New Redfoot Enclosure

[xxflowersxx]

Hi, I'm Debbie Flowers from New Jersey. I finally finished my turtle table and was wondering what everyone thinks. I'd love to hear some feedback.

The table is 4ft x 2ft. I have 1 CHE, a 75W basking bulb, and a 5.0 UVB. I have a long UVB that will eventually be mounted to the table somehow but right now its being used on my other redfoot that is quarantined due to shell rot. I also have a mister that sprays every hour for 30 seconds and a couple of plants.

I built the table and did everything myself.

This is before I really added anything to it.

This is the cool/dry side & Shellby's hide. The hide is filled with Sphagnum moss which I keep moist.

This is the hot & humid side.

This is the best "overall" photo I could get. (I'm not tall enough to get a shot of the whole thing.

Oh, I took that fern out because I read somewhere that some of the ferns are poisonous. Luckily the fern was only in there for 10 minutes or so before I took it out. Shellby was so busy eating that she didn't even notice.
I'm growing flowers and such in planters and I'll put them in there later as they start to grow.

 

[Fernando]

Very nice! What kind of "mister" do you have?

 

[terryo]

Your enclosure looks great. I love the moss and plants. I can't wait for Spring for the pansies to come out. They don't last too long in my viv as mine loves them. You can throw in some Spring Mix seeds in a corner too. They love the little sprouts. You did a great job with that.

 

[xxflowersxx]

Very nice! What kind of "mister" do you have?

I have the ZooMed Habba Mist. It has hangers and just kind of hangs on the outside of the table and I duct taped the hose to the top of one of the sides. I have it positioned to mist the plants and moss area. I also use a regular spray bottle to mist the area a couple times a day. The area under the CHE gets super dry so I concentrate on that area the most with the regular spray bottle.

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Thanks! I put the table by the window to try and get some natural lighting on them. It wasn't nearly as difficult to build as I thought it would be. The folks at home depot pre-cut the wood for me. Overall, the materials for the table itself only cost me around $50. Instead of using plywood for the sides, I found materials used to build stairs. The sides have rounded tops which I think add to the overall appearance.

 

[Madkins007]

I have not seen anything about ferns being dangerous- where did you see that? Many 'poisonous plants' lists base their info on what is harmful for children, dogs, cats, domestic animals, etc. but they often have little effect on things like reptiles. Turtles and tortoises are especially known for being resistant to many toxins.

The habitat looks nice! Does the one CHE keep the temps right for you? A lot of us outside the Sun and Humidity Belt find that we need to a lot of annoying things to keep our temps and humidity up, like covering the habitat.

I look at building habitats as a series of challenges. The first is to meet the physical needs- size, temps, humidity, etc. It looks like you've hit this nicely.

Next, to me, is to meet some vaguer challenges- enrichments, better hides, etc. Interest, excitement, etc. You might try a bark hide or a moist root hide (http://www.tortoiselibrary.com/hides.html), a place it can climb up or explore, a mini-forest of plants in a corner, etc. This stuff is in my opinion very helpful, but the main challenges listed before take precedence.

 

[xxflowersxx]

The one CHE does keep the temps up do to the fact that my house is super warm all the time. We tend to keep the temps up due to the beardies and croc skinks anyway so I don't really need more than the one CHE. We have so many animals that we tend to put their comfort before our own.

 

[coreyc]

Looks good very nice

 

[Yvonne G]

Wow, Debbie: You did a really nice job on that habitat. I'd like to see the CHE a little closer to the floor of the habitat.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Looks great.

 

[xxflowersxx]

I'm going to try and add some more plants to make it look more natural. I'm still trying to find a good flat stone to use as a feeding stone. Everything I find is too big. Right now I'm feeding her on tupperware lids because she cant get a good angle out of the dishes I bought. She tends to flip the lids over though which is why I want to get the stone. Not to mention the fact that it'll look better.

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Oh, and I did move the lights and the CHE. That pic was when I first put everything up just to see how and where I could fit things. I had everything raised up so I could add more bedding and the plants.

 

[Jessicap]

Looks great!