Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've been keeping a baby leopard tortoise in my apartment (big apartment, tortoise has 30 sq ft in the loft) for over a year, and recently got a new roommate who just decided to start playing drums again. He plays very loudly and in the same (big) room as the tortoise; the tortoise is in the loft while he plays on the floor across the room, though there isn't much dampening in between them. Could this really disturb the tortoise, or will it get used to the noise? If not I'll negotiate for a quieter space.

I play drums and have a kingsnake.
1st) get the tortoise out of the drum room
2nd) under the tortoises cage put a foam board(you can find these at home depot) to reduce vibrations
3rd) close as many doors as possible that you can between the tortoise and the drums
4th) try not to play when the tortois is sleeping
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Thank You,
Brad S.

They might think its thunder and start breeding.If you had frogs they would call.I'm sure it would upset them some if you were doing the drum solo in "In the god da a daveta" (you gotta be in your 50's) SOUND proof the drum walls with all that egg crate stuff that comes in cricket shippments.Hummmm tortoise ear muffs..gota go joe6pax

Hey hang on now...I'm not in my 50's (only 31) and I know "Inna gadda davida" very well thanks you very much.

As for the tort and drums. You wouldn't have as much trouble with a snake as they feel vibrations, so its easy to put foam rubber or something similar under the tank among other things to lessen the vibrations.

Torts however hear the low notes much easier than high notes. So drums could possibly be a problem. I'd also suggest putting some sort of foam under the pen and put as many walls between him and the drums and possible.

Also, watch the guys reaction when the roomie is playing. Might give you an idea of how much its bothering him...

>>Hey hang on now...I'm not in my 50's (only 31) and I know "Inna gadda davida" very well thanks you very much.

Thank you! LOL
Hey I even know who Gene Krupa was & I am no where near so old that I was alive when he was the most famous drummer.

We don't play our stereo loud in the house anymore because we have too many critters with very small ears. It does make them nervous so I wouldn't play drums or anything else loud near a tortoise.
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PHRatz

But to be fair, my drum room is in my basement, so it has cement floors (which do not transfer vibrations well), and I keep most of my drum kits about 30 feet away from them or so.

It doesn't seem to upset them. Maybe if it was wooden floors (that transfer vibrations better), but really they only seem to be a little bit more alert when bands come over to rehearse (the bass guitar is usually the culprit). When I'm just practicing on my own they don't seem to notice at all.

Then again, there are other factors involved. For one, I'm a classically trained professional musician, so I don't play super loud. Loud playing is much more common amongst newer players. That seems to be my biggest complaint with teaching percussion instruments. Students seem to think louder is better. I guess they don't realize that any venue worth playing will have enough wattage to push your sound to all corners of the hall without having to wail.

I would just see how the tortoises react and then try different things. If they stop eating or show any other signs of stress, you can try to keep the vibrations to a minimal (muffling the bass drum and raising cages up off the ground). Make sure your roommate isn't playing too loud either (because that can also be harmful to your body if done incorrectly).

Oh, and by the way, egg crates won't sound proof a room. Sound proofing a room costs thousands and thousands of dollars. All foam and egg crates do is make the room sound more dead within the room.

Good luck.