Turbos custom tortoise enclosure.

[thadividedsky]

Hello everyone, recently I built a tortoise enclosure for my Sully Turbo. It's a 105 QT storage bin by sterilite. The upper level is 2 6 QT sterilite containers with 1 side of each removed, both bought from walmart. They were hot glued together on both sides. The sides that were cut off were hot glued into an L and then hot glued to the upper level as a ramp, the ramp is not connected to the lower level to allow removal of the upper level for cleaning (everything is bolted together). I also cut out a strip of rubbermaid sink mat and hot glued it to the ramp just in case the substrate were to dry out and Turbo loses footing, the rubbermaid mat will give him some traction. The bracket for the hanging light is metal bracing with bolts bought at lowes. It's attached with 2 bolts to the container. The basking spot is supported with L brackets underneath. I am using a heat lamp suspended over the basking spot with a reptisun 10.0 pointed indirectly into the basking area. I plan on getting a powersun in the near future, MVB is the way to go from here on out. I also have a ceramic heating element over his sleeping area. The basking spot gets up to 95, the sleeping area stays around 80-85 and underneath the second level, it gets down to 75. I hope the work I have done inspires others to try something like this out.

 

[ascott]

Very fun and thanks for sharing the detailed photos....I am loving the second level (and the blue rock is fun )..

 

[pryncesssc]

Wow very creative ! I use rubbermaid tubs for enclosures , but they are not that fancy !!!

 

[lynnedit]

Very ingenious! looks like your tort likes it.

 

[luke]

very nice work. You've given me several Ideas. Does turbo like using his upstairs room?

 

[SulcataSquirt]

very nice, The only problem I could can see is your source of Uv lighting. You said reptisun 10.0, and i see a dome fixture. That must mean that your Uv bulb is a CFL sprial light bulb, those are no good can can irritate and cause blindness to your tort. I would quickly return it to your pet store and get a Mercury vapor bulb,(best) or The tube style floresent bulb,(decent). I prefer the MVB because you get heat and UV in one light, and are stronger than the floresent bulbs. Good job on the enclosure by the way!

 

[thadividedsky]

very nice, The only problem I could can see is your source of Uv lighting. You said reptisun 10.0, and i see a dome fixture. That must mean that your Uv bulb is a CFL sprial light bulb, those are no good can can irritate and cause blindness to your tort. I would quickly return it to your pet store and get a Mercury vapor bulb,(best) or The tube style floresent bulb,(decent). I prefer the MVB because you get heat and UV in one light, and are stronger than the floresent bulbs. Good job on the enclosure by the way!

It's a reptisun 10.0 on a clamp, trust me I am not happy with it . It's a temporary solution as I'm going to a reptile show in New Hampshire in a week and plan on buying a zoo med powersun, better lamp and a bigger water dish amongst a few things on my list. I am concerned because of the bad rep CFL's have. Plus with the powersun, I can reduce my setup to a 2 fixture setup between the MVB and CHE. Thanks for the advise and the compliments. They are greatly appreciated

 

[nicoleandrocky]

cool

 

[thadividedsky]

very nice work. You've given me several Ideas. Does turbo like using his upstairs room?

Thank you, I'm glad to have given you some ideas. A happy tort is well worth the inspiration. Turbo is always up on his basking level. He'll face the UV light with his head down and front legs out and snooze for a bit. Then he'll turn around and stick his back legs out and sleep for a little bit, then he'll scurry down stairs and eat some grass and kale or collard green. His diet is mostly grass/hay with a little bit of kale or collard green mixed in. He has grown to love orchard grass hehe. He's going to love the powersun I am buying next week, I can't wait to see him fully bask with his legs, head and even tail out stretched. I'll take pics for sure.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Nice job!

 

[thadividedsky]

I have upgraded Turbo's enclosure. It now has a powersun MVB bulb over his basking area, a water bowl with a ramp and a half log tunnel. I also made a video of my sully.
Please enjoy.
[video=youtube]http://youtu.be/q1iFceUwtFM[/video]

That last pic is Turbos night time setup with the ceramic heating element pointed at his sleeping area.

 

[bholmes88]

How old is he? Is that chopped hay in his dish? Does he actually eat it? Do you offer anything other than hay? Am I asking too many questions?

 

[thadividedsky]

How old is he? Is that chopped hay in his dish? Does he actually eat it? Do you offer anything other than hay? Am I asking too many questions?

He's about 3 months old, the hay is a tortoise salad mix from carolina herp supply with orchard hay mixed in and yes he eats it. He'll eat some veggies like collard greens, mustard greens, kale and dandelion greens, then he'll go up to the basking area and eat some hay. Once a week I give him a treat such as a dandelion or a rose. I sprinkle calcium powder on both the grass and fresh greens to prevent MBD. You can ask as many questions as you like, I'll try my best to answer. :-D

 

[Tom]

Great stuff man. Turbo is a lucky GIRL.

 

[byles01]

very cool, i kinda miss mine being so small, once they get bigger you cant have as much fun with the tables, im getting ready to start on my sullys room in the house while its summer time. anyhow very neat setup and great pics

 

[thadividedsky]

Great stuff man. Turbo is a lucky GIRL.

My gut tells me you're right. Turbo is a generic name, so it'll suit her just as well. I love her just as much. I could always call her turbette, but my tort comes to me when I say Turbo, so I don't want to confuse my sully. :-D

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very cool, i kinda miss mine being so small, once they get bigger you cant have as much fun with the tables, im getting ready to start on my sullys room in the house while its summer time. anyhow very neat setup and great pics

Thanks.
I plan on getting a house within 3 years, so I have a lot of planning to do since these guys get huge. I want half the basement just for Turbo, with a ramp and something like a doggy door. He'll live down there during the cold winter months and at night during the warm/hot months. Plus when he gets his habitat, I can get something much smaller for the enclosure. :-D

 

[thadividedsky]

Hello all, I have an update on my sulcata named turbo. Well she's called Turbo, Turbette, Turbadurb, Turbinator and my cousin calls her Turd lol. She is growing very slowly, I have started using a calcium spray since she hates powdered calcium. I also have a calcium dish in her enclosure now just in case she feels she needs more. She has a powersun MVB bulb during the day and sometimes I have to use her CHE at night. Lately I've been getting her out into the sun :-D. Pretty soon I will be removing the coco coir and will have a 50/50 coir/sand mix to better retain moisture. I spray her with water every day now and she absolutely loves it, she prefers rain though. I also added a platform for an irrigation system I am currently designing so I can have more control over the substrate moisture, I'm tired of it drying out. Onto pictures.

She is very active with the way I have this set up. She always has access to hay/grass and water. She gets collard greens and/or dandelion greens once a day with a calcium spray. At the highest point in the basking area it gets up to 108, at the opening of the cave it gets up to 102 and inside the cave it's in the mid to upper 90's. The temp gradually decreases further down the enclosure and a minimum of 80 is maintained on the bottom level. She also gets fresh water twice a day as well as her daily morning soaking. I hope this sparks some ideas.

 

[thadividedsky]

Turbo's enclosure will be dismantled in the coming weeks. She passed away at 3:45 today after struggling with MBD the last month or so. It all started a few weeks after I got a solarglo light because I wanted to save money. By the time I realized what was wrong and put a new powersun in, the damage had been done. Spent about 2k in medical bills the last 3 weeks doing everything possible, with 2 herpe vets and she had surgery this morning to put in a feeding tube so we can get her the calcium and nutrients she needs and her heart stopped 2 hours after surgery ended. I would like to thank all the wonderful people on here who helped in the past and for the support that was shown. My little Turbinator is now in heaven watching over me.

 

[MasterOogway]

I am so sorry for you loss.