Hi, I would like either a table top to house my young tortoises in (currently in a vivarium) or an indoor rabbit cage, despite trawling through the internet am unable to find a ready built indoor table top WITH a top netting, I have young children and would not like them to be able to access my tortoises, in addition I have no idea what heating/lighting to put in, have seen heat lamps in the examples but no uv lights, can anyone help?

Hi,

It's good you have made the decision to switch over from a viv to an open enclosure

Tortoise Tables can be easily made quite cheaply as opposed to purchasing one. Literally it is 4 lengths of wood fitted together and a base added. There are some photos of tables here for ideas:-

http://www.tortoise-protection-group.org.uk/site/58.asp?thissection=17

Most large pet suppliers have the small rabbit/guinea pig enclosures - again these can be seen on the above link. If you go down this avenue, it is best to get the largest one available, because the tortoise will appreciate the extra space and the cage will be higher and make it easier to adjust the height of the lamp and so the temperature under the lamp (the basking area).

We recommend the Megaray lamp:-

http://www.kimbosreptileworld.co.uk/mega-ray-c-50.html

If you have any concerns or questions, Darren at Kimbos reptiles is extremely helpful or please feel free to post any questions on here and I'll ask Darren to drop by.

May I ask where you are in the UK and what species of tortoise you keep?

HTH
Darren

Hi

Thank you for replying, I live in Kent and my tortoises are Hermanns, they are 3 and 5 years old.

Kerry

Hello Kerry,   I made a lovely tortoise table out of a really nice pine table top.  I turned the table top upside down and screwed pieces of ply.. onto the sides.   I sanded down the pine to remove the varnish and covered the whole thing with chicken wire to prevent any intruders....   Very cheap and very rewarding.  It is now my spare torti table ready for any more tortsd I am lucky enough to adopt.   love from Marilyn. x     PS..  Darren is an expert on all aspects of tortoise care.... 

Many thanks for the advice Marilyn :0