ANOTHER Night Box Thread...

ZEROPILOT

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@Tom,
Do you use outdoor extension cords?
I have a waterproof electrical outlet with a ground fault interrupt on the back of my house.
I run OUTDOORS extension cords out to my timer that runs my tortoise CHE night box heaters.
There's another one that goes to my fish pond pumps.
Each junction is in a separate water proof plastic box.
I haven't found a way that looks good to run those cords. And the real issue has been the harsh Florida sun. The UV starts making the cords hard and a bit dangerous after about 3 years each.
I've considered burying them in pvc pipes. Or covering them in a garden hose.
Right now. They run across a garden trellis. More or less out of sight. But with little protection.
I've just ordered a new set of 14 gauge extra thick outdoor cords and another outdoor timer. Getting ready for our chilliest 54 degree Winter days.
Is cord replacement an issue elsewhere?
 

Tom

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@Tom,
Do you use outdoor extension cords?
I have a waterproof electrical outlet with a ground fault interrupt on the back of my house.
I run OUTDOORS extension cords out to my timer that runs my tortoise CHE night box heaters.
There's another one that goes to my fish pond pumps.
Each junction is in a separate water proof plastic box.
I haven't found a way that looks good to run those cords. And the real issue has been the harsh Florida sun. The UV starts making the cords hard and a bit dangerous after about 3 years each.
I've considered burying them in pvc pipes. Or covering them in a garden hose.
Right now. They run across a garden trellis. More or less out of sight. But with little protection.
I've just ordered a new set of 14 gauge extra thick outdoor cords and another outdoor timer. Getting ready for our chilliest 54 degree Winter days.
Is cord replacement an issue elsewhere?
I do. I use extension cords to go from the outlet into the box. I keep them as short as possible and bury them in PVC where I can. You can see that here:
 

Tom

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All the images are expired, any chance you’re willing to repost them?
Those images are lost, but here are two threads showing similar boxes:


And I'm happy to answer any questions. :)
 

hydro708

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36
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ANAHEIM
I did it again. :)
And I'm going to keep doing it too! :D

Here is the latest night box. Its similar to the others, but I wanted to show more of the electrics involved and how I use them. I made this one for my two returning Gpp females. I gave these two girls to a friend in 2010 and he raised them. They both turned out to be female, while most of mine are male. He offered to give them back to me in the hopes of producing some babies in the future. They will live alone for a couple of months for quarantine and fecal exam purposes, but then they will join the other girls.

Here we go...

Here is the almost finished box showing the yet uncovered insulation inside the walls.
3310ths.jpg




Here is the assortment of equipment going into this box:
30bk60g.jpg




The heat mat and radiant heat panel have been mounted here, as has the shoe box that will hold all the excess wires.
s5vm6v.jpg




Here you can see all the cords and the thermostat all hooked up and stuffed into the shoe box. You can also see my thermostat probe hanging on the wall on the "cool" side. Notice the "drip loops" on the cord coming in to the box and inside the box. More on that later.
s1kkk5.jpg




Close up of the shoe box:
2ngd1dx.jpg




See how nice it looks with the cords all contained? :) Notice that drip loop again...
mcub1l.jpg




A wider view of the whole thing. In this one you can see my GFI circuit that I'm plugged into:
2uy6n4p.jpg




Here is that "drip loop" that I keep talking about. I learned this back in my early aquarium days. You see, water runs downhill. Amazing right?! In the event of an earthquake or other aquarium splashes, the idea is that if you have a "loop" so that your cords always run downhill first and then uphill into your outlets, water will not be guided into your outlet. Instead it will come to the bottom of the loop and drip down to the ground harmlessly. I did one outside this new tortoise box and inside, just to be safe.
i4o7pk.jpg




Here it is open for business.
5lteuu.jpg



In my excitement I forgot to get pics of the new inhabitants. I'll get some pics and post those later.
Your pictures are gone how can I see them
 

hydro708

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Hey... what do you know I guess I helped if I could read...lol thanks Tom for sharing all of your knowledge with us.! I appreciate it 🙏
 

Tom

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Hey... what do you know I guess I helped if I could read...lol thanks Tom for sharing all of your knowledge with us.! I appreciate it 🙏
HA! No one expects you to read 9 pages of an old thread just to find the one sentence that you needed. I just happened to remember because I just posted that a couple fo weeks ago on this thread.

I'm happy to help. Questions are welcome. :)
 

hydro708

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What's your fed back about these 77in by 36in and 12 high I was thinking about putting clay hydroponic pebbles on the bottom and the soil so the plants have good moisture underneath I was also going to put 2 together and cut a hole so they can go back and forth. I was also going to cover it with plexiglass . What do u think will that work for a closed chamber enclosure?
 

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sunny1

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@Tom - Is there any way for you to post the images that you posted here in this thread? They are not showing up and I am very interested. I am having someone build me a tortoise house and I am struggling with some things and I am hoping that your ideas may help!
 

Tom

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10 Year Member!
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Messages
63,269
Location (City and/or State)
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@Tom - Is there any way for you to post the images that you posted here in this thread? They are not showing up and I am very interested. I am having someone build me a tortoise house and I am struggling with some things and I am hoping that your ideas may help!
Those pics are gone, but here are several other threads that should help a lot:




Questions and conversation are welcome. :)
 

sunny1

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Joined
Apr 6, 2023
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4
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California
@Tom

Thank you! Yes, I have an African leopard tortoise. She is about 35 years old and about 18 pounds. I am currently living near the coast in northern California where it has been too cold for her (she is staying with a friend) and I am trying to find a place to live a little off of the coast where it will be warmer (even 10-15 minutes away is 15-20 degrees warmer on a regular basis and will do). I have someone who has never made a tortoise house who will be making something for me. He was going to base it on this (https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/building-a-cold-weather-winter-house.127149/page-2). I would like it to be big enough for her to be able to stay in the house when it is too cold outside. We were thinking 8-10 feet long x 4-6 feet wide x 3-5 feet tall. Ideally I would like it to be 50 square feet, but he said due to the size of plywood it might be easiest to make it 8 long x 6 wide. I am concerned about keeping her warm and had considered one or two of these radiant panels (https://www.reptilebasics.com/rbi-r...rium-electronics-120-watt-radiant-heat-panel/) plus either https://www.reptilebasics.com/ve-300 or https://www.reptilebasics.com/thermostats/vivarium-electronics-ve-300x2/ . I wanted to have the ability to put in an infrared heat lamp if the radiant heater was not enough. I do have the BN-link digital heat mat thermostat (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01I15S6OM/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20) and I do have a Kane-type electric heat mat that I used to use for her. She got sick without heat from above, so I need a heat source from above.

My concerns are that the radiant heat panel will be too far from her with the way I am making the house to make a difference. I was going to put the heat on the side opposite the door so that this side could keep heat. I will need to wire this to some sort of long extension cord and surge protector inside of the house as there is no current outdoor electricity where I rent (it will need to come through my window). As I said, I am looking to move, but right now I am in a pinch and need to get this made within the next couple weeks as my friend can no longer keep her (I have been looking for a place, but have not found a good place that has what she needs, so will take her back with the hopes that this house will get her through until I find a place). I am worried about it getting too hot, as well, and how to hook all of this up. I also wanted to potentially set a timer so that some things go on at night and some go off. It does not snow here. It can get to freezing.

Can you make any suggestions as to set up or how I might do this? I am not a construction person or an electrical, but have someone who I will be paying to make this house (they do not know much about electrical stuff as far as I know). I want this house to last the rest of her life (he is going to make it so that I can unlatch things when I move). I don’t like the idea of an oil heater, personally. I don’t know if I need more than one radiant panel or how to do that. If you have suggestions on sizing, I’m open to that, too. She is family and I have had her for almost 3 decades and I want to do the best for her. In general, she should get enough UV if I can move to a better place. She is in good health now and her veterinarian says her shell/body are solid. I just have really struggled with getting her a proper environment where I currently live.

Thank you!
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,269
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
@Tom

Thank you! Yes, I have an African leopard tortoise. She is about 35 years old and about 18 pounds. I am currently living near the coast in northern California where it has been too cold for her (she is staying with a friend) and I am trying to find a place to live a little off of the coast where it will be warmer (even 10-15 minutes away is 15-20 degrees warmer on a regular basis and will do). I have someone who has never made a tortoise house who will be making something for me. He was going to base it on this (https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/building-a-cold-weather-winter-house.127149/page-2). I would like it to be big enough for her to be able to stay in the house when it is too cold outside. We were thinking 8-10 feet long x 4-6 feet wide x 3-5 feet tall. Ideally I would like it to be 50 square feet, but he said due to the size of plywood it might be easiest to make it 8 long x 6 wide. I am concerned about keeping her warm and had considered one or two of these radiant panels (https://www.reptilebasics.com/rbi-r...rium-electronics-120-watt-radiant-heat-panel/) plus either https://www.reptilebasics.com/ve-300 or https://www.reptilebasics.com/thermostats/vivarium-electronics-ve-300x2/ . I wanted to have the ability to put in an infrared heat lamp if the radiant heater was not enough. I do have the BN-link digital heat mat thermostat (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01I15S6OM/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20) and I do have a Kane-type electric heat mat that I used to use for her. She got sick without heat from above, so I need a heat source from above.

My concerns are that the radiant heat panel will be too far from her with the way I am making the house to make a difference. I was going to put the heat on the side opposite the door so that this side could keep heat. I will need to wire this to some sort of long extension cord and surge protector inside of the house as there is no current outdoor electricity where I rent (it will need to come through my window). As I said, I am looking to move, but right now I am in a pinch and need to get this made within the next couple weeks as my friend can no longer keep her (I have been looking for a place, but have not found a good place that has what she needs, so will take her back with the hopes that this house will get her through until I find a place). I am worried about it getting too hot, as well, and how to hook all of this up. I also wanted to potentially set a timer so that some things go on at night and some go off. It does not snow here. It can get to freezing.

Can you make any suggestions as to set up or how I might do this? I am not a construction person or an electrical, but have someone who I will be paying to make this house (they do not know much about electrical stuff as far as I know). I want this house to last the rest of her life (he is going to make it so that I can unlatch things when I move). I don’t like the idea of an oil heater, personally. I don’t know if I need more than one radiant panel or how to do that. If you have suggestions on sizing, I’m open to that, too. She is family and I have had her for almost 3 decades and I want to do the best for her. In general, she should get enough UV if I can move to a better place. She is in good health now and her veterinarian says her shell/body are solid. I just have really struggled with getting her a proper environment where I currently live.

Thank you!
There is no sense in making the house more than 2 feet tall. You are just heating air that is well above the tortoise for no reason and since heat rises, it will have to be hot at a four foot ceiling to make it warm enough down on the floor. Some people just buy a big 10x10 foot shed, insulate and seal it well, and use fans to push the hot air back down.

RHPs will not work in a taller box. They don't throw enough heat that far. What is your opposition to a radiant oil-filled heater? They are inexpensive, effective, safe and efficient. This would be the best way to heat your tortoise along with a heat mat and a RHP on a dropped down ceiling pieces of some sort.

She got sick because her core temperature dropped too low for too long. It doesn't matter where the heat comes from, but the Kane mat below and RHP overhead works well to make a warmer spot within a larger warm box.

All of this should be thermostat controlled, so overheating shouldn't be an issue.

Moving a 4x8x2 foot box takes four people, one on each corner, and that is with the lid removed. An 8x6x4 foot box will have to be built in place, and that will be very difficult to move to a new house. Its just too heavy. You'd need 8 or 10 strong people and a big flatbed truck or trailer to fit something that size.

I hope this info helps you figure out a good way to get this done.
 

sunny1

New Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2023
Messages
4
Location (City and/or State)
California
There is no sense in making the house more than 2 feet tall. You are just heating air that is well above the tortoise for no reason and since heat rises, it will have to be hot at a four foot ceiling to make it warm enough down on the floor. Some people just buy a big 10x10 foot shed, insulate and seal it well, and use fans to push the hot air back down.

RHPs will not work in a taller box. They don't throw enough heat that far. What is your opposition to a radiant oil-filled heater? They are inexpensive, effective, safe and efficient. This would be the best way to heat your tortoise along with a heat mat and a RHP on a dropped down ceiling pieces of some sort.

She got sick because her core temperature dropped too low for too long. It doesn't matter where the heat comes from, but the Kane mat below and RHP overhead works well to make a warmer spot within a larger warm box.

All of this should be thermostat controlled, so overheating shouldn't be an issue.

Moving a 4x8x2 foot box takes four people, one on each corner, and that is with the lid removed. An 8x6x4 foot box will have to be built in place, and that will be very difficult to move to a new house. Its just too heavy. You'd need 8 or 10 strong people and a big flatbed truck or trailer to fit something that size.

I hope this info helps you figure out a good way to get this done.
Thank you. I appreciate it. I had thought I needed it to be higher to have a place to clamp a heat lamp (when needed), since it should be at least 1 foot from her shell and the lamp has to clamp to something higher. I also needed a place for the surge protectors to be stored above her and inside. The person is going to make it so that each wall can be detached and moved. It will also have wheels so that it can easily roll into a moving truck (I hope). Oil makes me nervous, but if it is safe then maybe I will reconsider. I wanted it to be large so that, when it is cold, she is not enclosed in a tiny small box. I have considered sheds, but they are also very hard to move. Thank you, I am trying to find a solution and have been working on this for almost 6 months now, and now it is time to build as I need to bring her back home. Every time I think I have a solution, I realize something is not going to work. I wanted to find a good solution for her.
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,269
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
Thank you. I appreciate it. I had thought I needed it to be higher to have a place to clamp a heat lamp (when needed), since it should be at least 1 foot from her shell and the lamp has to clamp to something higher. I also needed a place for the surge protectors to be stored above her and inside. The person is going to make it so that each wall can be detached and moved. It will also have wheels so that it can easily roll into a moving truck (I hope). Oil makes me nervous, but if it is safe then maybe I will reconsider. I wanted it to be large so that, when it is cold, she is not enclosed in a tiny small box. I have considered sheds, but they are also very hard to move. Thank you, I am trying to find a solution and have been working on this for almost 6 months now, and now it is time to build as I need to bring her back home. Every time I think I have a solution, I realize something is not going to work. I wanted to find a good solution for her.
I can understand the challenges.

Heat lamps shouldn't be used over larger tortoises like yours. They tend to damage the carapace.
 

Marcie P

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2016
Messages
5
I did it again. :)
And I'm going to keep doing it too! :D

Here is the latest night box. Its similar to the others, but I wanted to show more of the electrics involved and how I use them. I made this one for my two returning Gpp females. I gave these two girls to a friend in 2010 and he raised them. They both turned out to be female, while most of mine are male. He offered to give them back to me in the hopes of producing some babies in the future. They will live alone for a couple of months for quarantine and fecal exam purposes, but then they will join the other girls.

Here we go...

Here is the almost finished box showing the yet uncovered insulation inside the walls.
3310ths.jpg




Here is the assortment of equipment going into this box:
30bk60g.jpg




The heat mat and radiant heat panel have been mounted here, as has the shoe box that will hold all the excess wires.
s5vm6v.jpg




Here you can see all the cords and the thermostat all hooked up and stuffed into the shoe box. You can also see my thermostat probe hanging on the wall on the "cool" side. Notice the "drip loops" on the cord coming in to the box and inside the box. More on that later.
s1kkk5.jpg




Close up of the shoe box:
2ngd1dx.jpg




See how nice it looks with the cords all contained? :) Notice that drip loop again...
mcub1l.jpg




A wider view of the whole thing. In this one you can see my GFI circuit that I'm plugged into:
2uy6n4p.jpg




Here is that "drip loop" that I keep talking about. I learned this back in my early aquarium days. You see, water runs downhill. Amazing right?! In the event of an earthquake or other aquarium splashes, the idea is that if you have a "loop" so that your cords always run downhill first and then uphill into your outlets, water will not be guided into your outlet. Instead it will come to the bottom of the loop and drip down to the ground harmlessly. I did one outside this new tortoise box and inside, just to be safe.
i4o7pk.jpg




Here it is open for business.
5lteuu.jpg



In my excitement I forgot to get pics of the new inhabitants. I'll get some pics and post those later.
Can I get a copy of the basic plans for this box?
 
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