Feedback on planned upgrades

[allanhu]

Hello I am planning on upgrading my Russian tortoises’ current housing dilemma and giving them proper space. I have two Russian tortoises and I plan on upgrading their tanks to two Animal Plastics Signature T19 tanks, with ReptiBark as the substrate.

I know Russian tortoises are supposed to have more space, but this is all I can convince my parents to get for now; however, it’s still a considerable upgrade from the small glass tanks recommended by pet stores. Thankfully, I found this forum and learned how to properly care for these amazing creatures!

I’ll get LED lights from Amazon, incandescent lights from a store like Home Depot (checking the temps to make sure everything is good), and I’d probably get an Arcadia D3 T5 24 watt 6% UVB strip bulb (let me know if I should get the 12% instead, I was just thinking about the height of the tanks after substrate!).

I was also planning on getting another hide, so each tank has two hides (one on the cool side, one on the warmer side), and possibly some plants like Boston ferns or Spider plants (which I’d grow out in the time I wait for the tanks to arrive).

I know how to care for them properly; I’m getting them a basking slate, terracotta saucers, and all that good stuff. I just want everyone’s feedback on this planned indoor enclosure upgrade — I’ll try and get an outdoor enclosure/larger indoor enclosure as soon as possible!

 

[RandyTortoise]

Those seem like really nice set ups. Good choice

 

[TammyJ]

Hi and welcome! Pictures when you are able, would be good!

 

[wellington]

Have you looked into raised garden beds or portable pop up greenhouses?
Both cheaper than the tanks and you can actually get the size they really need.
I know you have issues with what your parents will do, but too small of enclosures am can cause health issues that are much more expensive than a proper sized home.
Also, if they are adults, a nice large properly fenced outside area for warm months would help a lot.

 

[allanhu]

Have you looked into raised garden beds or portable pop up greenhouses?
Both cheaper than the tanks and you can actually get the size they really need.
I know you have issues with what your parents will do, but too small of enclosures am can cause health issues that are much more expensive than a proper sized home.
Also, if they are adults, a nice large properly fenced outside area for warm months would help a lot.

Thanks for the info! I’ll look into raised flower beds; I was curious how the UVB would work if I wanted to get a strip bulb—would it be harder to mount, and how would I mount the heat (bulb)and LED (strip) lights? Would it be harder to maintain humidity in that tank? I know Russian tortoises are expert escape artists, so would I need to get some sort of cover for the raised flower beds to protect them and keep the enclosure controlled? I see that lots of raised flower beds have an open bottom…how would I work with that?

Sorry for all the questions, so want to know the best way to have raised flower bed enclosures!

An issue I have with the raised flower beds is where to put them…committing to 64 sq ft of space in a house is a lot, and very hard where to put it. I was thinking my basement, but that is dusty and hard to clean (also gets colder in there, so I don’t know if I would need a CHE until I can check). The APS T19s stack, so for now that seems like a better plan until I can make room

I know an outdoor enclosure is better, and I’m working towards that!

 

[wellington]

Thanks for the info! I’ll look into raised flower beds; I was curious how the UVB would work if I wanted to get a strip bulb—would it be harder to mount, and how would I mount the heat (bulb)and LED (strip) lights? Would it be harder to maintain humidity in that tank? I know Russian tortoises are expert escape artists, so would I need to get some sort of cover for the raised flower beds to protect them and keep the enclosure controlled? I see that lots of raised flower beds have an open bottom…how would I work with that?

Sorry for all the questions, so want to know the best way to have raised flower bed enclosures!

An issue I have with the raised flower beds is where to put them…committing to 64 sq ft of space in a house is a lot, and very hard where to put it. I was thinking my basement, but that is dusty and hard to clean (also gets colder in there, so I don’t know if I would need a CHE until I can check). The APS T19s stack, so for now that seems like a better plan until I can make room

I know an outdoor enclosure is better, and I’m working towards that!

You don't get one with an open bottom. If you have adults, then they really only need a humid hide or 30-50% humidity, not the 80% babies need. You can drape plastic over the enclosure if you need or want it enclosed. You will have to revamp it some. Adding 1x1 or 2x2 to sides as poles and then one over the top joining the poles side. Attaching two of these type pole fixtures, which will look like a U will hold the lights and heat and the plastic. It's still much cheaper, very doable, and easy to add on to.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

I was curious how the UVB would work if I wanted to get a strip bulb—would it be harder to mount, and how would I mount the heat (bulb)and LED (strip) lights?

If you get a full UVB kit, like the Arcadia Pro, it comes with mounting supplies. It has these clips that you can just snap the tube into.

@Littleredfootbigredheart probably has photos on how to mount a heat bulb.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

If you get a full UVB kit, like the Arcadia Pro, it comes with mounting supplies. It has these clips that you can just snap the tube into.

@Littleredfootbigredheart probably has photos on how to mount a heat bulb.

Indeed

If you scroll down near the bottom here there’s a few visuals on mounting lighting

Housing adult Russian and Hermans indoors

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information an example of an appropriate indoor set up for an older Herman/russian. As much as it’s encouraged to have tortoises in a safe outdoor enclosure, I understand being from the uk myself, that some climates make it difficult to...

tortoiseforum.org

And there’s quite a lot of different examples in here

Enclosure inspiration

Howdy folks! Hope everyone is well! As you all know, I’m a big fan of making threads that cater more towards visual learners like myself, I’ve really been wanting to create a thread full of adult enclosure inspiration for a while now, I’ve managed to find some great references over time! I do...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[allanhu]

You don't get one with an open bottom.

Most options I found are open bottom, so I would have to customize a base. Any suggestions on how I can go about doing that as efficiently as possible?

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Most options I found are open bottom, so I would have to customize a base. Any suggestions on how I can go about doing that as efficiently as possible?

I suppose there’s a few ways to go about it, you could rest the frame on a thick piece of plywood(I’d go just slightly bigger than the frame so you’ve got a little wiggle room) then line the whole thing with pond liningthat’s just an idea off the top of my head, we’ll see what others think

 

[wellington]

Most options I found are open bottom, so I would have to customize a base. Any suggestions on how I can go about doing that as efficiently as possible?

Actually it's not that hard. I easily found them last year when I had to purchase one. I also just now googled Raised garden bed with bottom and many come up. Not all have legs and you need to read the specifics of each one to be sure it has a bottom as you will get a mix of both.

 

[allanhu]

I suppose there’s a few ways to go about it, you could rest the frame on a thick piece of plywood(I’d go just slightly bigger than the frame so you’ve got a little wiggle room) then line the whole thing with pond liningthat’s just an idea off the top of my head, we’ll see what others think

Thanks! That’s a great idea to work around the open bottoms if I decide to get one of those

 

[allanhu]

Actually it's not that hard. I easily found them last year when I had to purchase one. I also just now googled Raised garden bed with bottom and many come up. Not all have legs and you need to read the specifics of each one to be sure it has a bottom as you will get a mix of both.

I’ll keep looking! Thanks for all the help