Laugh worthy... new enclosure, now with wood!

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Chifte

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Well, I am now on my third habitat in only a few weeks of caring for a Russian Tortoise. Due to ridiculous reasons I had to give back that pond liner tub I was given(lets just say, the mans' angry wife was supposedly going to use it, after it sat for close to a decade, ROFL. But his son is like family to me so no need to ruffle feathers).

I decided I was NOT going back to the under bed storage unit, I decided it was getting crazy to keep moving this guy and I put my work belt on.

Materials used,
4- 1x12x4
1- 4x4 15/32 plywood
2- 2x3x8
3 mil thick plastic painting drop cloth
1/2" arrow staples
2" dry wall screws
I am currently crafting up an attachment for the light to hang from, as I want it to be slightly further towards the middle.

About $58 and 4 hours later,

IMG_0296.jpg

IMG_0294.jpg

IMG_0293.jpg


I now plan on building an 8x8 out door enclosure this spring for him, and with that I intend to change several things to this 4x4 inside enclosure. I want to stain it and seal it rather use this plastic drop cloth or pond liner and right now because of the weather and urgent home relocation the staining/sealing and sitting out to vent for a week will take too long.

This enclosure made him much more active as well, the past couple days he's walked for hours and crawled over everything, he seems very pleased.
 

LindaF

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Nice! Your enclosure was a labor of love and shows how much you care for the little guy!
 

Yvonne G

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A habitat fit for a king!! She doesn't know it, but she actually did you and your tortoise a favor by wanting the pond back. That's quite a step UP from the duct taped one! :p
 

CtTortoiseMom

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Great job!! No one can take this one away from you!! Sorry that happened!
 

tortoisenerd

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Nice! Like your plans long-term but to not do anything for awhile.

Check those temps...with a 16 sq ft enclosure, unless you house is really hot, and especially on the floor, I think you probably need multiple bulbs. Just hanging one in the center (although a great idea) likely won't work, because you can only put it so close to the substrate before its too hot. My guess is you need a second bulb (just a flood light is fine), and stagger them in the middle for the gradient. I have a 17 sq ft enclosure and in a 60-70 F room, I use a 100 Watt MVB, 75 Watt flood light, and two 60 Watt CHEs (one is just for water though). How deep is the substrate? You can probably put some more in there without risking escape (Russians love to dig!).
 

Cherbear

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I like this one better than the pond liner. Very nice!!
 

Jessicap

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Looks awesome! You did a very nice job! Your tortoise looks very happy.
 

montana

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Try some Dri loc on the in side ..
It is made for cement walls but will work on wood if you use a thin first coat .

It can be tinted to any color just tell them to use twice the pigment as for regular paint ..

You should be able to use that box as an aquarium ...
 
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