Building my first tort table and need advice

[SamC]

I have a little hermanns male and after reading everything on here I've decided a table will be better than the viv I was going to get.
I am unsure on what is the best wood, varnish (do I web use it?) etc to use.

I have also seen some that have been tiled. Is the grout safe for my little guy??

He is currently in a 3ft by 17" guinea pig cage with a 6" side and cage on top.

I have the proper lights, hide, shallow tort water dish etc in there and I'm happy with all of that.

I am going to have the table raised from the floor as I have a westie and two small children. I have room for a 4ft by 2ft table as I havea big kitchen.

Any advise will be great, thanks

Sam x

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.....he is a rescue tortoise and is 5 but very small for his age. My daughter has named him little blue! He is a sweet little fella and I want a happy home for him x

 

[DocNezzy]

Lots of people take an old book case and turn it on it's back. You may be able to find a small one and do that. Personally, I got a piece of outdoor plywood and some outdoor lumber and made one. It was very easy, pretty inexpensive, and hasn't caused me any problems so far. That was in October. A stand would also be pretty simple to make.

You could also check out some of the designs in the enclosure section of the forum. http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Forum-Tortoise-Enclosures There are tons of ideas in there. Good luck!

 

[SamC]

Thanks Tony, had a look and alot of people are using Plastic floor tiles or linoleum to seal the inside, think I'll go with that as easy to clean and a bit cheaper! Building the table will be easy (I have a dad who loves a power tool!! Lol. Do you know if I can use regular bathroom silicone to seal the edges where the floor meets the walls? Also did you paint/varnish yours?

Cheers

Sam

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Oh and I have an old cabinet I'm going to re-ferb to attach it too x

 

[coreyc]

you can use silicone I have one that I stained but you can use paint just make sure you give it plenty of time to dry and air out before you put any thing in it

 

[Isa]

If I am not mistaken, my hubby used linoleum for Hermy's enclosure and aspen wood. For Popcorn's we bought a bookshelf and put plywood on the bottom since the bottom of the bookcase was not strong enough and for both we used non toxic sillicone for acquarium. They sell it in every pet store and it is not expensive . Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[SamC]

Thank you! I have been given a length of kitchen worktop for my base and I'm going to get the wood yard man to cut the lengths I need for the sides, since I don't have to worry about treating the base I'm going to use the sticky lino tile for the sides and seal it all in! I was worried abou varnish/paint fumes so problem solved. The base is a sandy colour and I've seen some grass green mosaic style tiles so will look sort of natural (well more so than the blue plasic thing lined in newspaper did anyway!) I'm using xxl wood chip all over and some bedding grass in the hide.

I'll take some pics when I start and post them up x

 

[Isa]

Nice! as I can see you have everything under control . What kind of wood chip will you use? The color of the base in my tortoises enclosures is sandy, I think it looks very nice and very natural