Burmese Mountain Tortoise enclosure temp

[jridge716]

Hello everyone, i am a new and happy owner of a Burmese Mountain Tortoise hatchling. My question is that I have built an indoor tortoise table and am thinking about putting it in my "mancave" in my finished attic. The only problem I see is that it gets pretty warm up there in the summer. I will keep a fan on and window open but just wanted to know if you guys think that it will be too hot. I live in Buffalo, NY and the summers arent too bad prob in the low to high 80's and the attic can get around the same temp . I do hav an air conditioner up there but dont want to run it 24/7. Any input would help. Thanks. I also have a covered back porch I could use but wanted to keep him inside for the first couple years.I do have a cat litter box filled with water at all times as well as peat moss and reptile bedding. That I keep moist.

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome

 

[jridge716]

Hello and Welcome

Thanks for the warm welcome, I am so happy to have found this great forum!

 

[jridge716]

Any advice?

 

[wellington]

I don't know much about them as far as temps go. However, you should get him outside as much as possible. Hopefully someone can help with temps. I'm sure they will be on soon, hang on.

 

[tortadise]

Welcome! First question. What age is the mountain? Hatchlings-3 year olds dont take heat well at all. Mid 80s is ok though. But with lots of hides and a.cool moist area.for retreat. What would the.temps get down to in the evening up in the attic?

 

[jridge716]

Welcome! First question. What age is the mountain? Hatchlings-3 year olds dont take heat well at all. Mid 80s is ok though. But with lots of hides and a.cool moist area.for retreat. What would the.temps get down to in the evening up in the attic?

The hatchling is def under a year. At night with the windows open and fans on it will get in the lower to mid 70's.I can even kick the ac on low to bring it down even more if needed. I am most worried about the day temps once July/Aug rolls around. It is a finished and insulated attic but it still holds the daytime heat pretty well.

 

[tortadise]

70s is good mid to high is perfect. You could try to possibilty set up an enclosure with a fogger to bring the temps down a little. Id be afraid to tell yougo ahead and try it. But manouria young can be very sensitive to heat. Provided a very very good enclosure it is possible to work with high 80s temperatures. You can put thick layer of substrate and dig a tunnel/hide for him with moist moss to allow a cool retreat. Even air circulation with a fan would help tremendously.

 

[jridge716]

I am hoping that if I keep a large shallow water dish and keep the sphagnum moss and soil damp that he can escape the heat. But if it is gonna jeopardize my little guys life then I will have to move him elswhere. I should def be able to keep the temps around 85F- 87F and that will only be during the peak of the day in July/August, during all other times of the year the temps are fine.

---

70s is good mid to high is perfect. You could try to possibilty set up an enclosure with a fogger to bring the temps down a little. Id be afraid to tell yougo ahead and try it. But manouria young can be very sensitive to heat. Provided a very very good enclosure it is possible to work with high 80s temperatures. You can put thick layer of substrate and dig a tunnel/hide for him with moist moss to allow a cool retreat. Even air circulation with a fan would help tremendously.

Ok, thanks. I thought about an oscillating fan near the enclosure also. I guess I will just have to monitor the temps once summer rolls around and see what its like. The only other place would the unfinished nasty basement but it does stay cool and stable during the summer. Is organic potting soild and coco bedding a decent choice for maintaining humidity along with sphagnum and spanish moss?

 

[tortadise]

Yeah, all good soils. Just make sure the potting soil does not have perlite in it. That is the little white specks/ball objects in most potting soils. It creates a less dense easier to drain substrate for plants. Serves no purpose to tortoises, except possoble choking hazard. Other than that moss it up good. They like leaves and branches too. If you choose do place the little guy up there. Just be cautious and watch for any rapidly evaporated water dishes and change in behavior. At that point i would remove him from the attic area rather quickly.

---

Oh and bright light too. If there's skylights or windows that make it bright. I would cover them too. One thing that will stress them and cause over hiding is bright light. Even uvb bulbs. The 2.0 tube bulbs are best for them. More animal proteins when young too. So can we see some pics now ;D? Is your a black or brown?

 

[jridge716]

Yeah, all good soils. Just make sure the potting soil does not have perlite in it. That is the little white specks/ball objects in most potting soils. It creates a less dense easier to drain substrate for plants. Serves no purpose to tortoises, except possoble choking hazard. Other than that moss it up good. They like leaves and branches too. If you choose do place the little guy up there. Just be cautious and watch for any rapidly evaporated water dishes and change in behavior. At that point i would remove him from the attic area rather quickly.

Thanks. Hes up here now. But I will monitor the temps very closely and may even just move him down to the basement for a couple months during the peak of summer just to be safe. I will keep you guys up to date with the progress and temps up here as they change. Hopefully a few pics soon also

---

Yeah, all good soils. Just make sure the potting soil does not have perlite in it. That is the little white specks/ball objects in most potting soils. It creates a less dense easier to drain substrate for plants. Serves no purpose to tortoises, except possoble choking hazard. Other than that moss it up good. They like leaves and branches too. If you choose do place the little guy up there. Just be cautious and watch for any rapidly evaporated water dishes and change in behavior. At that point i would remove him from the attic area rather quickly.

---

Oh and bright light too. If there's skylights or windows that make it bright. I would cover them too. One thing that will stress them and cause over hiding is bright light. Even uvb bulbs. The 2.0 tube bulbs are best for them. More animal proteins when young too. So can we see some pics now ;D? Is your a black or brown?

---

Hes a brown (Manouria emys emys), I have been sprinkling Calcium with D3 as I did read that UVB bulbs can irritate these guys. I bring him outside for his soakings to get a little indirect sunlight. My goal is to eventually have an outdoor pen in the summer and a large room size indoor enclosure in the basement.

 

[volcom6981]

Yeah, all good soils. Just make sure the potting soil does not have perlite in it. That is the little white specks/ball objects in most potting soils. It creates a less dense easier to drain substrate for plants. Serves no purpose to tortoises, except possoble choking hazard. Other than that moss it up good. They like leaves and branches too. If you choose do place the little guy up there. Just be cautious and watch for any rapidly evaporated water dishes and change in behavior. At that point i would remove him from the attic area rather quickly.

---

Oh and bright light too. If there's skylights or windows that make it bright. I would cover them too. One thing that will stress them and cause over hiding is bright light. Even uvb bulbs. The 2.0 tube bulbs are best for them. More animal proteins when young too. So can we see some pics now ;D? Is your a black or brown?

---

What is your lighting for your setup? Are you using a strip UVB with a CHE? I'm hoping to soon get one as well, but I have elongated hachlings right now, and I have them with UVB strip bulb and CHE right now.

 

[jridge716]

Yeah, all good soils. Just make sure the potting soil does not have perlite in it. That is the little white specks/ball objects in most potting soils. It creates a less dense easier to drain substrate for plants. Serves no purpose to tortoises, except possoble choking hazard. Other than that moss it up good. They like leaves and branches too. If you choose do place the little guy up there. Just be cautious and watch for any rapidly evaporated water dishes and change in behavior. At that point i would remove him from the attic area rather quickly.

---

Oh and bright light too. If there's skylights or windows that make it bright. I would cover them too. One thing that will stress them and cause over hiding is bright light. Even uvb bulbs. The 2.0 tube bulbs are best for them. More animal proteins when young too. So can we see some pics now ;D? Is your a black or brown?

---

What is your lighting for your setup? Are you using a strip UVB with a CHE? I'm hoping to soon get one as well, but I have elongated hachlings right now, and I have them with UVB strip bulb and CHE right now.

---

Just have one small flourescent UVB about 18 inches from table. I dont think it does much good that high. but I know these guys hate bright lights.I am also not using any type of basking light. So I am supplementing Calcium D3 in his diet, and taking him outside for his soaks. If there are any better ideas about UVB lighting, let me know.

 

[tortadise]

Elongata i would use same UVB source (tube) and heat source of CHE. However elongata can take much warmer temps than manouria can.

 

[mike taylor]

This is what I did. I wired a plug to thermally control the a/c unit .Set the unit to75 so if it does get to hot the a/c will turn on so it isn't running all the time . You can do the same to a humidifier to cool him down .

 

[BeeBee*BeeLeaves]

The experts have spoken. I just wanna say congrats on your new baby and mancave roomie! And on finding this awesome forum. And when you have time ... pictures, pictures, pictures (pounds desk, lol). : )

 

[emysbreeder]

Hello everyone, i am a new and happy owner of a Burmese Mountain Tortoise hatchling. My question is that I have built an indoor tortoise table and am thinking about putting it in my "mancave" in my finished attic. The only problem I see is that it gets pretty warm up there in the summer. I will keep a fan on and window open but just wanted to know if you guys think that it will be too hot. I live in Buffalo, NY and the summers arent too bad prob in the low to high 80's and the attic can get around the same temp . I do hav an air conditioner up there but dont want to run it 24/7. Any input would help. Thanks. I also have a covered back porch I could use but wanted to keep him inside for the first couple years.I do have a cat litter box filled with water at all times as well as peat moss and reptile bedding. That I keep moist.

The mid to high 80's are fine in the daytime. It is long exsposures to high temps. that could have bad resultes. Think of it this way, few hours of 70'sF then a few 80's -85F then start backing down. If they stay hot at night their matabilism will be running wide open and they will start to loose weight. Lots of damp places to hide. But they do need high temps to digest food and grow. Lots of animal protein is bad news for babies. They will grow all wrong. Think of them as a Cow or Horse. I dont think anyone would feed them "animal protein". Just mix in some good quallity Alfalfa. (not the pellets, they exspand in the gut and can kill them). There is NO proof that they are carrion even though it is stated by many professionals. One would have to know the "frequency of opertunity". Stomach contence analysis can be misinturpited in diet due to incedential taking of bugs ect. Of course in captivity animals will eat strange things. Anytime you think a Veggy diet dosnt have enough protein go to a Zoo that has Lowland Gorillas! If possable use your screen porch. That is what I do here and the bennafit of indirect Sun is OUTSTANDING! I've done it both ways, UV lites vr natural extremely filtered Sun UV. I know that unfiltered UV lites can damage the eyes in very young emys. But if you must use 2.2 filtered by plants-pegboard and only a few hours a day. Emys emys take much longer to get out of the "baby stage" (mature slower) than the phayrei.

 

[jridge716]

Hello everyone, i am a new and happy owner of a Burmese Mountain Tortoise hatchling. My question is that I have built an indoor tortoise table and am thinking about putting it in my "mancave" in my finished attic. The only problem I see is that it gets pretty warm up there in the summer. I will keep a fan on and window open but just wanted to know if you guys think that it will be too hot. I live in Buffalo, NY and the summers arent too bad prob in the low to high 80's and the attic can get around the same temp . I do hav an air conditioner up there but dont want to run it 24/7. Any input would help. Thanks. I also have a covered back porch I could use but wanted to keep him inside for the first couple years.I do have a cat litter box filled with water at all times as well as peat moss and reptile bedding. That I keep moist.

The mid to high 80's are fine in the daytime. It is long exsposures to high temps. that could have bad resultes. Think of it this way, few hours of 70'sF then a few 80's -85F then start backing down. If they stay hot at night their matabilism will be running wide open and they will start to loose weight. Lots of damp places to hide. But they do need high temps to digest food and grow. Lots of animal protein is bad news for babies. They will grow all wrong. Think of them as a Cow or Horse. I dont think anyone would feed them "animal protein". Just mix in some good quallity Alfalfa. (not the pellets, they exspand in the gut and can kill them). There is NO proof that they are carrion even though it is stated by many professionals. One would have to know the "frequency of opertunity". Stomach contence analysis can be misinturpited in diet due to incedential taking of bugs ect. Of course in captivity animals will eat strange things. Anytime you think a Veggy diet dosnt have enough protein go to a Zoo that has Lowland Gorillas! If possable use your screen porch. That is what I do here and the bennafit of indirect Sun is OUTSTANDING! I've done it both ways, UV lites vr natural extremely filtered Sun UV. I know that unfiltered UV lites can damage the eyes in very young emys. But if you must use 2.2 filtered by plants-pegboard and only a few hours a day. Emys emys take much longer to get out of the "baby stage" (mature slower) than the phayrei.

Thanks alot for the great advice. Hes doing great so far. Been feeding dandelion greens, alfalfa, and various broadleaf "weeds". I will get him to the back porch as soon as the nights get a bit warmer.

 

[jridge716]

While I got you guys here. Can someone explain the significant differences between the Brown and Black BMT ? How much larger are the blacks compared to the browns? I read somewhere that they are double the size?Is the growth rate different? Thanks for the info..

 

[tortadise]

The way to tell is the pectoral scutes. On the plastron(underside or belly) of the animal. Blacks have connected pectoral scutes, and Browns do not. Blacks do get quite large. Adults 65-90 pounds(90 being massive but have been recorded that heavy) 20-24" is typical for a black adult female, males tend to be a little smaller. Browns get around 40 pounds, males being a bit smaller. 18" is pretty good size brown. I will look through my files and try to find a photo of the difference to post for yah.