Need ideas to improve indoor enclosure

leigti

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Hello, I would like some input on how to improve my indoor enclosure. It is for my 5 inch Russian tortoise. It is 6' x 2' and it is 2 zoomed houses connected with some modifications. She uses it in the winter, approximately six months out of the year full-time. ImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1402888541.956451.jpgImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1402888581.906706.jpgImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1402888605.373360.jpg
On the left is 100 Watt power son bulb and the two bulbs on the right are a 25 W basking bulb and 60 W regular household bald, I put those in mostly to get some light to the other end of the enclosure. The plexiglass at either end helps a little bit also. Any suggestions for improvement? Thank you.
 

G_Vincey

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Do you have a water dish for him to soak in?
Maybe include a cuttlefish bone
With them three lights are you maintaining the correct temperatures? (Especially in the cool end, if you have two lights there) and how is your humidity looking?
Otherwise, it's pretty impressive and definitely not plain..
Btw, what plants do you have planted there?
 

leigti

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I don't have a water dish in there because I soak her every other day and spray down the food with water. This is used mostly in the winter so the temperature difference on the warm and cool and actually is pretty good. The two little lights on the right-hand side don't actually heat up very much except right under the basking bald. This is probably because my house is not kept that warm during the winter. The plants are spider plants and a jade plant. He nibbles on them once in a while. I do not have a gauge to monitor humidity but I don't let the substrate dry out completely. After I took this picture I removed the slate under the power sunlamp, my Tortoise doesn't play under the lamp if the slightest there but she will if it's gone. Thank you for your suggestions.
 

leigti

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I had a cuttlebone in there but she never touched it. However I will put another one in there in the winter. I do notice that she tends to push it around to be in closer though :)
 

G_Vincey

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No worries.. Sounds like you have everything covered..
Does your tortoises activity change when you bring it in doors for the winter months?
And thanks for the plant info..

I heard it could take a couple months for them to get into the cuttlebone, as of yet my tortoise is more interested in laying on top of it then eating it lol..
 

leigti

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Yes my Tortoise does seem to slow down a little bit in the winter. She has had the cuttlebone for a year and a half so far it hasn't touched it :) her outdoor enclosure does have water and cuttlebone. The spider plants are great because they multiply quickly and grow well in the artificial light, I started with one now I have four :)
 

G_Vincey

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Interesting.. Do you think that's due to a size difference or just the climate change?

I've been wanting to include plants but haven't had a clue which to use.. I think I may get a spider plant too..

How about including something to climb on?
 
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leigti

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I think it may be both. Sometimes I put some rocks in there and he climbs on that Tiki wood thing. I have a log hide in there for a long time but he never went near it. Spider plants and Jean plants do well, I know there are a bunch of others but I can't think of the names right now. You could also plant seed mixes in trays and put the trays in there and then replace them as the toilet seat down.
 

G_Vincey

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Aaa okay..

I too have a hide that gets completely ignored..

Has she spent any winters in there so far?

I just purchased some seed mix the other day, awaiting delivery and then I will start to grow them..
Replace them when sorry? :s
 

leigti

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Oh my God I didn't proofread that thread! I will blame it on Siri, I dictate everything. Replace them as they get eaten down. I have had my Tortoise for year and a half and I enlarged the enclosure this past winter.
 

G_Vincey

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Lool, I thought so..

And can I ask, the substrate looks like coir? Are your plants in soil?

And back to your original question, I have recently added a tub of substrate with to ramps either side, like a bridge.. It's nothing special but takes up 'free space' and gives my tort something extra to climb on and acts as a site barrier.. I might start relocating his food to make him go on search for it more too.. But that has made mine more interesting..
Also I've seen some waterfalls with LED lights from zoo med or Exo terra or something like that, they come on various sizes, they might make it more interesting..
I'm always looking for ways to make my enclosure more interesting and that has seemed to be one of the more interesting things I've found on my many searches
 

G_Vincey

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Yeah I thought so, I think these are the ones without LED's
ImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1402932730.045673.jpg
Thank you, so it seems the seeds will grow in coir then
 

leigti

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Yes the seeds grow great in the choir. I also like to put her food in different spots and make her look for it. I figure that's a little bit more natural than staring at a food dish, which she also does pretty well. :)
 

G_Vincey

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That's good to know thanks, I'm going to try and grow my seeds in the coir. When you relocate the food, do you move the whole food plate or just scatter bits of food in different locations?
 

leigti

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Either one. But I usually just put a little bit of food on the different areas of the enclosure. A little here and a little there. Sometimes for variety I will just cut a little branch off whatever plant he can eat and just put it in the enclosure and let him sort of climb around and eat off of it. I mean she I'm sorry I keep forgetting I have a female Tortoise, as of yesterday. Oh well I seriously doubt that the Tortoise minds if I call her and he or she. As long as the food keeps coming that's all that matters :) if you were growing the seeds in little containers then you can always just shifts the container around that works well.
 

G_Vincey

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Aaa okay.. See yesterday I wanted to relocate the food but didn't want to put it on the slate, but wasn't sure if I should jus dump it on the coir or not..
The branch thing sounds cool and fun, like it would last a while too.. What happened, did you think you had a male and found out she was a female? or is she new?
Yeah I have these small plastic containers about the surface area (base size) of an iPhone and about 10 cm deep, I'm hoping they will work..
 

leigti

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I try not to put small pieces down on the Koire because I don't want her swallowing it anymore of it then she has to. I put it on rocks the Tiki wood saying or slate in different areas around the enclosure. Yes I thought I had a Mail Tortoise, but in the threads I've done the last few days people have said it's female. I had a feeling it was female because of threads I have read but I wasn't 100% sure. Sometimes it's really hard to tell when you have no history on the Tortoise and you have no idea about their age etc.
 

G_Vincey

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Yeah that's what I was worried about, it gets stuck to the food really bad.. I ended up just moving the slate but there a little big..
That's interesting, how cool. I wanted a female just for the potential of eggs but I'm so in love with my little fellow that I'm glad it was him who came.. Mine is around 6 - 10 months old, so I cant sex it too accurately but I'm pretty sure he's a he.. How did you estimate that she was around 5?
 
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