New Member

[mattluck3]

Hello Everyone My name is Matt. Just got a russian tortoise about 4 days ago. My son Bryce and I have really been researching the russian tortoise and decided to get one. We did purchase one at a pet store and after reading some of the post I will not do that again but Max is a cool tortoise and seems to be doing well. My son and I did build a table for it and i believe we have everything we need to make the little guy happy. Look forward to talking with you and having any questions i might have answered by what it looks like to be a great group of experienced tortoise lovers. I will try to post my pics of Max and the table we built. Please let me know if you see anything i should change. Thanks

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Matt:

Welcome to the forum!!

Sounds like you've done everything right. Can't wait to see pictures of your new baby's habitat!!

 

[egyptiandan]

Welcome to the forum Matt

Danny

 

[coreyc]

Hello Matt welcome to the forum cant wait to see some pic's of Max & his table

 

[mattluck3]

Thanks everyone!!! Just trying to figure out how to resize these pics so i can post the

 

[JohnathanO]

Welcome to the forum!!

and congrats on the new tortoise

 

[mattluck3]

pic of table

Think i might have been able to do this whole pic thing so all give it a try

 

[Sweetness_bug]

Looks great! Welcome to the forum

 

[Yvonne G]

Oh, wow! What a nice tortoise table.

I'm curious why two lights? And what is the temp at each end of the habitat?

Your tortoise looks pretty good, and that's a great size habitat for the size of the tortoise.

Ya done good, kiddo!

 

[mattluck3]

Oh, wow! What a nice tortoise table.

I'm curious why two lights? And what is the temp at each end of the habitat?

Your tortoise looks pretty good, and that's a great size habitat for the size of the tortoise.

Ya done good, kiddo!

I bought a regular heat lamp and then a uvb before i realized there was an all in one model that you can get. The cooler side of the the tank is at 70 and the hotter side is at 90 this is during the day. At night it goes to 65 and 75. I think that is good

 

[Floof]

Welcome to the forum, and nice habitat!

There's three things that occur to me about your table, though.

1.) The compact fluorescent UVB bulb you're using is a bad idea. They're known to cause health problems, especially damaging the tort's (or other reptile's) eyes. Ditch the bulb. Max will be OK without the UVB for awhile. And start looking into the MVBs (the all-in-ones). If you get an MVB, get a lamp stand, too, so it can point straight down, because having UVB bulbs at an angle also causes eye problems, and having an MVB at an angle damages the bulb, making it doubly a bad thing.

2.) Is there a liner, or another form of protection/sealant so the wood doesn't rot under the moisture of the substrate? Russians are best kept in moderately humid conditions, the likes of which will rot the wood if it isn't protected in some way.

3.) Maybe it's just the picture, but the habitat looks too dark. I would highly recommend getting a very bright fluorescent light or two to stretch across the length of the enclosure. Russians are diurnal, and he'll appreciate having a more naturally bright habitat.

Just a few ideas. The table really is great; I love how spacious it is for him!!

 

[mattluck3]

Thank you so much for the input. I was just in the process of making a light stand as i thought the lights should be pointing straight down. I will ditch that compact fluorescent uvb bulb and get a MVB. Once again thank you for the insight

 

[Isa]

Welcome to the forum!
Very nice enclosure, I really like it and your little George looks great

 

[jensgotfaith]

Welcome Matt! It's good to have you here. I agree with what has already been said. Fantastic size on your table. Max will really love it!

 

[tortoisenerd]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on the tort! So do you have a all in one bulb (Mercury Vapor Bulb)? If so, they need the bulb face parallel to the substrate (not at an angle), so you need to get a lamp stand or rig something up that is stable. You also want it adjustable because every could days you need to measure temps and adjust the bulb accordingly up or down, as even if the thermostat is the same, changes in humidity change the temps. If you could bump up that basking temperature to 95 F at the surface, that is ideal, but sounds good. Make sure you are using an accurate thermometer like a temp gun, that there aren't parts of the enclosure colder than 70, and there is a good bit of it in the 80s. With a large enclosure you may find yourself needing a ceramic heat emitter to heat part in addition to a MVB, as if you have space in there that is too cold for the tort to go into, its pretty useless. Very nice table! Fake plants from a craft store make great hides too, and help break up the space. Make sure you have a hide near the basking spot, near the food, a cold spot, and a moderate spot. What are you using for food and water? What kind of substrate/s? What are you feeding? Good luck!

 

[mattluck3]

Thanks to all that have welcomed me. Thanks again for all the helpful hints i am off to work and will start on fixing some of those problems first thing in the am

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome.