Inside enclosures - add your pictures

[^TANK^]

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[sandy]

This sort of enclosure is great for hatchlings, but can soon be out grown.
They will need a UV heat source.
The substrate in there is not a good one:0(
It can scratch their eyes, and not good if ingested:0)
Tortoises need to be able to dig in, so soil is the best substrate you can use as it the natural one for them:0)
They will also need a water container to drink from:0)

[^TANK^]

Originally Posted by sandy

This sort of enclosure is great for hatchlings, but can soon be out grown.
They will need a UV heat source.
The substrate in there is not a good one:0(
It can scratch their eyes, and not good if ingested:0)
Tortoises need to be able to dig in, so soil is the best substrate you can use as it the natural one for them:0)
They will also need a water container to drink from:0)

The two cages are a combined 360cm long, 80.5cm wide and 20cm deep. He has loads of room!

I've used soil in the past and it gets dusty very quickly which doesn't do his eyes or respiratory system much good hence why I've switched to Aubiose hemp which is soft and dust free! He has roughly eight inches to burrow down in to and is very happy!

I used to leave water in there with him but he never touched it so I bath him four times a week for 30 minutes at a time.

He has two Arcadia ProT5 Kit Desert 12% lights and at the other end a 160w Arcadia D3 UV Basking Lamp.

He goes out in the garden in the summer. I'm genuinely blown away that you think his set up is suitable for hatchlings and not a small male tortoise like a Horsefield. to put it in to context I'm 5'11 and a 19st bodybuilder and I can easily get in to one of those sections let alone two of them!

[emma_mcraf]

Hi Tank. I can see it’s a spacious area for a single male tortoise. However I’m not sold on the Aubiose. Ive used it in my chicken coop and it’s highly absorbent, which leads to a couple of problems for torts. They need a certain level of humidity and I don’t think you’ll get much humidity using Aubiose as it’ll just suck the dampness straight up. If it’s too wet it’ll spring up with mushroom spores.
I find I often get sharp pieces stick in my hands when I clean out the coop so I would be concerned about it sticking in the tortoise as a splinter and of course any being ingested. I agree, topsoil can be dusty but that’s why you can spray it and that helps enormously.

Your tort really need a constant water supply. Mine love to go and sit in their bowls. Sometimes it feels like all they do is trample dirt through but I often see mine having a nice drink. I think it’s an essential part of tort husbandry to provide fresh water at all times.

I think I can spot your Arcadia lights by the leads but they are tricky to see in the photo. I’m sure they keep the enclosure nice and light.

I’m don’t doubt you’ve spent a fair bit of money on making a spacious enclosure for your tortoise. I know of many people who use these cages successfully but my worry would be the climbing! I know a couple of my males would be up the sides in no time and that would undoubtedly lead to falls onto their backs. My torts are always faceplanting as they dive headfirst off their habba huts but I would hate them to get any limbs or claws caught in the wire. That said, that’s just me being over-cautious knowing what two of my ‘adventurous’ torts are like!

Maybe a few tweaks here and there and it’ll be a better environment for your little one.

[^TANK^]

Originally Posted by emma_mcraf

Hi Tank. I can see it’s a spacious area for a single male tortoise. However I’m not sold on the Aubiose. Ive used it in my chicken coop and it’s highly absorbent, which leads to a couple of problems for torts. They need a certain level of humidity and I don’t think you’ll get much humidity using Aubiose as it’ll just suck the dampness straight up. If it’s too wet it’ll spring up with mushroom spores.
I find I often get sharp pieces stick in my hands when I clean out the coop so I would be concerned about it sticking in the tortoise as a splinter and of course any being ingested. I agree, topsoil can be dusty but that’s why you can spray it and that helps enormously.

Your tort really need a constant water supply. Mine love to go and sit in their bowls. Sometimes it feels like all they do is trample dirt through but I often see mine having a nice drink. I think it’s an essential part of tort husbandry to provide fresh water at all times.

I think I can spot your Arcadia lights by the leads but they are tricky to see in the photo. I’m sure they keep the enclosure nice and light.

I’m don’t doubt you’ve spent a fair bit of money on making a spacious enclosure for your tortoise. I know of many people who use these cages successfully but my worry would be the climbing! I know a couple of my males would be up the sides in no time and that would undoubtedly lead to falls onto their backs. My torts are always faceplanting as they dive headfirst off their habba huts but I would hate them to get any limbs or claws caught in the wire. That said, that’s just me being over-cautious knowing what two of my ‘adventurous’ torts are like!

Maybe a few tweaks here and there and it’ll be a better environment for your little one.

He hasn't once tried to climb the cage bars thank God as I could see that being a problem as you pointed out. Should I keep water in there to help create humidity then? As for the substrate he seems happier with hemp and isn't wheezing like he did with the soil and that was with me spraying it down with water on a daily basis. Money wise yes I've dumped over £500 so far.

How the hell can anyone describe that as small.🤔

[^TANK^]

Here is a video I uploaded to YouTube with my tortoise Petrie to give a better idea of size.

https://youtu.be/KsbaUpIX_qU

[emma_mcraf]

The water bowl is more so that Petrie has somewhere to drink and bathe at will...and I find mine often toilet in there too. Of course using hemp means a wet tortoise might end up with the hemp stuck to him afterwards!

Perhaps you could provide a humid hide for him. He’s small enough that you could fashion one out of an old ice cream tub with moist moss. There are probably tons of examples if you search the posts on the forum and many less rudimentary as an ice cream tub if you want it more aesthetically pleasing.

I know torts, especially Horsfields, love to bury down and that the Aubiose would seem ideal for that but I still have my reservations about it. Were you using topsoil or coir previously? I know that coir has been mentioned as irritating the respiratory tract before but I don’t know of anyone finding topsoil to be such an irritant unless playsand is mixed in, which can irritate the eyes. It can be kept sprayed and damp not wet, which helps humidity. I empty the water bowls over the soil every day when I change the water and spray as required. It keeps the dust levels down and I’ve never had any wheezing. I don’t think you could do that with Aubiose.

Your tort looks quite young still so I’m sure the enclosure will suit him well. Just watch for the climbing!

[^TANK^]

I wont be using topsoil again it got in his eyes and made him wheeze even with daily spraying of the topsoil with water.

[^TANK^]

Went to the garden centre and picked him up a bowl.👍

[sandy]

Originally Posted by ^TANK^

I wont be using topsoil again it got in his eyes and made him wheeze even with daily spraying of the topsoil with water.

You have a horsfield tortoise, which is a digging down a long way tortoise. And really needs at least five to six inchs of substrate.
I was not aware that you had two of these enclosures together, which is a much better space. You could try having one with a much deeper substrate so he can dig down in:0)
And your tortoise probably wont get a lot bigger. But being outside this time of the year is far better for him:0)
Natural UV (better than any lights we can provide) and of course the sun:0)