New Enclosure!

[Andrew Porter]

Hey everyone, it's Sheldon's 1st Birthday on Monday and we though what better way to make him feel special on his 1st birthday, build him a new BIGGER enclosure.

After taking lot's of kind advice from you guys and searching through 100's of threads on the Tortoise Forum it seems the best way to go is a plastic storage box, i think American's call this 'Rubbermaid' ?

We popped to a hardware store today to look at possible sizes for Sheldon and i'm a bit confused. I have seen a lot of people say a 50 gallon box is ideal however that is around 227 litres in the UK which is super deep but doesn't have much length. I understand they need to be deep enough to dig however i thought they would need a good length to get plenty of exercise?

Sheldon currently is in a wooden enclosure 3x2, and around 0.5 feet deep and we know he needs something bigger!

Can i get some advice on what size box would be most beneficial for Sheldon?

I have uploaded some pics of his current enclosure so you can see his current situation!

Thanks All !

 

[wellington]

If I were you, I would just take the one end by the light either off or cut a hole in it the he can fit through and then add more length onto what you have. Btw, I don't see a light source that has UVB which is needed.
Otherwise get a few boxed and join them together to make an enclosure that is 4x8 for an adult Russian. A book shelf unit or an old dresser also can work with little modification

 

[Maro2Bear]

Andrew

You could always purchase two of the "Rubbermaid" containers and join them together. There are a few different ways, just cut one edge off of each container and joining with a super duct tape and you have one big, long container. Second method, is to get a large piece of PVC type pipe cut a whole in each container the diameter of the pipe and you have them connected. Of course, pipe size depends on the size of your tort. All kinds of options depending on your situation.

 

[Andrew Porter]

If I were you, I would just take the one end by the light either off or cut a hole in it the he can fit through and then add more length onto what you have. Btw, I don't see a light source that has UVB which is needed.
Otherwise get a few boxed and join them together to make an enclosure that is 4x8 for an adult Russian. A book shelf unit or an old dresser also can work with little modification

Thank you for the advice, i appreciate it! The light source is a mercury vapour bulb which i believe provides UVA and UVB?

 

[Andrew Porter]

Andrew

You could always purchase two of the "Rubbermaid" containers and join them together. There are a few different ways, just cut one edge off of each container and joining with a super duct tape and you have one big, long container. Second method, is to get a large piece of PVC type pipe cut a whole in each container the diameter of the pipe and you have them connected. Of course, pipe size depends on the size of your tort. All kinds of options depending on your situation.

Thanks Maro2Bear, i love the idea of joining them together so will definitley look into that!

 

[wellington]

Thank you for the advice, i appreciate it! The light source is a mercury vapour bulb which i believe provides UVA and UVB?

Doesn't look like any I have seen, the bulb.

 

[Andrew Porter]

Doesn't look like any I have seen, the bulb.

This is the bulb..

 

[SarahChelonoidis]

I've never tested these Chinese halogens for uvb output, but they do claim they are uvb sources (the ones I can see while googling claim they are only 3.0/3% bulbs, so the uvb output is probably low). I may order some to test because they are so much cheaper than the alternatives, it would be nice if they worked well.

 

[Yvonne G]

I've never tested these Chinese halogens for uvb output, but they do claim they are uvb sources (the ones I can see while googling claim they are only 3.0/3% bulbs, so the uvb output is probably low). I may order some to test because they are so much cheaper than the alternatives, it would be nice if they worked well.

Please keep us informed as to your results.

 

[Andrew Porter]

ahh is that what it is a chinese halogen bulb? I never bought it you see, when i bought Sheldon, he came with his table and lighting. I stupidly threw the bulb packaging out but have just found a picture i took of the box when we bought him! (pic attached)

Please do let me know if this is no good for my Sheldon as i don't want him to be deprived of what he needs.. if it turns out to be good then i may have just saved some of you some money

 

[Pearly]

I have been staying away from the hallogen lamps only bcs i just don't know anything about them. I seem to recall buts of discussion somewhere concluding that they were "NOT OK" for our torts but @Tom may know more and as for bigger enclosure my aim would be to build on what's already there rather than starting all from scratch just bigger. There was a great thread I think it was in the "enclosures" section. Step by step with lots of pictures on custom build of indoor enclosure for growing sulcata. You should be able to find it by typing "Mighty Odin's new enclosure" in the SEARCH feature. You may get bunch of ideas there