Enclosure for Hermann's hatchling...

[Floomby]

I went to the Reptile Super Show last Saturday "just to look..." haha...a 2" Hermann's hatchling actually crawled into my hand, so what was I supposed to do?

This is the enclosure. It's a simple underbed storage container from Target. Since I worry about my mischievous little dog getting at little Tacho, not to mention random birds or neighborhood cats, I cover the enclosure with the hinged lid on one side, and a mesh laundry bag on the other. S/he lives on the balcony, where she gets about 2-3 hours of morning sunlight, supplemented by an Exoterra UVB bulb (plugged in, of course). I have two terra cotta pot bottoms for water bowls, and a flower pot and a arched ceramic climbing thing/hide for furniture on the shady side. The substrate is coconut coir + sphagnum moss. I bathe her/him nightly. I am growing some of Tortoise Supply's testudo mix seeds, which I will plant when ready. There is one thermometer on each side. Comments/crits welcome.

Edit: I also have two thermometers, one on each side. The ambient temperature ranges from a high of upper 80's-low 90s during the day down to 68-71 at night. The bulb adds about 10 degrees to the hot side.

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

nice! You new baby tort is really adorable.. omnomnom.. Big too.

 

[ascott]

I would change up the laundry bag for something a bit sturdier....like chicken wire shaped and attached to the tub to keep it secure....that is is you have known predators...

 

[ascott]

And, adorable baby....

 

[Floomby]

Well I have a hard post to write, but I have to write it for the other newbies' sakes, even if I am the most hated person on this board.

I had everything in the enclosure worked out, including three shallow water dishes and several edible plants, including clover, chia, and whatever was coming up from Tortoise Supply's testudo seed mix. I bathed Tachi every day, and generally played with him. I shifted him from one balcony to the other to make sure he had at least three hours of straight up sunshine every day. The only thing left was that I had gotten some wire mesh to redo the top, but had a bad work schedule (I work 7 days a week) I hadn't had time to go get new wire cutters and actually make the damn thing. But I still thought I was cool because I live on the second floor, two floors up from street level. I was very careful about the dog and not letting him on the balcony, and the dog was in his crate everytime I let Tachi out to stretch his legs a little.

So, the reward for my procrastination, yesterday a mouse chewed through the mesh on the laundry bag. This pressed the laundry bag down, through which Tachi crawled out (the evidence being a tortoise poo in the middle of the balcony). He found a nook to crawl into and probably fell asleep. There some rodent attacked and killed him. I found his remains in the afternoon.

I am really really sad and ashamed. I don't like writing about this, but I hope that the other new people out there learn from my stupidity and take rodents into account when protecting their sweet little ones. I guess that means topping the enclosure with wire but also having a tortoise table off the ground.

If I had a pen in a yard, I wonder how I would keep the rodents out. If I ever get a yard, you better believe I would figure out how to keep rodents out.