closed wooden enclosure with sliding front doors made of plexiglass. Will this hold enough humidity just by misting and keeping moist substrate under a dry layer of mulch? I've read a lot about people using false bottoms with heating elements and water to create humidity. Is this necessary?

 

[Beck]

It depends on the enclosure, heating elements involved, and "outside" climate. How are your humidity efforts in your current enclosure? If you don't have much trouble now, you shouldn't with a closed enclosure.

I really like my false bottom, but have yet to decide if I want it for my large enclosure that I'll build. Once you set it up, its so easy to maintain. And others don't use a false bottom, but still use heating cables to increase humidity.

Then others use humidifiers, and others pour and spray.

Unfortunately (or fortunately) there's no one answer. You'll have to figure out what works best for you. Experiment away!

Sent from my Nexus 7 using TortForum mobile app

 

[NicoleB26]

Thanks Beck. I currently have a tortoise table that we built for by red foots and maintaining proper humidity is a never ending battle! I want to make sure I make this one spot on as it will hopefully be the last enclosure I build them! Do you currently have a wooden enclosure with a false bottom? And if so could you possibly post pics? Unfortunately I am not very creative!

 

[Beck]

My enclosure is a plastic storage bin with a false bottom: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-74825.html

Redstrike has a great post on using heat cables without the false bottom in a wood enclosure: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-45960.html with a fully enclosed chamber, I'd bet this is all you'd need.

This is probably how I would build a false bottom in a VERY WATERPROOF wood enclosure (minus the rain system): http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-38550.html

Is your current enclosure closed or open? Anyone would battle with an open one.

 

[NicoleB26]

Thanks for the help! My current enclosure was 70% open top which I have converted to about 20% open top. It has been an improvement in maintaining humidity but not enough! I run a humidifier, UVB lights, 2-CHE's and often a regular light bulb to maintain heat and humidity in the cold weather. Way too much electricity! Hopefully this will change with new enclosure. Thanks again for the help!