Enclosure Ideas from a Total Newbie

[shrikes]

Hello everyone! Me and my parents plan on constructing an indoor enclosure for our future redfoot, and I was put in charge of the plans. I wanted to show off some doodles I drew of possible ideas for the enclosure, and if you guys had critiques of it please share! Apologies if it’s a bit imaginative and not practical, but it makes sense in my head at least lol. The last one I drew is really what I want opinions on before I show my parents
Notes: not sure the materials yet, and the legs are because on rare occasions my basement will flood a little bit and I don’t want the enclosure to get all wet, and basically the only experience we got is that my mom can draw/plan things out well and my dad has built several chicken coops in the past
Thanks in advance for replies!

 

[Yvonne G]

Totally enclose it and you don't need a humidifer

 

[KarenSoCal]

Instead of hanging your lights from a stand...use plexiglass to cover the entire top. Then cut holes in the plexiglass for your domed fixture to sit on. You won't lose so much heat and moisture.

But keep in mind that this is not ideal. Best is to make the walls high enough to put the lights inside the enclosure, around 24 in.

And keep those legs. In addition to your flooding issues, the floor is a cold place. It can suck the heat right out of the enclosure.

 

[shrikes]

Instead of hanging your lights from a stand...use plexiglass to cover the entire top. Then cut holes in the plexiglass for your domed fixture to sit on. You won't lose so much heat and moisture.

But keep in mind that this is not ideal. Best is to make the walls high enough to put the lights inside the enclosure, around 24 in.

And keep those legs. In addition to your flooding issues, the floor is a cold place. It can suck the heat right out of the enclosure.

Thanks for the advice! Question: What size should the bulbs be, and what location should they shine on in the enclosure? Is just one end like I depicted fine? I heard redfoots don’t need a ton of heat

 

[KarenSoCal]

Thanks for the advice! Question: What size should the bulbs be, and what location should they shine on in the enclosure? Is just one end like I depicted fine? I heard redfoots don’t need a ton of heat

For babies, I think they all need heat. As adults, I'm not sure what their optimum temp is, as I've never kept one.

But redfoot live at the edges of tropical forests, where they only get light that's filtered by the tree canopy. So they are unusual in that they don't bask, like dim lighting, and don't require long UVB exposure.

So living in MI, you would have a couple months in summer when the tort could live outside. Then in winter, he would live inside. During winter I think you would want to give some UVB.

So you would only need a UVB tube light, and some dim LED ambient light so you could see him. No basking bulb needed. The UVB tube gets put in the enclosure's ceiling usually, and the LED's go wherever you want them.

What RF do need is high humidity...they come from South American rain forests. That's done by wetting the substrate.

Here's a care sheet for RF...you will find proper temps in it.

Redfoot Tortoise Care Sheet

NOTE: I do not keep redfoots, and I only have one tortoise in total. With this in mind, remember that I am in no way an expert, and this should not be used as cold hard proof of how to raise a redfoot. I used information from great keepers on this forum to put everything together. This care...

www.tortoiseforum.org

 

[shrikes]

Hello everyone! Me and my parents plan on constructing an indoor enclosure for our future redfoot, and I was put in charge of the plans. I wanted to show off some doodles I drew of possible ideas for the enclosure, and if you guys had critiques of it please share! Apologies if it’s a bit imaginative and not practical, but it makes sense in my head at least lol. The last one I drew is really what I want opinions on before I show my parents
Notes: not sure the materials yet, and the legs are because on rare occasions my basement will flood a little bit and I don’t want the enclosure to get all wet, and basically the only experience we got is that my mom can draw/plan things out well and my dad has built several chicken coops in the past
Thanks in advance for replies!

View attachment 315880View attachment 315881

I took y’all’s suggestions, and changed the design a bit! here it is: thoughts on the doors?

 

[Canadian Mojo]

Thanks for the advice! Question: What size should the bulbs be, and what location should they shine on in the enclosure? Is just one end like I depicted fine? I heard redfoots don’t need a ton of heat

80F as a minimum. I don't know if that counts as a ton, but it's certainly not inconsequential.

For doors, I've often thought a cheap (sideways) sliding window from Habitat for Humanity or a similar outfit would work great. The UV light being off to one side should be fine since RF's don't need much, but your heating should be as uniform as possible, so a couple CHE bulbs might be in order. You want to avoid cold corners. I've noticed that if you put one over the water dish, the extra heat beating down on it will really help add to the humidity.

 

[shrikes]

I’m updating the design gradually, but I’ll post the final design before we actually get started on the project (in a couple of months when it warms up). Thanks for the advice!

 

[KarenSoCal]

Since you've raised the walls to 24", you can put the CHE's inside the enclosure. That plexiglass cover is going to cover the entire top, correct? You don't want to leave any of the top open.

I'm not so sure about cabinet doors. They are going to be drenched in condensation all the time...I think they'll absorb water, swell, and stick. Why not make the doors with plexiglass?

 

[shrikes]

Since you've raised the walls to 24", you can put the CHE's inside the enclosure. That plexiglass cover is going to cover the entire top, correct? You don't want to leave any of the top open.

I'm not so sure about cabinet doors. They are going to be drenched in condensation all the time...I think they'll absorb water, swell, and stick. Why not make the doors with plexiglass?

That’s true! The only issue is that I’ve heard that it’s not good to have clear walls for tortoises. Something about not realizing it’s not a way out?