glass for tortoise table

[lak17a]

Good day, I'm new in this forum. I have 4 Russian tortoises and now it's time for bigger enclosures. At this moment they live in enclosure with glass walls, but I heard that its stressful for tortoises. what are your opinions about glass walls for tortoise table?
P.s. sorry for my english

 

[Lou]

Welcome to the forum!!

The general consensus is not to use glass for the walls, or if you do, cover them with an opaque covering so that the tortoise cant see through the glass.

This sets up a boundary for the tortoise, and they wont be so eager to try to get out and bump into the wall.

 

[chairman]

I've used tortoise tables with clear walls without any problems. However, some torts do have problems with it. You need to think about why your torts are kept separate in the first place... if it is to keep an aggressive tort from attacking the others, leaving a clear wall will reduce injuries but not stress. If you'd just like to have a clear wall for the sake on interaction, make 3 walls solid and keep the front glass. That way you can still look at them but they'll get privacy from most directions.

 

[tortoisenerd]

Welcome to the group! So glad you joined us and thank you for sharing the photos. Four is a lot of torts! I have one Russian.

The glass can also make it hard to make a temperature gradient, although your walls are shorter than the average aquarium. I say observe your torts. If they are running into the walls, pacing, etc, then you need to change it. If you can't maintain a good 70-95 temperature gradient, then you need to change it. Otherwise you might be ok. Good for you for recognizing the need to increase enclosure time. Do they live outside? The walls look very short in that picture, especially if they climb on top of each other. Be careful of that. Russians love to dig and burrow, so the enclosure should allow substrate at least as deep as they are long, the more the better. Want to share more about their care and diet with us?

 

[Yvonne G]

In your picture, it looks like you've placed the glass habitat outside in the sun. This is a pretty dangerous thing to do. The sun shining through the glass can cook your tortoises very quickly. In my opinion, you should set up some sort of outdoor habitat and don't worry too much about the indoor habitat. It would be just the place where you put them in the evening when you bring them in from outside.

 

[lak17a]

Good day, thanks for answers.
unfortunately, but at this moment we live in a flat so it's not impossible to do outdoor enclosure(except two days a week then we are coming to country-side). they have hide outs from sun and often burrows into substrate(which is a little bit moist).They eat a lot of dandelions, clovers, and other greens. They have bath once in a week, so I don't give them water. I have made those tortoise table's and didn't thought that they will not understand that it has walls. So now I'll stick to wooden table with only one glass wall in front.

 

[tortoisenerd]

Please reconsider having a water dish for them. They need water available at all times in a large shallow dish that they can easily get in and out of to soak, even if you never see them drink from it. Being in the enclosure you have them in especially dehydrates them. The wood table sounds like a better idea. I would then place the glass wall towards the wall of the house when you set it outside. How big are you going to make the new enclosure? I'd think something adequately large enough for 4 adult Russians is too large to move. They really need upwards of 20 sq ft.