Bigger Indoor Tortoise Table and Creating Tortoise Enrichment

My tortoise has both an indoor and outdoor enclosures. However, as my tortoise is a lot bigger than when I first got him, I decided to give him a little more indoor space.

Here is what I did to update my tortoise enclosure.

Old versus New

Lenny’s old table measured whereas his new table is…

My neighbour is a carpenter and was kind enough to knock up a table for me with the dimensions I just about had the space for.

Lenny likes to climb so I wanted to have a deeper table this time to enable me to add bigger things to his enclosure and to give him the clearance to climb.

New Table decoration

First I painted the outside and lid of the table white to match the furniture of my office.

Next I added some simple handles to the lid to enable easy removal

I lined the bottom of the table with a pvc table cloth. Anchored down with staples.

As is my trademark, I stuck on some decals left over from past projects onto the walls of the enclosure. To reinforce adhesion, I stuck some sticky back plastic over the top.

I took the opportunity to refresh the substrate and used a total of 7 blocks of coco coir to fill the new table.

As per manufacture guide, I also changed out the old UVB/A and heat bulbs for new ones as it is recommended these are changed every 12 months.

I added a bigger water dish, created a little basking hill under the basking light (left corner) and other various things for him to climb.

Tortoise Enrichment

However, this time, I decided that I wanted to build a couple of things to add to Lenny’s table that could stimulate him.

A shell brushing station

Using a wooden sheet, 4 rubber bands, some screws, a small sample of fake grass, a 5mm plant stake and 3 nail brushes, I made this nifty station.

I pre drilled pilot holes into the bottom of 2 of the nail brushes and from the bottom side of the wooden base, I screwed a couple of screws each side (the width of my tortoise to ensure the brushes work on both sides of the tort). I screwed the brushes onto the screws and threaded the plant stake through the top of the brushes (I chose brushes that had a 6mm hole in the them.

For the middle brush, I had to drill a hole on the opposite side so I could thread some rubber bands through it to secure it to the plant stake. I secured the take on the outer sides with a couple more rubber bands and taped the grass to the wooden bas using double sided tape. Watch to the end of the video below to see Lenny using it!

Chalk Tower

This was a simple way to add a little chalk station. I drilled a hole through three lumps of chalk and a wooden base and screwed a large screw into this hole securing the chalk lumps, yet enabling them to spin so they move around when they are bitten, barged into, headbutted etc, which I could add a little more interactivity to the table. Chalk is a great source of calcium, which tortoises need.

UV Lights

As per manufacturers instructions due to maintaining the optimal strength of UV, I replaced both the UV strip and heat lamps.

Here is a video I made to show my various updates:

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