The time is approaching that we (me, my fiancee, and all of the critters) will likely be moving into an apartment, and I am trying to figure out a way to give the tortoises plenty of room to roam, breed, and lay their eggs, while still being able to get them into an apartment. I spent a bit of time and money building the red foot's enclosure, so even though that is very large and very heavy we are going to bring that with us (cover it up and sneak it in under the guise of a cabinet or something). For the russians, however, I have been racking my brain for months trying to decide what to move them into. I have 4 large females, a smaller male, and a small tort who is undecided as to his sex. Here's my thoughts right now:
Cheap route: two x-mas tree boxes with a lot of dirt (put two females in each), and two 50 gallon storage tubs (one for each smaller tort). The tree boxes I would just build a frame into the lid to screen in for lights, and the 50 gallon bins I would install lights inside the lid. This is the cheapest route, and the route that I actually like the most for ease of moving, cleaning, etc. I was just wondering though... when do the x-mas tree boxes go on sale? Do I have to wait until November/December? I would probably arrange the bins so that there are the big bins sitting on the ground (well... slightly raised) with a table over them holding the smaller bins (3, including the bin my uro lives in right now).
Expensive route: zoomed tortoise houses. These look nice, but I would have to do some modifications in order to make them work for my uses (like connecting two together and cutting a hole in the bottom of one to set in a bin for nesting dirt). Plus I would need to seal them, and it would cost quite a bit of money to get them set up. I am not thinking this is the route I would go, but they look cool so I wanted to see if anyone had any experience with them.
Cheap route: two x-mas tree boxes with a lot of dirt (put two females in each), and two 50 gallon storage tubs (one for each smaller tort). The tree boxes I would just build a frame into the lid to screen in for lights, and the 50 gallon bins I would install lights inside the lid. This is the cheapest route, and the route that I actually like the most for ease of moving, cleaning, etc. I was just wondering though... when do the x-mas tree boxes go on sale? Do I have to wait until November/December? I would probably arrange the bins so that there are the big bins sitting on the ground (well... slightly raised) with a table over them holding the smaller bins (3, including the bin my uro lives in right now).
Expensive route: zoomed tortoise houses. These look nice, but I would have to do some modifications in order to make them work for my uses (like connecting two together and cutting a hole in the bottom of one to set in a bin for nesting dirt). Plus I would need to seal them, and it would cost quite a bit of money to get them set up. I am not thinking this is the route I would go, but they look cool so I wanted to see if anyone had any experience with them.
