Leopard tort table advice

[Robert]

Hello folks. Just working on my tort table. Currently 5 ft x 5 ft. So far she seems to love her new home. She has been exploring, napping and eating well.

I have two main questions to start:

Do I need a larger, more enclosed hide? I have limited space (5 x 5) and I don't want to waste "walking room" unless it is necessary. She does like to hang out in her "beach" area, but it is certainly not a fully enclosed "hide". Also, I am nervous that with a fully enclosed hide I will not be able to monitor her if she spends lots of time in there. Advice?

My next question is about UV lighting. The room housing the tort table is a sunroom with floor to ceiling windows covering one side of the room. They are UV resistant windows. I'm thinking about going with a Mercury Vapor UV/Heat style bulb. Is the 12 in recommended minimum distance from the bulb to the substrate or from the bulb to the top of her shell? Also, do you recommend a "deep dome" style lamp with these bulbs? Lastly, should I maintain my current schedule of 12 hours on / 12 hours off?

Thanks for your help. You guys/gals have some unbelievably creative and beautiful enclosures.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Rob:

You have a very pretty leopard tortoise there. Two things jump right out at me...

The sides are pretty low and if she/he really tried, he might be able to reach the top and pull himself up and over. And, yes, they DO need a hiding place. In the wild they hide under bushes not in burrows, so just a cover over one of the corners would be fine. Just big enough for the tortoise...doesn't have to be any bigger than that.

 

[Robert]

Hi Rob:

You have a very pretty leopard tortoise there. Two things jump right out at me...

The sides are pretty low and if she/he really tried, he might be able to reach the top and pull himself up and over. And, yes, they DO need a hiding place. In the wild they hide under bushes not in burrows, so just a cover over one of the corners would be fine. Just big enough for the tortoise...doesn't have to be any bigger than that.

Thanks for your help. I've now got plans in place to change both!

 

[coreyc]

Nice leo you have I wouls get a Powersun or a Megaray MVB him/ her it looks like you just have a red heat bulb? what part of CT are you in?

 

[Robert]

Based on some great advice, I made some major changes to my tort's table. All I can say is WOW, huge improvement right away.

First I removed the calci sand. Not easy getting 25lbs of sand out. I immediately understood the issue of eye irritant!

I swapped my bulb for a mercury vapor bulb. Health benefits aside, the light looks much more natural. So far she seems to enjoy it. Also makes for better photos! It doesn't seem quite as hot as my old basking bulb, so I am going to keep an eye on temps.

I replaced my store bought non tip-able water dish with a terra cotta shallow dish. Huge difference. Within 30 minutes she was drinking and treated herself to a five minute soak. I feel I really dropped the ball with that store bought dish.

I also built a hide for her. Loves it!

She was curious throughout the whole process and even helpful. She was nudging the water dish as I was removing it.

Thanks for the great advice. So far she seems to be very happy with the changes.

I will add pictures later this afternoon.

 

[Tom]

Glad we could all help. I think you will have many happy years with your princess.

 

[tortoises101]

Good to hear, CtTortoise. Best of luck to you and your awesome tort!

 

[Robert]

Most recent pic. So far she loves her hide and continues to love her new water dish. (And by love I mean she continues to drag her substrate into it!)

Next move is to get rid of the worthless disc style temp/humidity gauges. They seem pretty unreliable. Planning to get the accu-rite weather thermometer. Seems like there are a few different models: any suggestions?

 

[Mao Senpai]

Looking good! I got some at Lowes based on Tom's recommendation and they are working great and pretty accurate too. They were around... I think 16 or 18 dollars. Since it can monitor temps/humidity from the block part and the display part. You can put the block part on the hot side and the display on the cool side and such. I just double sided taped the block to the hot end of my table and left it at that.