Home built table

[Stevievee]

No tortoise yet, but preparations are underway!!
More or less ready to go now. I had to take everything out to put the substrate in, mix of play sand and topsoil. It was sooo wet, so glad I've got it in there early to dry out!
I'll post my progress as I go on.

[Stevievee]

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[Stevievee]

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[Stevievee]

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[Nina]

Hi Stevie,

That is looking good -- really excellent! Just a couple of questions:
1. What is the circular thing attached over the table and half-way down -- is it a light? Very high tech looking!

2. I like the little upper level and the ramp -- what is it made of, and is it easily removable (just asking because it's in the photo of the table without substrate and then not in the photo with the substrate, so thought it might be easily taken in and out.

3. Is your heat/light lamp in the black holder easily able to be raised and lowered? I can't see the top of it, so not sure, but it's really important to be able to raise and lower that lamp, in order to increase or decrease the temperature in the table.

4. Substrate looking very good. I would make that substrate as deep as is practical (4" - 5" if possible). Tortoises really like to bury themselves completely in the substrate -- which is a bit frightening the first time you come down in the morning and there is no tortoise to be seen in your table and you think they've escaped, only to find that they've buried themselves.

Do you have a thermometer yet? The best ones to get are the digital fridge/freezer thermometers, with a digital display unit that you can have outside the table, with probe on the end of a long wire that you can hang down into the table, so that it is at the height of the tortoise's shell and directly under the heat source (not one mounted on the wall of the table). Something like this is what I use: https://www.pharmacy-equipment.co.uk/pr ... er-tmm105/ but you can get them in lots of places. Just be sure you get one with a Max/Min facility, because that lets you see how hot or cold it got since you last looked.

Love the 'guardian tortoise' that is perched on the top corner!

Nina

[Stevievee]

Hi Nina

Yes that's a LED light. It just brightens that end once the upper level goes in.

The green house with ramp is made of plywood. It has a hide underneath and a piece of slate cut for the top to feed on. This is painted with pet friendly paint. It just lifts out as/when needed.

The substrate will be fairly deep, maybe 4".

The lamp is on a stand that is height adjustable. I don't have a thermometer for it yet, but I am looking at one that will hang from a wire by the lamp to shell level. I have a small thermometer attached to wall at the 'cool' end, just as a rough reading at that end of the table.

I've obviously been banging on about getting a tortoise too much at work... The crocheted tortoise was part of my office secret Santa!!! Haha

[Nina]

That all sounds perfect to me! If you get a thermometer similar to the one I gave the link to, you can hang that down to shell level, and to be able to see the maximum and minimum temperatures reached is very useful. The small thermometer on the wall at the cool end will be fine for measuring the temperature there.

Aww, what nice workmates you've got! Now you just need to encourage them to go foraging for weeds for the tortoise every weekend, and you'll be set for life. I do think that any tortoise will be very fortunate to find a home with you, as you're doing a super job. You wouldn't believe how many problems we get from people who never did any research before they bought a tortoise, and it's such a relief to see someone who is preparing properly for welcoming these lovely animals into their home.

Nina

[Stevievee]

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Few more bits added, house back in, small water bowl and something to break up the view from between one end of the table to the other. I will be getting a dual bulb UVB and heat, but what wattage would I need? 100w?

[Nina]

That's looking really good, so you must be so pleased with your work!

Regarding the bulb -- yes 100W should be fine, although in summer, when the room is warmer, it might be a bit too much, and you will have to raise the bulb up higher to keep it from getting too hot in the table. The problem with this is that by moving the bulb up higher you are also moving the source of UVB further away, and if you have to lower the bulb, in order to make the table warmer then you run the risk of getting the UVB source too close to the tortoise.

The combined uvb/heat/light mercury vapour bulbs are really excellent and loads of people use them successfully and love them. Personally I prefer one bulb for heat and light and then a fluorescent tube for UVB, and that way I can move my heat/light bulb up and down without worrying that the UVB source is too close to the tortoise or too far away. I can also just put in a lower watt heat/light bulb in summer. Another little advantage with the fluorescent tubes is that you can get one that is nearly as long as your table, so that wherever the tortoise is, he is getting UVB. Also, if your combined bulb blows then you've lost your UVB as well as your heat and light source. The disadvantage of using a separate fluorescent tube for UVB is that you have yet another thing to plug in, and more wires around, but personally I prefer it.

Nina

[Stevievee]

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Think I might stick with the single bulb for now. I am building an outdoor space later, so hope he/she will be out in the sun in summer anyway. Added some fake plants today... I know... Fake plants can be bad, but I'll monitor this closely and change if needed. I've also propagated some spider plants (back right), so can change for these once they get going.
Just ordered a couple of things now to use as hides, then ready to go!

[Nina]

That's looking great, and the single bulb will be fine. Are you checking our Facebook page or our forum for tortoises that we are rehoming?
This must be so exciting for you! If you decide not to rehome but would prefer to purchase a young tortoise, we can point you towards lists of reputable tortoise breeders.

Nina

[Stevievee]

Hi Nina. I do look on here, but they don't seem to be coming up very often. I'm away for 2 weeks from the 24th Feb, so will be looking more seriously when I get back home.

[Nina]

Hi Steve,

If you can email me at nina@thetortoisetable.org.uk and tell me the area where you live (and how far you are willing to travel), we can keep an eye out for tortoises that come up for rehoming in that area.

Nina

[natalie321]

It looks like the enclosure is coming together nicely! I'm curious to see how you decorate it once the substrate dries out. What other elements are you planning to add for your tortoise?

[Stevievee]

natalie321 wrote:
> It looks like the enclosure is coming together nicely! I'm curious to see
> how you decorate it once the substrate dries out. What other elements are
> you planning to add for your tortoise?

Thanks, not much more to do now. It's the outdoor enclosure taking up a lot of my thinking time at the moment.

[Nina]

Lol, there is nothing nicer to do when it's cold, and outdoors is miserably wet and windy (or maybe covered in snow in West Yorkshire), than spending time indoors designing and planning your outdoor enclosure! There are some really great outdoor enclosures around, and you might find some good ones searchng through the enclosure section here, or googling. Have fun and do show us what you come up with.

Nina

[Stevievee]

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Mr T is being collected Saturday, so making final preparations. Should it be such a fine art adjusting the height of the bulb... I must have moved it a million times to try get to the magic 30. My thermometer has a probe hanging from the light!

Arrrrrgh, I'm so nervous now I know he's arriving!! Hahaha

[Nina]

Hi Steve,

It's looking great (lol, and your probe hanging down looks exactly like mine). Make sure that it is just about the level of his shell (not too much higher, which would read hotter), but it's not an exact science and in the wild tortoises don't always have a spot that is exactly 30C. As long as he has a spot that's between, say, 28C and 32C and then a cooler spot of around 20C he'll be fine.

Love the name Mr T. What species is he, and did you find him through our rehoming ads or elsewhere? He is going to be one lucky tortoise to have found a home with someone who has put so much love and care into creating an ideal environment for him.

And talk about creating nice environments, have you see this thread that has been posted recently -- a very nice enclosure indeed! I think you and Temps are kindred spirits in your desire to create great enclosures: http://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/site ... =11&t=2914

Can't wait to see a photo of Mr T after he arrives,

Nina

[Stevievee]

Thanks Nina. He's a Horsfield, the person I am buying him from THINKS he's around 2 year old. (I'm saying he, but is 2 too young to tell??). From looking at the photos it looks like I'm saving him from a vivarium!! The guy is selling due to ill health. He has 2 more, but much larger species.

I'll have a look at the thread you sent.

Be prepared for a bombardment of questions ha. Although I like to think I've done enough research, I'm sure I'll have many more questions!!

[Nina]

Ahh, a lovely Horsfield -- a species with big personalities (but then I'm a bit biased ). Yes, 2 years old is way too young to tell -- it's usually about 6 or 7 years before it's really apparent, but sometimes you can tell sooner -- especially if they have grown too quickly. They tend to look like females until about 6 or 7 and then very quickly the tail grows longer, etc. and they become obviously male (but sometimes you can get a hint of what they might be from the shape of the anal scute and the cloaca). Send us a photo of Mr T.'s underside, clearly showing the tail, and we'll have a guess.

I think you've done loads and loads of research, but no matter how much research we do, there are still questions (lol, I still have lots of questions that I ask all the time), so ask away.

Nina