Building a Winter house :)

[Ashton Dillard]

Hello all so my biggest fear has been winter hitting us when I'm the least prepared. My husband has been work 6-7 days a week so he hasn't been able to help as much as I was hoping but hopefully that will change soon and he will get some days off to help.

My dad gave me a shipping box and I have slowly been fixing it into our winter box. I stained the outside and sealed up all the holes. Next step is to cut out the door. And make the roof

 

[Yvonne G]

Be sure to insulate it too. You can buy rigid foam and cut it to fit. Then cheap, thin plywood to put over the foam to protect it from the tortoise.

Were you able to figure out how to make a lid so you can open it go clean and check the animal?

 

[Ashton Dillard]

I wasn't sure about insulating it since if it gets below 50 I can bring them in.
here we only get maybe 5 scattered days of really cold days on a winter . For the lid I was thinking either where it hung over all sides but I could lift it off or put on hinges. We are also going to mount a heat emitter bulb in to top

 

[Tom]

I wasn't sure about insulating it since if it gets below 50 I can bring them in.
here we only get maybe 5 scattered days of really cold days on a winter . For the lid I was thinking either where it hung over all sides but I could lift it off or put on hinges. We are also going to mount a heat emitter bulb in to top

It needs to be insulated. Your heater will run too much and desiccate everything if not. No need to bring the tortoise "in" if its cold outside. "In" is too cold too unless you have a room in your house the is always at 80+ degrees at floor level. I don't have that in my house in winter.

What kind of shipping container are we talking about? Can we see a pic?

 

[Ashton Dillard]

 

[Ashton Dillard]

My dad builds cranes and he was able to get this from his job. The top that came with it was real flimsy

 

[Ashton Dillard]

This is the two that will be using the house. Rosie on the left and toothless on the right

 

[Tom]

Definitely insulate, and it seems from reading your posts that these two live together? They shouldn't. They should never be kept in pairs. It is not good for either of them. You can make two doors and divide the night house, and then divide the yard too. Kind of like this:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/double-door-night-box.129054/

 

[Ashton Dillard]

I like that . Thank you for sharing that


All I have read I figured it might be ok to let them stay together since eventually they will have about 3 acres of enclosure?

 

[Tom]

I like that . Thank you for sharing that


All I have read I figured it might be ok to let them stay together since eventually they will have about 3 acres of enclosure?

Not okay. One is dominant and one is submissive. The dominant wants the other one to leave, and the other one wants to leave, but they are stuck living together as they cannot escape each others territory. Its a bad deal. They will both be much happier and healthier living alone or as part of a group of juveniles. The problem with a group is that if the sexes aren't right, you'll have to house all of them separately later on.

 

[Ashton Dillard]

Thank you sir! I will separate asap

 

[Big Charlie]

Don't use a ceramic heat emitter. Eventually they will be too big for it and it will concentrate the heat in too small an area. A radiant heat panel would work better. It probably won't provide enough heat by itself. I also use a kane heat mat on the floor. Or you could put in a small radiator.

 

[Maro2Bear]

Greetings.

Here is the go to place for Radiant Heat Panels - http://www.reptilebasics.com/rbi-radiant-heat-panels

You can't go wrong getting one of the RHP’s listed...they provide nice, even heat. Make sure you have it connected to a thermostat.

Here’s a good thermostat - http://www.lllreptile.com/products/13883-zilla-1000-watt-temperature-controller