I NEED ADVICE! (size of enclosure)

[Kaitlyn-Marie]

I found Squirtle living in a unfit home with people who wernt sure how to car for him. After i said i would take him in ive tried to educate myself and i realized that the "home" or "terrarium" hes in right now is NOT big enough for him. So ive made some plans. Im going to build this custom terrarium 2 feet by 4 feet. He is 5 inches long (shell size) is this big enough? Also lights i have a question. This women beforehand gave me this lamp with a 60 or 70 watt bulb. Is this the right temp? And i see some people have this blue lamp that emits heat for the night time should i have this also? I really want to give him the best life he possibly can have!

 

[wellington]

We need to know species.
The blue light is not good. If night heat is needed get a ceramic heat emitter. Also being in Florida s/he should be living outside if an adult.
2x4 feet is only big enough for a tort 2 years and under depending on the species.

 

[Kaitlyn-Marie]

He is a russain tortoise about 4 years old. I take him outside everyday and he roams around my house. I believe he is getting enough excersice. In my area we do have alot of alligators and aggressive birds so i want to try to keep him safe. The home is for when im at work and night time when i cant watch him.

 

[daniellenc]

I would build an outdoor enclosure with a lid to keep predators out and your Russian in. The minimum indoor enclosure would need to be 8x4 and obviously outdoors as big as you can go. Night heat isn’t necessary and if outdoors during the day neither is day heat or lights.

 

[TechnoCheese]

At 5 inches, your tortoise is close to full grown. He definitely needs a minimum enclosure size of 8x4 feet, and at this point 4x2 is much too small.

Your tortoise should not be roaming your house, or ever on your floor. It’s too cold, and so, so many things can go wrong.

 

[Alex Z]

Hi there. You need a 8x4 or 6x3 enclosure. Outdoors you can go crazy if you have the space.

 

[Minority2]

I found Squirtle living in a unfit home with people who wernt sure how to car for him. After i said i would take him in ive tried to educate myself and i realized that the "home" or "terrarium" hes in right now is NOT big enough for him. So ive made some plans. Im going to build this custom terrarium 2 feet by 4 feet. He is 5 inches long (shell size) is this big enough? Also lights i have a question. This women beforehand gave me this lamp with a 60 or 70 watt bulb. Is this the right temp? And i see some people have this blue lamp that emits heat for the night time should i have this also? I really want to give him the best life he possibly can have!

Get rid of the blue light bulb. Use incandescent flood light bulbs with a large diameter (10.5 inches) lamp fixture for basking spots. A well-sealed closed chamber 8 x 4 ft enclosure can use a light bulb as low as 40-45 watts to get 95-100F basking and 80-75F cool side day. Open setups would require more wattage to get similar results. Make sure to hang your lighting fixtures directly below your tortoise and not at an angle.

Tortoises also require UVB. Don't go cheap thinking one lighting fixture is enough for a large-sized enclosure.

Read the link. Follow the information given:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/