Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey, i'm the guy that didn't have enough room for his Russian! Yeah, that lasted long..

I'll be putting him out tomorrow morning.

This is my only problem..

Any ideas on a better locking mechanism?

I'll have a website up soon on how I made the enclosure. Please leave your love/hate comments, i'll do anything to make it better.

Looks almost exactly like mine. The latch doesn't look like it would stop a clever racoon. I use a simple hook and screw eye but the hook part has a spring on it so it takes two hands to operate. Cost only about a dollar. I live in New England and the racoons can operate the simple deadbolts easily. I have swing open garage doors and they got thru the deadbolts every night. I now use these hooks with springs on them and keeps them out. Attached (I think) is a photo of my pen during construction. Tom

except for a slightly different shape (mine is 6'x6' due to availability of wood), that looks basically the same. I also used those metal brackets to hold the two parts of the enclosure together. It works fantastically.

For smaller tortoise species, I think the 'above ground' way is the way to go. If you're only making a small pen, I don't see much of a point in digging down 1-2' when you can simply build up. Anyways, it looks great.

For the locks, I actually live in a neighborhood where pesky kids (and even pesky adults) have been a problem, so I actually have 4 locks on mind. Mine has a door on opposite sides (so it has 1 6'x2' door, one 6'x2' framed screen that's screwed in to support the doors, and 1 6'x2' door on the other side), so I needed to figure out how to lock both sides. I went to home depot and got 4 of the cheaper brass flip lock things (like you would use to lock a shed or something), and 4 locks all keyed alike. I had to bend the brass lock thingys a little go get them to fit, but now it works perfectly and have have two locks on either side.

You might do fine with a simply hook and eye lock though.

I was just too worried.

That's great though. They won't be able to dig out no matter how hard they try. Just make sure you give them enough dirt (say around a foot or so) so they won't be digging into the hardware cloth all the time and injuring their nails.

Beats the heck out of an aquarium!

Aquariums are for fish, and that's the way it should be. I used aquariums for a while and had nothing but problems. My best enclosure at the moment is actually a rubbermaid stock tank (basically a large plastic cattle trough) with a wood top to hold in heat and some ambient humidity, and around 1' of dirt.

I think that where the reptile industry is right now, it's kind of like they are inventing products to try to solve problems that their other products cause.

I just think it's unsettling how, by following all the 'rules' for keepng russian torts, and using fancy lighting and things of that nature, my big gravid female would not lay. Within 24 hours of being put in an enclosure that breaks several well-known 'rules' for tortoise keeping (specifically temperature and ventilation), she laid her eggs, and both of the females have been thriving.

I DON'T yet suggest everyone do things the same way I did them, because I would rather not see it applied incorrectly (which could cause harm), but I think people need to experiment more with their husbandry. If we all just read what others write, we'll be at a stand still forever.

If anyone is interested in how I'm now keeping the females, I do have a post that I could link to on another forum, however, as I said, this is not recomended yet, as it's only been through just about 2 weeks of testing. I'm very proud of the results it is yielding thus far though.

Please don't look at this as a personal attack but this topic is getting old in terms of being thrown out without any thought.

If you understand the physiology of reptiles (yes, a tortoise is a reptile) you'll understand that a 'fish tank' is a perfectly acceptable enclosure for a tortoise... IF the tortoise is small enough or the 'fish tank' is big enough. An enclosure is an enclosure whether it is made of glass or whatever.

I can say with confidence that tortoises will try to claw out(as any reptile would) regardless if they can see out or not it they are not entertained (kinda like humans)

Ed
(yup, this is one persons opinion... like all the others)

>>Aquariums are for fish, and that's the way it should be. I used aquariums for a while and had nothing but problems. My best enclosure at the moment is actually a rubbermaid stock tank (basically a large plastic cattle trough) with a wood top to hold in heat and some ambient humidity, and around 1' of dirt.
>>
>>I think that where the reptile industry is right now, it's kind of like they are inventing products to try to solve problems that their other products cause.
>>
>>I just think it's unsettling how, by following all the 'rules' for keepng russian torts, and using fancy lighting and things of that nature, my big gravid female would not lay. Within 24 hours of being put in an enclosure that breaks several well-known 'rules' for tortoise keeping (specifically temperature and ventilation), she laid her eggs, and both of the females have been thriving.
>>
>>I DON'T yet suggest everyone do things the same way I did them, because I would rather not see it applied incorrectly (which could cause harm), but I think people need to experiment more with their husbandry. If we all just read what others write, we'll be at a stand still forever.
>>
>>If anyone is interested in how I'm now keeping the females, I do have a post that I could link to on another forum, however, as I said, this is not recomended yet, as it's only been through just about 2 weeks of testing. I'm very proud of the results it is yielding thus far though.
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Ed @ Tortoise Keepers
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

Really? I have my tortoises in enclosures that they can't see out of. Funny how they don't claw at the wood to try to get out. They don't understand the concept of glass, so they try to walk through it. Just like they try to dig underneath fences that they can see through. It's not an opinion that I throw out without thought. I put an incredible amount of thought into it.

I know it's not a personal attack. Nothing is personal. I wish other people would understand that.

You opinions are welcome though. I like having conversations like this.

The other thing I don't like about aquariums is that they don't hold moisture well, but that's actually a problem with screen tops, and not the tanks themselves.

They don't understand the concept of glass but instinct tells them there is a barrier there. When they run into it they back off and move on... no different than a barrier they cannot see through. Some tortoises will try to go through but I don't think the fact they can see through it has anything to do with it.

I have tortoises that will claw to get out of an enclosure that they cannot see through and I have tortoises that do not try to dig under a fence they can see through.

The point is that there is no hard and fast rule as to what is good and what is bad. It all depends on many factors and an aquarium is a very viable enclosure for many tortoises depending on the tortoise and the setup.

>>Really? I have my tortoises in enclosures that they can't see out of. Funny how they don't claw at the wood to try to get out. They don't understand the concept of glass, so they try to walk through it. Just like they try to dig underneath fences that they can see through. It's not an opinion that I throw out without thought. I put an incredible amount of thought into it.
>>
>>I know it's not a personal attack. Nothing is personal. I wish other people would understand that.
>>
>>You opinions are welcome though. I like having conversations like this.
>>
>>The other thing I don't like about aquariums is that they don't hold moisture well, but that's actually a problem with screen tops, and not the tanks themselves.
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Ed @ Tortoise Keepers
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

I've just hated aquariums mainly because the substrate always seems to dry out, and the amount of heat lost is a little ridiculous with the typical screen tops.

I will agree with you though that most tortoises can figure out after a while that you can't walk through glass. I have had two different cases with that however. One of my females I had to keep in an aquarium for a short period of time (about a month when I first got her...she was a rescue and all I had laying around was a big aquarium) had no problems with the aquarium and seeing her reflection, but I think that might have something to do with her upbringing. She was kept in a glass tank (in poor conditions) for about two years before I got her. My little male (the growing boy) had to stay in the same glass tank for about a month as well when I was trying to get the setup worked out for the females. He had been raised in a storage bin, so glass walls were completely new to him, and for the entire time he was in there he would spend a good portion of his day trying to push through the glass. This activity actually seemed to keep him from eating as much as normal during that time period.

Now I've moved the little male (who's just about 4" now) back into his wooden enclosure, and he's been eating like a pig again from the day he went back in. That could have to do with a variety of factors though, like his familiarity with the territory.

I agree that there are some that do okay in aquariums, but I think that in general, we could do much better. Aquariums are designed for fish, and they're designed for easy viewing. The only reason that they are used for reptiles is because they are boxes that will hold them, and provide a lot of viewing angles. They aren't really designed for the reptiles.

A downside to the standard wooden reptile enclosures however, is that they provide little in the ways of substrate depth (which is important for nesting tortoises especially). This is why I am a new fan of stock tanks and cattle troughs.

But yeah, this is all just opinions. We base these opinions off of what we see in our reptiles, and obviously we're not always going to see the same things.

I have used a home made aquarium for my tort for the last 17 years. (It was the only way I could get one the size I needed.)She actually likes watching what goes on. I've never had a problem with heat or moisture. But I worked out the tricks to that long ago. She doesn't try to get out, because she knows she can't. If I move her to a new environment (the large kiddy pool she can't see out of in the back yard for the summer) she will try and get out of that to get back "home". Most animals will try and get out of any enclosure when they are first introduced until they learn they can't. My tort comes up to the glass and begs for food or attention. Sometimes she just watches me!

It is important to realise that the problem you pointed out "rightly" with glass can be overcome with a little ingenuity depending on species.

What species is it?

If that works for you, then that's good for you. I'm not here to sway anyone's opinions. I go by what I see in my group of torts, and I post it because i think that it may be of some interest. Afterall, we have to admit that husbandry today is not perfect. We should strive to find new ways to keep our pets healthy and happy every chance we get.

Absolutely, She's a Bell's hingedback.

::They don't understand the concept of glass, so they try to walk through it.:::

My tortoise is in an aquarium, he does not try to walk through it, nor does he claw at the glass. I have made his environment entertaining and I think that is why. He spends most of his time climbing over the things in his enclosure. He is a year old hermanni, about 1-2 inches long, in a 50 gallon tank (3 feet long and 18 inches wide). I personally have had better luck with aquariums than anything else I have tried for indoor housing. Just another personal opinion.

AWWW!
What a cutie!

np

that it does in fact vary from tortoise to tortoise. My opinion was based on what I've seen my tortoises do, which is why it was biased away from aquariums. It seems like others tend to do okay with aquariums.

That's exactly the point.

I call it the 'depends factor'. (not the diaper, of course)

>>that it does in fact vary from tortoise to tortoise. My opinion was based on what I've seen my tortoises do, which is why it was biased away from aquariums. It seems like others tend to do okay with aquariums.
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Ed @ Tortoise Keepers
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care