Getting my first Tortoise, Enclosure HELP please

[cnancollas]

Hi All, I have been looking at this forum and found the information to be very helpful indeed, I now understand why so many Tortoises died after the information give on Blue Peter! We are getting a Tortoise for my Daughters birthday next week so no name currently as it's a complete surprise for her, so we shall name it 'T' until further news is available!

The things I really need to know are about heat and lighting as this seems to be the most 'grey' area. I am purchasing a Zoo Med Power Sun 160W with holder etc, is this a good choice? Do I only need the light on ALL day and will the room temp be OK for 'T' at night time (sorry stupid question but my daughter will be gutting if the little chap gets ill)

I am currently building my first table and would appreciate any comments/feedback, should be finished later this week.

Looking forward to some comments, great site everybody.

 

[cvalda]

wow that is an awesome looking table!

what type of tortoise is she getting? this will help us in telling you what the temps it'll need, etc. normally room temp at night is fine, though, unless it gets under 60 (but this will vary with some types of torts)

 

[jlyoncc1]

Table looks great and welcome to TFO! Like Kelly said, we need a few details and then I am sure you will be flooded with info!

 

[Yvonne G]

You are putting a lot of work into that table! It looks awesome! What kind of tortoise is "T"? I hope the table is big enough.

Yvonne

 

[cnancollas]

Thanks for the welcome and comments, I have finished the table today so I have put some more pictures below.

We are getting her a Hermans about 1 - 1 1/2 years old, hope this helps.

Thanks again,

Carl

 

[wayne.bob]

beautiful table!!!

 

[Coldliz]

great job on the table!

 

[Cheryl]

That's great, nice work!!! What are the dimensions?

 

[terryo]

Wow! What a table. You should sell them. Great job.

 

[Crazy1]

You have built your Daughters Tort a dream table. I would make sure you seal it. What type of substrate are you planning on using? How old is your daughter? And I must say I LOVED the little green tort addition on the stairway .
I know little about the Zoo Med Power Sun.
Here is a site that lists some of the Mercury Vapor Bulbs http://www.russiantortoise.org/uvb.htm
I am using the T-Rex bulbs currently but plan on trying the Mega Ray next time.
However I have heard that Mega Ray is probably one of the better bulbs.
http://www.reptileuv.com/mega-ray-product-questions.php?nav=h

I use ceramic heat emitters as my house temps tend to fall and I have put them on a rheostat, So the temp stays constant or at least won't drop too low. http://www.bizrate.com/reptilesupplies/oid23267182.html

I would invest in a decent thermometer and hydrometer and check those temps and the humidity levels often. These are crucial with any tort that is kept inside.

Oh, and welcome to the Forum.

 

[Jacqui]

Like everybody else has commented on...your table is beautiful. How have you been able to pull off building it without her knowing what's going on?

 

[cnancollas]

That's great, nice work!!! What are the dimensions?

Thanks Cheryl, I just hope I have made it large enough, they are as follows: -

110 cm long x 62 cm wide x 22cm.

The 2nd level is 17cm off the ground and the sides are all 22cm so I really hope I have not made any errors. The hut at the end is 33cm x 33 cm.

 

[cnancollas]

Wow! What a table. You should sell them. Great job.

Thanks for the comments, when I saw the tables on sale in the UK I thought they looked very expensive at over £120 for a box 3 x 2!

It was pretty straight forward to make and took about 11 hrs.

 

[cnancollas]

You have built your Daughters Tort a dream table. I would make sure you seal it. What type of substrate are you planning on using? How old is your daughter? And I must say I LOVED the little green tort addition on the stairway .
I know little about the Zoo Med Power Sun.
Here is a site that lists some of the Mercury Vapor Bulbs http://www.russiantortoise.org/uvb.htm
I am using the T-Rex bulbs currently but plan on trying the Mega Ray next time.
However I have heard that Mega Ray is probably one of the better bulbs.
http://www.reptileuv.com/mega-ray-product-questions.php?nav=h

I use ceramic heat emitters as my house temps tend to fall and I have put them on a rheostat, So the temp stays constant or at least won't drop too low. http://www.bizrate.com/reptilesupplies/oid23267182.html

I would invest in a decent thermometer and hydrometer and check those temps and the humidity levels often. These are crucial with any tort that is kept inside.

Oh, and welcome to the Forum.

Excellent links, thank you Crazy1, everybody on the forum is so helpful and very polite with comments.

The substrate is going to be a mix of play sand and 'John Innes'.

My daughter is 8 years old.

The little guy on the stairs was a present for my wife, I purchased her a pair of wind up 'racing' tortoises for christmas, it's about 2" long.

 

[cnancollas]

Like everybody else has commented on...your table is beautiful. How have you been able to pull off building it without her knowing what's going on?

Hi Jacqui

I am so glad everybody likes the table, the design changed several times during the weekend as we sort of built it 'on-the-fly', I had some ideas about what I wanted but as you go along you think of others, plus my borther-in-law is fantastic at this kind of stuff so he really helped me, it was all built over the weekend at his house so even though she new I was up to something she has got no idea what is going on.

 

[terryo]

I'm getting really excited for you and your daughter. Could you post some pictures of the finished "product" with the turt in it after all the excitment dies down? I am sure every one would love to see it. Thanks.

 

[Chadam]

Ya great table!

 

[TheTortbaby]

I need need to know what i should put in the tank and how big it should be

 

[Crazy1]

Mind you the original post is over a year old now.