New Smart Tortoise Keeper setup

[David M.]

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting up with @Markw84 to pick up a 48x30x30 smart enclosure. While I was there he was gracious enough to give me a tour of his tortoise room as well, which was quite the treat! I got to see his Burmese Star babies along with a few of his Galapagos, all of which looked just stunning. Most importantly, I wanted to give a huge public thanks to Mark for all the work he does for this hobby and for the hobbyists with these enclosures.

Now, down to the enclosure! I must say, these things are meticulously planned and crafted by Mark. Every piece fit perfectly, you could tell this was the result of years of hard work and trial & error. To say I'm impressed is an understatement. What I loved the most though was the recommendations on lighting and probe placement within the enclosure (I always second guess myself on that) so to have precise suggestions on where to place everything, from an expert, was wonderful. The instructions were laid out very clearly, and it really was just plug n' play.

After talking with Mark and getting some great ideas I re-worked how the enclosure was previously, more plants! Lots of hiding spaces and overhanging foliage which my little Redfoot is clearly already enjoying. I ended up getting a large Pothos and Boston Fern and put them in some nice pots so my dude cant lumberjack the entire root system, while making sure there was ample room to navigate around each pot on all sides. I also swapped the 50/50 topsoil/cypress mulch to 100% Orchid Bark which I already like a lot better. It looks better and is also less dusty. The last thing I did was include two large pieces of slate, one for basking and one for feeding. I like the natural look, so why not!

I've attached some photos and if anyone has suggestions to improve the enclosure please feel free to let me know. If you look closely in one of the photos you can see a little Redfoot head poking out.

 

[TammyJ]

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting up with @Markw84 to pick up a 48x30x30 smart enclosure. While I was there he was gracious enough to give me a tour of his tortoise room as well, which was quite the treat! I got to see his Burmese Star babies along with a few of his Galapagos, all of which looked just stunning. Most importantly, I wanted to give a huge public thanks to Mark for all the work he does for this hobby and for the hobbyists with these enclosures.

Now, down to the enclosure! I must say, these things are meticulously planned and crafted by Mark. Every piece fit perfectly, you could tell this was the result of years of hard work and trial & error. To say I'm impressed is an understatement. What I loved the most though was the recommendations on lighting and probe placement within the enclosure (I always second guess myself on that) so to have precise suggestions on where to place everything, from an expert, was wonderful. The instructions were laid out very clearly, and it really was just plug n' play.

After talking with Mark and getting some great ideas I re-worked how the enclosure was previously, more plants! Lots of hiding spaces and overhanging foliage which my little Redfoot is clearly already enjoying. I ended up getting a large Pothos and Boston Fern and put them in some nice pots so my dude cant lumberjack the entire root system, while making sure there was ample room to navigate around each pot on all sides. I also swapped the 50/50 topsoil/cypress mulch to 100% Orchid Bark which I already like a lot better. It looks better and is also less dusty. The last thing I did was include two large pieces of slate, one for basking and one for feeding. I like the natural look, so why not!

I've attached some photos and if anyone has suggestions to improve the enclosure please feel free to let me know. If you look closely in one of the photos you can see a little Redfoot head poking out.

Very nice indeed 👍!

 

[David M.]

A few questions about the new setup:

Has anyone successfully done a bioactive substrate with orchid bark? The size I used was for seedling orchids. I'd love to get some springtails and isopods roaming around in there.

Heat - Ambient temps have been getting up to 87 during the day and I've noticed my tort digging down into the substrate in the corner of the enclosure. Does this mean the ambient temps are a tad too high? For heating I have a 50w flood light for basking and a 100w CHE for ambient. I have a 60w CHE I could swap to but I'm not sure that would make any real difference seeing as ambient temps are on a controller.

 

[Markw84]

A few questions about the new setup:

Has anyone successfully done a bioactive substrate with orchid bark? The size I used was for seedling orchids. I'd love to get some springtails and isopods roaming around in there.

Heat - Ambient temps have been getting up to 87 during the day and I've noticed my tort digging down into the substrate in the corner of the enclosure. Does this mean the ambient temps are a tad too high? For heating I have a 50w flood light for basking and a 100w CHE for ambient. I have a 60w CHE I could swap to but I'm not sure that would make any real difference seeing as ambient temps are on a controller.

87° is not too hot. Redfoot do like it cooler than most, but 87° should still be OK. Tortoises do dig in for cover and protection especially when young, so it may be a normal thing and adaptation to being able to dig in easily to the moist orchid bark.

The CHE normally does not come on at all during the day when the lights are on. What type of lights are you using, since you used your own? The LEDs do not produce much heat at all. The basking light will, but that is controlled by the overheat thermostat - so you can turn that down if needed. What are you using for UVB and for how long is it on? A T5 generates a lot of heat and will definitely contribute to the heating of the enclosure when on. So you really are looking at the UVB and basking as the only contributors to heating during the day.

 

[David M.]

87° is not too hot. Redfoot do like it cooler than most, but 87° should still be OK. Tortoises do dig in for cover and protection especially when young, so it may be a normal thing and adaptation to being able to dig in easily to the moist orchid bark.

The CHE normally does not come on at all during the day when the lights are on. What type of lights are you using, since you used your own? The LEDs do not produce much heat at all. The basking light will, but that is controlled by the overheat thermostat - so you can turn that down if needed. What are you using for UVB and for how long is it on? A T5 generates a lot of heat and will definitely contribute to the heating of the enclosure when on. So you really are looking at the UVB and basking as the only contributors to heating during the day.

Im using a 6% Arcadia UVB and it's on from 11:00-3:00 (I followed your recommended lighting schedule for all lights in the set-up docs). From what I can tell the CHE doesnt turn on during the day, that display panel is always set to "cool" until the basking light turns off. I did notice yesterday the overheat protection triggered and the basking light turned off for about an hour, which was odd because basking temp didn't go above 90. Maybe I need to check the pre-sets on that controller panel.