Hello everyone! Glad to be a member of this very informative forum.
I live in Colorado and have 2 hatchling Western Painted Turtles, as well as a hatchling Red Foot Tortoise.
The turtles and tortoise are really for my son, who is 4 and loves animals. I have cared for water turtles and box turtles before with great success. Actually 2 red eared sliders I caught in South Caroline when I was 8 years old are still alive and thriving in an outdoor pond environment. They are almost 30 years old. I am new to tortoise care, but everything has been going great so far.
Our 2 Painted turtles live in a 20 gallon aquarium at the moment and are growing fast.
The Red Foot Tortoise is about 3 inches in length and lives indoors now, but as summer comes I have a nice large partly shaded area for him/her to live outside while it is above 50 degrees at night. His indoor enclosure is 2ft x 4ft and 18 inches off the ground with 16 inch high walls. The bottom is lined with EPDM rubber liner and is 2.5 inches tall leaving space for 2.5 inches substrate depth. This has really helped to keep moisture high, around 60%, without rotting the wood box, or the substrate, which is a base of Sphagnum Peat Moss and covered with Cypress Mulch. He has a UVB bulb that runs for 10 hours during the day only, and a Ceramic Heat Emitter on a Thermostat that is set to keep his hide 80 degrees 24/7.
I did make the box out of Cedar, but it has been baked under the sun for a year, and is sealed on the outside, not the inside as I don't want any polyurethane chemicals leaching into his area. I know there is a lot of talk about not using Cedar, but after discussing with a reptile veterinarian, she indicated that as long as it isn't used as a substrate and isn't soaking wet all the time, (thus the EPDM Pond liner), that it will pose no threat to the Tortoise whatsoever. Actually the bottom under the liner is plywood 3/4" thick. The box is also completely open on top with the Light and Ceramic Heat Emitter overhanging the enclosure.
Look forward to discussing topics with you all.
Cheers,
Torbak
I live in Colorado and have 2 hatchling Western Painted Turtles, as well as a hatchling Red Foot Tortoise.
The turtles and tortoise are really for my son, who is 4 and loves animals. I have cared for water turtles and box turtles before with great success. Actually 2 red eared sliders I caught in South Caroline when I was 8 years old are still alive and thriving in an outdoor pond environment. They are almost 30 years old. I am new to tortoise care, but everything has been going great so far.
Our 2 Painted turtles live in a 20 gallon aquarium at the moment and are growing fast.
The Red Foot Tortoise is about 3 inches in length and lives indoors now, but as summer comes I have a nice large partly shaded area for him/her to live outside while it is above 50 degrees at night. His indoor enclosure is 2ft x 4ft and 18 inches off the ground with 16 inch high walls. The bottom is lined with EPDM rubber liner and is 2.5 inches tall leaving space for 2.5 inches substrate depth. This has really helped to keep moisture high, around 60%, without rotting the wood box, or the substrate, which is a base of Sphagnum Peat Moss and covered with Cypress Mulch. He has a UVB bulb that runs for 10 hours during the day only, and a Ceramic Heat Emitter on a Thermostat that is set to keep his hide 80 degrees 24/7.
I did make the box out of Cedar, but it has been baked under the sun for a year, and is sealed on the outside, not the inside as I don't want any polyurethane chemicals leaching into his area. I know there is a lot of talk about not using Cedar, but after discussing with a reptile veterinarian, she indicated that as long as it isn't used as a substrate and isn't soaking wet all the time, (thus the EPDM Pond liner), that it will pose no threat to the Tortoise whatsoever. Actually the bottom under the liner is plywood 3/4" thick. The box is also completely open on top with the Light and Ceramic Heat Emitter overhanging the enclosure.
Look forward to discussing topics with you all.
Cheers,
Torbak