Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Took out the camera today to take some snaps! Enjoy.

My brand new tortoise table 4x2

my five little guys enjoying their daily bath.

Drying off!

Chomp!

Everything is cuter with a kitten~

Richard

Gorgeous!

Your guys are very cute! I just picked up a hatchling from a friend at the Hamburg, PA show last month. I am thoroughly enjoying him/her.

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Anja Buffalo
Crotalus & Company
Venom-Center
Wisconsin Reptiles Site
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My little Eastern is ready for a tortoise table. Is yours built from scratch or is it an existing bookshelf or something like that? I'm just wondering how to build one, do I get some wood from Home Depot and go to work or do you have any other suggestions?

Thanks and of course, lovely little critters!

Fred

Hi,
I built mine from scratch, but it was easy. Its all made from one board and one sheet of plywood.

The wood on the sides is pine. I bought a single eight foot piece and cut it in half down the center (the long way). It went from 8' x 12" x 1" to 8' x 6" x 1". I think too many tort tables are built with these WALL of CHINA scale sides! Over kill! 6" was all I needed. I used three screws on each end to attach the short sides to the long sides. I also used a countersinking bit for a finishing touch.

(Since I cut the wood in half, I had to use a power planer and sander) My advice is to by the width wood you need saving you that step.

The bottom is 1/4" plywood. Very thin and light weight! I also think the standard tort table has a bottom that is too thick and thus too heavy and unwieldy. Once the top was framed out, I screwed the bottom board down, spacing the screws about every six inches.

I stained and sealed it with polyurethane. done.
Link

surprisingly, many tortoises are expert climbers. You usually want to use walls that are at least twice as tall as the length of the tortoise's shell. Many are very good at pushing themselves straight up a vertical wall with their hind legs outstretched, and using their front legs to lift them up over the top (often takes a few tries).

But yours looks appropriately sized for the tortoises you have housed in it. It's all about the size of the tortoises. What's your next enclosure design going to be like? I am personally a big fan of cattle troughs and stock tanks with plexi over the top. Can't be beat for animals that need either high temps or high humidity (leopards fall under the high temps category, but they do need access to areas of higher humidity), or both, because they hold in heat and moisture very well.

Good luck with the little ones. I'm thinking about raising one starting at the end of this summer or next summer.

Ryan,

You hit the nail on the head. By the time these tortoise hit 4”, they’ll be out of there! The next enclosure will be similar but 4’x 8’. I think I will build a hinged side for easier clean up. I am also working on a humid hide for them… stay tuned, it looks to be pretty cool..errr hot!

Here's a link to some pics of Russians climbing (and one of them perfectly illustrates the vertical stretch scenario).

Nina
Escape Artists

a lot of people are surprised when I tell them about my russian tortoise pen in the backyard, because the walls are over a foot tall and extend another foot beneath the surface, there's chicken wire buried underneath, and there's locking hinged top doors with wire mesh. I think a lot of people see a tortoise and think 'slow, clumsy, lazy'. Once you've kept them for a while you realize how much they can surprise you.

Russians are obviously good climbers (though not as skilled as pancake torts). I've not yet kept leopards, so I can't say whether or not they have any climbing ability. Someone else I'm sure has more experience and knowledge on that subject.

I agree with many tort tables being too high on the sides but as they grow you need to make adjustments. I started with 6 inch sides, then added 3 inches more as they grew and now just added another 2 inches more. My leopards never seem to try and climb out, even when they can look over the sides on all 4s. On the other hand my redfoots and Mt. Tort can climb and have even learned the buddy system. One stands next to the wall and then the other climbs on his back and trys to go over the wall. So I agree with Ryan that you need double their length and maybe another inch or two. I just add on to the top of my walls each year. Did the same to my outside pen this Spring.
Tom

I have to be honest... it was so fun building the table, I'd make another to cover the 2". I've never kept a mt. tort, but I've worked with red foots before. the red foots do seem a little more apt to climbing.

Thanks so much for all the information. I plan to build mine this summer and now I have a good idea on how to do it from scratch. I'm actually looking forward to it.

Fred

Fred,

If you have any questions, let me know.

Great looking photographs, Richard! Love the play with the depth of field. What sort of rig are you shooting with?

Cheers,

Tony

Canon 5D. Thanks, I am glad you liked them. I will bust out the macro lenses next time!

Awesome. The 5D is a tremendous camera. I'm hoping to pick one up soon, and have been shooting with a 20D myself.

Cheers,

T

RAARRRGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!

haha. I couldn't imagine getting my finger caught in that bear trap

Those guys are adorable, nice construction on the tort table!

Richard, what are you using under the grass?