New Horsefield Enclosure!

[Barn]

Hey guys, I'm new to this forum and this is my first post. I have a 4 year old horsefield tort (called Rocky) and I have decided it's time to build him a nice new enclosure.

Currently he's in a 1.5m x 0.6m open table top enclosure, I realise this is a bit small which is why I really would like to make a larger enclosure. Throughout the years I have alternated between soil/playsand and various aspen beddings (I always ensure they're dust/chemical free), and I've found that he seems to prefer burrowing in the aspen so that's what I generally use as a substrate. I've always used a 100W MVB to provide UVB and basking heat.

Where I live (in England) we rarely get nice hot sunny days on which he could go outside. So he does spend the majority of time in this enclosure, but I do let him roam around the house (under my supervision of course) every now and then as he likes to explore .

So now I've come to build a bigger enclosure! I've rearranged my room a bit and I'm thinking of building a 2m x 1m enclosure! I'll also build a little hut in there for him too. I was thinking of building it with 300mm high walls, so I could have the substrate nice and deep. For lighting and heat, I am going to stick with the 100W MVB, but as it's more than twice the size of the previous enclosure would I need extra light/heat?
I use a ceramic floor tile bottom side up to provide a rough place for him to eat and also it retains heat for him to bask. I also have an exo-terra water bowl for his water. His current enclosure includes a couple of rocks, a log, and some artificial green plants, so I'll be putting all of these into the new enclosure too.

Okay so my questions are:
Will this new enclosure be big enough? Or shall I try to increase the size further?
What should I do about lighting/heating arrangements?
I've heard mixed reviews about aspen substrate for tortoises, even though I think mine enjoys it, what do you guys think?
What could I add to the enclosure to make it more exciting for him?
Anything I missed feel free to mention.

Thanks so much for reading through all this haha any comments/suggestions/criticisms/questions are welcome!

Thanks again, Barn

(Oh p.s I'll be building it out of MDF which I will line with sticky-back plastic to make sure its waterproof so that if it gets wet it wont rot.)

 

[JoesMum]

Hi

I'd line your enclosure with pond liner or a shower curtain. It will be more wet resistant than sticky back plastic.

Go as big as you can fit in. Russians are active little torts and no space is ever big enough.

Whether your MVB puts out enough heat depends on conditions in your house. Russians don't need a huge amount of extra heat beyond basking, so you may be OK.

Sand and sand mix aren't recommended for substrate as its too easily ingested and causes gut blockages - avoid sand. Orchid bark and coco coir are popular substrates as they hold on to the moisture well to raise humidity

Have you read the Russian Tortoise Care Sheet?
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/

 

[TheWarTortoise]

I don't think aspen is the greatest for the whole entire enclosure. I used to just use aspen for my tort's basking area since it kept in heat nicely. For a substrate I would recommend Cypress mulch or a mix of coconut fiber with sand. As for the enclosure, 2x1 meters should be enough for a Russian. I like to add a pile of rocks to my Russian's enclosure because they are notorious climbers. Have fun building!

 

[Rue]

There's one of those questions again, that I keep finding contradictory advice for - enclosure size.

The consensus seems to be - other than bigger is better - that 4' x 8' [1.2 x 2.5 m] (is the minimum for a single adult 'small' tortoise, such as a Horsfield's or Hermann's.

It doesn't seem like a big difference, but when you look at the footprint, it actually is.

Bedding - still can't find a consensus on that. I have wood shavings at the moment (I believe it's orchid bark) and was told wood draws heat and moisture away from the animal. Another reliable resource said wood holds heat and moisture. I'm now not sure what's happening in the little microclimate I've set up! I like the wood shavings...so I'm not wanting to shift to garden soil and peat moss (the most recommended option) if it doesn't make a huge difference to the animal - for my indoor enclosure.

Once she's old enough for outdoors...she can have all the dirt she likes...

 

[JoesMum]

@Tom rarely contradicts himself when it comes to Russians. Hopefully he'll be about

 

[Barn]

Thanks for all the replies!

Okay so I'll line it with something more resistant. Also thanks for the link to the care sheet, hadn't seen it 'til now.

I will try my best to push the size as big as it can be, I've had another measure up and I reckon I could squeeze in a bit more room for him.

The temperature of my house never drops below 18 degrees Celsius (as the heating then kicks in), most of the time I'd say it's around 21 degrees or higher. Do you think this would be okay if I provide him with the right basking temp?

For the substrate I have looked at some of the coconut fibre online (also called coconut coir.. right?) and it mentioned adding water to it. Would this be necessary if I went for that? My first thoughts were that all of that moisture would be a bad idea?

Thanks again!

 

[Yvonne G]

You have to moisten the coco coir. The moist substrate helps with the humidity in the air, and all tortoises benefit from a little humidity. And ambient temperature isn't good enough for a tortoise. They have to be able to "sun" themselves and get their inner core temperature up to at least 80F degrees.

 

[Barn]

Okay thanks, never heard of coco coir before now so it's very new to me the reason I thought moisture would be a bad thing is because I've heard of it causing illnesses like shell rot before, but I guess that would've been a more extreme case!
Also, wouldn't the 100W MVB provide enough heat and light for them to sun themselves? I think that'll easily provide a basking spot of over 80-90F, as well as heating the surroundings so the coldest point in the enclosure would never be below 21 degrees Celsius (70F).

 

[Rue]

The issues I've read about (and I have no experience with it - so I don't know what's relevant with regards to its use for tortoises) with coco coir as animal bedding are:

1. Too dusty (but that might be fine if you're keeping it moist enough) - causes respiratory issues.
2. Impaction if they eat it (not sure what animal eats it).
3. Mould (but anything can go mouldy if the conditions are right).

With regards to heat...my 100w MVB provides heat and basking temperatures. I'm trying to adjust the height to keep it at 95F -100F (35 -38 C). This is very important since the tortoise needs it warm enough to be able to digest it's food properly. Food in the stomach of reptiles has been known to rot if the animal is too cold to digest it.

I also have a regular light bulb at the other end of the space - just so it doesn't get too cold in general. I may have to change that in the summer as our house heats up dramatically. The rest of the small enclosure is cooler - down to just above ambient in the far corner. So I have provided a temperature gradient if she needs to cool down.

At night, I have no heat on. It gets down to 65 F (18 C). This is fine for Horsfield's and Hermann's. Not good for other species.

 

[JoesMum]

Your room temperatures sound fine for a Russian. Your MVB is perfect for basking. You'll have to fiddle with the height a bit to get the basking temperature correct

 

[Barn]

Great, thanks! All the help is very much appreciated! I'll try to upload some pictures once the build is complete!

 

[Yelloweyed]

@Rue

I use coco coir and coco coir mixed with peat moss for over a year (so not an expert).

I haven't had any issues with ...

1. dust (if kept moist but not soaking wet)

2. impaction due to ingestion (have only witnessed tiny bits eaten if food fell off the slate tile 'plate')

3. mold - haven't seen any with straight coco coir. I have had spots of mold where the peat moss was too wet.