How do you keep an open enclosure indoors?
- Thread starter byviolet
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Using closed chambers is the best way to do it. Mine don't have to be sealed up well, because I have a room for the tortoises that I keep 80F and humid.
You can't without covering it some way or another.
I tried to do it a whole bunch of different ways. I never found anything that met my standards. I use only closed chambers for raising babies now.
Old, out-dated, incorrect information.
I've been fighting it for years. Tortoise care is evolving. We are at the head of this new understanding. The people in the back of the room still haven't caught on yet and keep repeating the old wrong info. Worse yet, some of them argue, despite years of evidence and thousands of examples demonstrating they are wrong. They just don't wanna be wrong, even though they are. I used to be one of them and I was wrong too. I learned better, and eventually, so will they.
What about adult Testudo species? I don't keep Mediterranean tortoises, but I had thought that their humidity requirements were much lower than the tropical species and that they could be kept in old fashion 'tables' when mature?
AnimalLady
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- Sep 2, 2015
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I couldnt keep the temp up without a top, it was a huge issue for me. i'm looking into getting an enclosure with a top..
I have two tortoises and two box turtles. The redfoot tortoise lives in a portable greenhouse. The sulcata (not a baby) lives in an open sectioned off area with heat lamps and an oil filled radiator type heater. The box turtles enclosures are covered with clear shower curtains.
It depends on the situation. In some areas it is possible to maintain correct conditions (moderate humidity and warm temps) for some speices with an open table. In some homes its just too dry, too drafty or too cold. No tortoise species should be kept all dry with extreme low humidity, which is what you will find in an open tortoise table with dry substrate and a hot bulb. Even in a humid area of the country, an indoor table with dry substrate is going to be far too dry due to air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter.
In all cases a closed chamber makes it easier to supply whatever conditions are desired, be they dry or humid. Warm or cool. The more different room conditions are from the desired conditions, the harder it will be to maintain and open table. Containing the air and closing it off from the room makes things much easier and much more efficient.
SteveW
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- May 4, 2015
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I have a two part answer. First, I don't aspire to a uniform humidity and temp. I purposely build in microclimate variety with humid hides, growing plants, different substrates and extensive use of moss and I am constantly monitoring and adjusting.
All this takes place in a tortoise room, not connected to the house. Additionally, several aquatics live there, one with a waterfall, so even my ambient is around 50%.
Nevertheless, with the onslaught of cold weather and subsequent deployment of oil-filled heaters, even my micromanagement has been insufficient and I have closed the top for all the tropical species.
