haylee345
Member
Hi! I'll be getting a baby leopard tortoise soon and I've been reading everything I can and drawing up enclosure plans. I still have a few questions, though. I'm trying to do everything on a budget (I know tortoises are expensive, I'll spend as much as I need to give my tort the best life). My plans are to build a 2-level tortoise tower out of sanded pine plywood. They will be 3ftx4ft boxes on top of each other with about a foot in between. I'll also have a foot wide terrace on the top-level hide box. I'll be building a lot of ramps. I know I need wood "stairs" and maybe some grit in between, like skateboard skid paper. I'll also have sides to keep my tort from falling off. The terrace will be 8in high and the ramp to it will be a foot long. Will a baby leopard tortoise be able to manage that after training?
The ramp connecting the two levels will be 30in long with about 24in between the top and bottom floors. I'm much more worried about it. The whole enclosure will be closed, warm, and humid for the first 6 months. Should I wait before connecting the bottom level and just use it for storage or something? Or should I do a ramp to a bottom level terrace, then a ramp to bottom level floor so it's not just 30 straight inches of stairs?
Should I paint/seal the plywood? The bottoms will be lined with thick plastic, but I don't want the walls to swell. I also don't want chemicals to leach into anything.
If both levels are open, I plan to light and heat both so if the tort doesn't want to climb, it'll have everything it needs.
For lighting/heating, I think I'll be using a 22in t8 10.0 reptisun bulb in a 22in GE fluorescent light fixture, paired with one or two hardware store 65 watt flood bulbs. Do I also need a Zoomed ceramic infrared 100 watt heat emitter? Will the flood bulbs be good basking lights?
Where can I get live plants for my enclosure? Can I just buy them at Home Depot and wash them really well (including roots) before replanting in organic soil in a terra cotta pot and sticking the pot in my enclosure? They won't be a primary food source, but I want my tort to be able to graze if it wants. I don't have a yard. Can I just walk around the woods in NC and dig up something I know is edible?
I do have a patio and a 3ftx3ft outdoor enclosure already that I'll be growing tort food in. I'll be living in a house with a yard in 3 or 4 years, so then my tort will live outside and roam freeeee (ish).
Thanks so much! I just want to be the best tortoise mommy I can be.
Attached are my table plans and the dimensions I'll have my plywood cut. Also a stolen screenshot of my terrace goal.
The ramp connecting the two levels will be 30in long with about 24in between the top and bottom floors. I'm much more worried about it. The whole enclosure will be closed, warm, and humid for the first 6 months. Should I wait before connecting the bottom level and just use it for storage or something? Or should I do a ramp to a bottom level terrace, then a ramp to bottom level floor so it's not just 30 straight inches of stairs?
Should I paint/seal the plywood? The bottoms will be lined with thick plastic, but I don't want the walls to swell. I also don't want chemicals to leach into anything.
If both levels are open, I plan to light and heat both so if the tort doesn't want to climb, it'll have everything it needs.
For lighting/heating, I think I'll be using a 22in t8 10.0 reptisun bulb in a 22in GE fluorescent light fixture, paired with one or two hardware store 65 watt flood bulbs. Do I also need a Zoomed ceramic infrared 100 watt heat emitter? Will the flood bulbs be good basking lights?
Where can I get live plants for my enclosure? Can I just buy them at Home Depot and wash them really well (including roots) before replanting in organic soil in a terra cotta pot and sticking the pot in my enclosure? They won't be a primary food source, but I want my tort to be able to graze if it wants. I don't have a yard. Can I just walk around the woods in NC and dig up something I know is edible?
I do have a patio and a 3ftx3ft outdoor enclosure already that I'll be growing tort food in. I'll be living in a house with a yard in 3 or 4 years, so then my tort will live outside and roam freeeee (ish).
Thanks so much! I just want to be the best tortoise mommy I can be.
Attached are my table plans and the dimensions I'll have my plywood cut. Also a stolen screenshot of my terrace goal.