A while back I asked for some advice on a enclosure for my tortoise Lucy. Finally got it all set up!
Check out Lucy’s mansion. It is damn near a biosphere!
The enclosure is 6’ x 3’ x 2’, and made of black PVC, made by Animal Plastics. It has holes cut in the top for 2 UVB lamp fixtures, which supply Lucy with the critical UVB she needs for proper health and shell growth. There are two 18” fluorescent fixtures in the cage roof that supply plant spectrum light for the greenery. All the lights are worked by timer at about 14 hours of sunshine a day.
One-half of the floor of the enclosure has a heating coil built in, the half where her hiding box and log are, to provide a toasty place for Lucy to burrow into the cedar and crash.
Since Lucy is native to the tropics, optimal temperature is about 90 degrees with humidity around 80%. The enclosure features a built in misting system which mists water into the cage to add humidity and to water the grass that grows in the cage. About a liter a day in this enclosure keeps the humidity perfect, and the grass green.
I have had this setup for a couple of months now, and it appears her waste products are used by the plant life. She eats the grass. The grass eats the waste. No smell after two months! I plan to add a potato plant in the corner as she likes to eat those too.
She was in small aquarium before this, and she was lethargic and shy. Since putting her in her new house she has become very active and friendly.