Jenny & Tort
Active Member
Using http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/the-mighty-odins-indoor-oasis-the-build.128248/ as an example I decided to build my own indoor sulcata inclosure. The base is made of plywood and 2 by 4's and the top of the enclosure is a greenhouse I bought on Amazon.com. My dad appears in a lot of my pictures, as he was helping me build the base of the enclosure. I defiantly could not have done it without him!
The greenhouse: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J04EXWI/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20
We already had the plywood, but had to buy 5 2by4's and 16 bolts and washers. Not very expensive.
Here are my beginning plans with measurements for the base and beautifully draw sketches by my dad.
The we cut all the lumber to the correct sizes and began the build!
Our cat hung out with us all day closely inspecting our work.
The main frame held together with bolts and screws. We weren't sure that the bolts were really necessary, but better safe than sorry so we thought they were best to use.
We put up these pieces to have something to screw the sides onto. After these were all in place I sanded everything, including the plywood walls which were not up yet, to get rid of splinters and sharp edges that might poke a hole in the lining.
Screwing the sides on.
He's thinks were making him a cat house! Maybe that will be our next project.
All the sides in place.
We added trim to help hold the greenhouse in place on the top of the base. And also because it looks pretty.
Checking to see how the greenhouse fits, it fits perfectly!
Finally we stapled in a tarp to line the inside of the box using the staple gun. The bricks are in the bottom to hold the tarp in place while we went around and stapled. We were originally planning on using black plastic to line our box but were worried about our tort scraping holes in it. We searched around at Walmart and found this heavy-duty brown/grey tarp, perfect size and the same price as the black plastic so we decided to get the tarp instead. Tarp size 6 by 8 ft.
While the construction was taking place we were also making some ribs in the smoker and I thought I'd share a picture of that as well to make you all jealous of my delicious dinner.
In all it took this build took about 4 hours. With breaks. I was also very slow using all the tools and it would have taken half the time if I was more experienced. I think its looking beautiful so far! I will upload more pictures once it is in my house, and full of dirt and plants for my tort!
The greenhouse: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J04EXWI/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20
We already had the plywood, but had to buy 5 2by4's and 16 bolts and washers. Not very expensive.
Here are my beginning plans with measurements for the base and beautifully draw sketches by my dad.
The we cut all the lumber to the correct sizes and began the build!
Our cat hung out with us all day closely inspecting our work.
The main frame held together with bolts and screws. We weren't sure that the bolts were really necessary, but better safe than sorry so we thought they were best to use.
We put up these pieces to have something to screw the sides onto. After these were all in place I sanded everything, including the plywood walls which were not up yet, to get rid of splinters and sharp edges that might poke a hole in the lining.
Screwing the sides on.
He's thinks were making him a cat house! Maybe that will be our next project.
All the sides in place.
We added trim to help hold the greenhouse in place on the top of the base. And also because it looks pretty.
Checking to see how the greenhouse fits, it fits perfectly!
Finally we stapled in a tarp to line the inside of the box using the staple gun. The bricks are in the bottom to hold the tarp in place while we went around and stapled. We were originally planning on using black plastic to line our box but were worried about our tort scraping holes in it. We searched around at Walmart and found this heavy-duty brown/grey tarp, perfect size and the same price as the black plastic so we decided to get the tarp instead. Tarp size 6 by 8 ft.
While the construction was taking place we were also making some ribs in the smoker and I thought I'd share a picture of that as well to make you all jealous of my delicious dinner.
In all it took this build took about 4 hours. With breaks. I was also very slow using all the tools and it would have taken half the time if I was more experienced. I think its looking beautiful so far! I will upload more pictures once it is in my house, and full of dirt and plants for my tort!