Soon to be first time tort owner!

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Tptman3141

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Greetings everyone!

In the next couple of weeks I am looking to buy my very first tortoise! I've been wanting to get one since as long as I can remember haha! I'm looking to buy a Russian tortoise and am pretty excited.

I decided I'd rather build my own enclosure than buy one. Did a lot of reading on this site and a couple others and definitely felt building my own would be better. I attached a couple of pictures of my nearly complete tort table. My dad and I have been working on it on and off the last two weeks. Dimensions are aprox. 2' x 4'. Added the side hide box last weekend, adds another foot or so. We just installed a plexiglass front in it tonight. Gotta get the linoleum flooring put in these weekend and it should be pretty much good to go! Feel free to leave any comments if you see anything that could be better for the tort.

I'm looking forward to sharing my new tortoise adventure once I go out and get the little guy/girl!


Brandon
 

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Yvonne G

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Hi Brandon:

Welcome to the Tortoise Forum!!

May we know appx. where in the world you are?

I'm going to throw a little bit of cold water on your habitat. I love it, the size, the shape, its a great habitat, BUT...

The size screen you have on the lid is going to effectively screen out the UVB rays from your expensive light. It would be a shame to spend all that money on a good UVB light, only to have it not offer the correct UVB to the tortoise because of the screen.

You might think about cutting a hole in the screen for mounting the light so it shines without the screen interfering.

Just out of curiosity, if the habitat is in the house, why do you need a screen cover?
 

Tptman3141

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emysemys said:
Hi Brandon:

Welcome to the Tortoise Forum!!

May we know appx. where in the world you are?

I'm going to throw a little bit of cold water on your habitat. I love it, the size, the shape, its a great habitat, BUT...

The size screen you have on the lid is going to effectively screen out the UVB rays from your expensive light. It would be a shame to spend all that money on a good UVB light, only to have it not offer the correct UVB to the tortoise because of the screen.

You might think about cutting a hole in the screen for mounting the light so it shines without the screen interfering.

Just out of curiosity, if the habitat is in the house, why do you need a screen cover?

Yvonne,

Thank you for the information! It never even occurred to me that the screen could block out the UVB. I will definitely have to change it around a bit( i.e. cut a hole haha).

The reason for the screen is due to my two very curious cats that like to get into everything. In about a month, I will be able to put the tort table in a room that the cats won't have access to, so that will solve that problem.

I live just north of Baltimore Maryland.

Brandon
 

Tom

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I like it. Looks great. For your top, you could add a frame around some cut out areas and replace the screen with some half inch hardware cloth within the framed area. I would also fasten the hooded portion of the lamp fixture to the hardware cloth so the curious kitties don't accidentally knock the fixture over and start a fire.

Are you getting a baby? Have you planned your outdoor enclosure yet? You've got so much fun coming your way.
 

MarcaineArt

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Congrats on your new enclosure and soon to be friend :) It's nice you could build this with your dad those are memories to keep forever. What kind of tortoise will you be getting? Please update with pics once you're all set up and he/she is settled in.

Good Luck
 

Tptman3141

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Tom said:
I like it. Looks great. For your top, you could add a frame around some cut out areas and replace the screen with some half inch hardware cloth within the framed area. I would also fasten the hooded portion of the lamp fixture to the hardware cloth so the curious kitties don't accidentally knock the fixture over and start a fire.

Are you getting a baby? Have you planned your outdoor enclosure yet? You've got so much fun coming your way.

Tom,

Thanks for the great ideas, I will definitly look into that.

As of right now, my plan was to get one at petco. Doing some research here and on other sites, I've found that they are wild caught and tend to be more stressed. I figured I could give one a great life that they deserve. I also haven't had any luck finding a breeder near me( baltimore, MD). If anyone has any suggestions I am all ears!

Brandon
 

BrookeB

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Welcome!! hope that the forum helps... It helped me
 

Tom

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Tptman3141 said:
Tom said:
I like it. Looks great. For your top, you could add a frame around some cut out areas and replace the screen with some half inch hardware cloth within the framed area. I would also fasten the hooded portion of the lamp fixture to the hardware cloth so the curious kitties don't accidentally knock the fixture over and start a fire.

Are you getting a baby? Have you planned your outdoor enclosure yet? You've got so much fun coming your way.

Tom,

Thanks for the great ideas, I will definitly look into that.

As of right now, my plan was to get one at petco. Doing some research here and on other sites, I've found that they are wild caught and tend to be more stressed. I figured I could give one a great life that they deserve. I also haven't had any luck finding a breeder near me( baltimore, MD). If anyone has any suggestions I am all ears!

Brandon

There are good breeders everywhere. You can have a healthy, captive bred baby overnight shipped right to your door from anywhere in the country. No need to start with a stressed and possible unhealthy wild caught animal. I know of at least 3 breeders a little ways North of you in NY. You could even just drive if you were feeling ambitious. Check with GBTortoises and -ryan- . I think Scott "bettinge" is that way too, and I think he also has Russians. All of them are just North of you and will sell you a great tortoise that is healthy and properly started.
 
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