WE TURN A POND INTO A TORTOISE PEN!

[Music] thank you [Music] guys are in for a treat because in this video we're going to make this old dirty indoor Pond go from this to this I'll show you how [Music] foreign [Music] in the nature room for a while now we house the variety of aquatic turtles in here mainly in the four types of painted turtle but they really do better Outdoors here year round and we wanted to do something else we have other Aquatic habitats in here between the mata mata setup and the diamondback terrapin tank so we're gonna convert this thing now that it's drained into a rearing unit for some young tortoises that you guys have seen in some of our other videos so what I have to do is I gotta get all this sand and oyster shells and everything out of here cut the liner down we're still going to use some of the liner obviously to help with the moisture at the bottom of this put all new substrate in and have some fun decorating it and we're gonna make it look awesome so just to get you guys caught up to speed with a little bit of a reminder this is Jack and Sally and these are our Galapagos tortoises yes it's true these are legit Galapagos tortoises they were gifted to us one year ago by Jason Ables and John hi Decker from 3j's tour to Sanctuary all the way down in South Florida it's been amazing raising these two tortoises so far and if you look at some of this old footage right here it's amazing just how far they've come already and folks we are not trying to blow these tortoises up by any means but they've gone from like this big to this big already and they are only one year old as you know Galapagos tortoises and aldabra tortoises are some of the largest tortoises on the planet with males and females reaching hundreds and hundreds of pounds so we have to be well equipped for these two now just because they're Galapagos tortoises doesn't really mean that their care is all that different from other tortoises at least for now when Jack and Sally are fully grown they're gonna need some pretty massive accommodations which we will be prepared for but for now being juveniles their needs are really as similar as a young Herman's tortoise would be now they're good size already you know pushing maybe six inches already but they're still babies remember they're only one year of age and Galapagos tortoises can reach ages of well over 100 years so we've got a long long long way to go and yes there have to be plans for them for when we pass on because they'll most likely still be around but you're looking at Heat the form of Basking areas and ambient room temperature sufficient humidity and hydration meaning they have to be subjected to humidity to keep them growing smooth like they have been they also need to be able to drink and Wade In The Water they need the proper diet we're trying to get them to snack on some curly Endive right now but they just came inside for the season so they're a little bit cool right now and they of course need hiding areas those are your main simple components and you can get creative but we are talking about tortoises that are already a pretty decent size even though they're babies and they will continue to grow so what we're doing is converting our old indoor Pond into a rearing unit for them for the winter these tortoises will at least get to spend the fall winter and spring in this unit before they go back outside in late spring because they're not going to be that much bigger between now and then this unit is eight by eight feet so it has plenty of room for the two of them and it will last them for several months and who knows maybe we will get more time out of them but the fun part of this is this is the center unit in our nature room so what better way to use it than to showcase the world's most famous tortoise species these are Galapagos tortoises and they're going to be featured right in the center of our nature room and you know what when they outgrow it we'll basically be using it as a tortoise rearing unit and hey you never know who's going to be in it in the future Galapagos tortoises of course come from the famous Galapagos Islands where there are actually several different species of them now most of the Galapagos tortoises in captivity are actually crosses between the different types so we're not 100 sure what Jack and Sally are completely made up of but they are in fact 100 Galapagos tortoises so you are looking at the baby version of the real thing right here Galapagos tortoises are endangered and in fact some of the species have gone extinct there have however been some rediscoveries for Escalante in recent years rediscovered the Fernandina giant tortoise so that's just one Little Light Of Hope there at the end of the tunnel for you they are heavily protected which means these tortoises in the United States cannot cross state lines for monetary purposes without a federal captive bred Wildlife permit from the United States fish and wildlife service these animals were gifted to us we work with a lot of different facilities of working with 3j's tortoise sanctuary and getting the word spread about the incredible work that they're doing with these animals we have these animals here in the flesh and uh they're growing up with our own children which is really amazing and hey make sure you click the link above me to go check out the original video we did on these two little tortoises both little tortoises right right here it's called The Gift of a lifetime and you can get the whole backstory and you can actually witness Us opening up the box and welcoming these two tortoises to Garden State tortoise for the first time so enough about all that we've you've got to get this enclosure ready for Jack and Sally so that they can stay comfortable from now until March or April depending on how the spring is going to go in 2023. [Music] [Music] okay I cut the liner out I got the old substrate out and I got the new substrate in what we're using is pretty straightforward it's cypress mulch coconut core and a little bit of raised bed soil organic what's nice about using the cypress mulch and the coconut core is it has like an anti-fungal in it so it will stay a lot cleaner than some of the other substrates that you would use for reptiles so that's good stuff a nice mix here holds humidity well and it lets the tortoises burrow a little bit glob goes towards does not do too much of that but um you know basically what I want you guys to know right off the bat here is don't get scared away because I'm setting this up for Galapagos tortoises this is going to work for a wide variety you could do redfoot tortoises in here you could do forestins or elongated tortoises or I mean the list goes on and on and on you know you wouldn't put an Egyptian tortoise in something like this but the animals that require more humidity and a little bit of a damper substrate this is what is going to work well for them so pay attention um again this is eight by eight it's a square enclosure made out of four by four ties uh pressure treated doesn't harm the animals whatsoever I have the composite on the top here for the lip I got a little lazy I didn't make the corners you know neat looking but it's effective it's got a nice lip on it so nobody can climb out we got some goodies and we're not gonna go nuts with this because we want the tortoises to have enough floor space and they can be messy anybody who keeps decent sized tortoises know that you know all you need is an animal this big and it's gonna wreck everything but we are going to get a little creative so let's get started okay so there's no Rhyme or Reason for the order that I'm going in here I'm just choosing to start with this so I've got some of these really gnarly looking pieces of Driftwood and they were taken from other units like this one was already in the pond but it didn't come in contact with the turtles that were in it so it's safe to use I actually constructed it to be tacked into the sides and it holds the Basking line works really well it's very sturdy once it's all you know really tucked in there and not going anywhere you don't want any of this stuff to fall you can go a more simple route you can use the simple L brackets that they sell that hold lights and just kind of drop them down wherever you want I like to get a little more creative so that's why I'm using this Driftwood this is also going to create kind of a shelter these are areas that the tortoises can go underneath and they'll feel somewhat covered which is good we are going to have to add other hiding areas but I'm going to start right here by attacking this really big piece into the side here so that it does not go anywhere [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] this is the part of the video where I tell you guys how smart and Incredibly creative my wife is thank you share the idea of using you nails to disguise the wire to the Basking light underneath the Driftwood which I did not think of on my own [Music] foreign so this is a 160 watt mercury vapor light which means it offers UVA and UVB and that's all we're going to do we're not going to go nuts with anything else here because these tortoises get to spend more than half the year Outdoors under the natural sunlight so it's not as important and in fact you really don't need it at all if your tortoise is getting to live outside under natural Sun for at least half the year then once it comes back indoors if it's a species that should come back inside in an area where it can't spend the winter Outdoors well you don't really need the UVB you just need to supply the animal with heat but to err on the side of caution we are offering them at least some UVB in the form of this mercury vapor Bowl now we need to do is create a good hot basking area these are tortoises that do come from the Galapagos Islands so they do need high heat in their basking region [Music] terra cotta dishes you can pick them up at Home Depot Lowe's or other areas that have supplies for garden use I like to use them for both food and water for tortoises and since we have two pretty decent sized Galapagos tortoises that do like water we're going to give them this big old dish we're going to recess it into the ground and they can effortlessly walk in and out of it and of course soil it completely probably minutes after I put them in here [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] okay so now we got to add some plants plants are usually one of my favorite things to start as far as Aesthetics go in adding to any reptile enclosure we got to do a little bit different this time though because we're dealing with powerful tortoises even at their small size right now so we're not going to be completely recessing these into the ground we've got them in pots similar color to the walls and the actual enclosure in here so we'll stick out too much but these are the kind of things you have to take into consideration when you're dealing with powerful animals and intelligent animals Galapagos tortoises can move stuff if they really want before you know it they knock over a plant and they can really make the enclosure look terrible in just a matter of minutes so to avoid that kind of stress on me we're going to keep these in pots and we're just going to recess them a little bit and it's just to you know it adds cover it makes things look nice and you know who doesn't love a money tree this is Money Tree or also known as Jade and we also um a ponytail palm as well as some succulents these are all safe if the tortoises do choose to eat them like if the leaves fall off but that's another point right there but keeping them in pots and up higher the tortoises won't be able to eat them completely to the ground and Destroy them that way too [Music] hiding areas are super important don't let the eventual size of Jack and Sally fool you or any tortoise that eventually gets big because even as adults they need areas where they feel safe so uh somebody recently gave us this it's a perfect little corner hide and right now either one of the tortoises can fit comfortably in here I am going to screw it into the wall so that they can't move it and then we're going to dress up the top with some succulents with them foreign [Music] [Music] so while this may not be a toad Ranch enclosure or one of our more elaborate setups or designs that's okay because you guys don't need to always see just that sometimes it's best to see what's simple and effective and that's exactly what this is this is set up to accommodate two tortoises while they are in this stage of their life and when they grow out of it we'll put something else in it the plants are safe everything is secure and isn't going anywhere so nobody's going to get hurt and it has everything it has the basic needs for these animals these animals can thrive in here until they go back outside in the spring and you know they're already exploring I'm sure they're going to destroy quite a few things including defecating in the water bowl but that's fine they're tortoises and that's all part of the fun so I'm excited to see how they do this winter here in our nature room especially as being the centerpiece where when people come over here we have family and friends they get to interact with juvenile Galapagos tortoises before I go guys I want to let you know that Casey and I are starting our very own patreon we plan to launch it sometime in November right now we're in the building stages of it we're going to put a lot of fun stuff in there and as we grow more and more committed to making content for you guys out there we definitely are going to need to have a patreon in place and we can't wait to show you guys and we hope some of you join to help support the future of Garden State tourists [Music] foreign [Music] goodbye [Music]

Channel: Garden State Tortoise

Views: 31,918

Keywords: Indoor tortoise pen, Indoor tortoise habitat, Keeping tortoises indoors, How to keep Galapagos tortoises, Caught on camera tortoise, garden state tortoise, Animal rescue, reptile rescue, Otis the turtle, world’s most personable reptile, Galapagos tortoise, Galapagos tortoise baby, giant tortoise baby, giant tortoises, tortoise enclosure, How to make a tortoise enclosure, Best pet turtle, Russia tortoise, NJ news, Tortoise in New Jersey

Id: FRdR8SvjQ8M

Length: 15min 54sec (954 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 09 2022