Building my first Tortoise Enclosure

[AmeliaJ]

Hello!!
After lockdown I will be going to pick up my little friend (Tortoise) and bring him home, however I would like to build him a Tortoise Table.

I've been looking at using hardwoods, which I then construct using nails and non toxic glue, then using caulking and sealing with multiple layers of child friendly/pet friendly water proof sealant. Unfortunately, all of the woods I'm seeing say 'treated' and I was wondering if this is a problem? Also, any other advice to make things easier would be greatly appreciated!

I do have lots of wood in my garden which will be going to waste (simply because we have no use for it) however as it's been outside for over 2 weeks and in the rain I wasn't sure if there is a full proof way to disinfect or make it safe for constructing my table (unless I'm just being silly and this won't make a difference).

Any advice is appreciated, this is my first Tortoise!!

 

[KarenSoCal]

Will you be getting a hatchling? Or juvenile, or adult? And what species?

I can't help you with your wood questions. I'm asking because if you are getting a baby, a table is not a good place to start him out in. He would need a closed chamber.

Where are you getting him?

 

[AmeliaJ]

Hey there, I'm getting him from my friend who works at an exotics centre (where he will be from) he's a juvenile, horse field x

 

[ManAlive85]

Hello!!
After lockdown I will be going to pick up my little friend (Tortoise) and bring him home, however I would like to build him a Tortoise Table.

I've been looking at using hardwoods, which I then construct using nails and non toxic glue, then using caulking and sealing with multiple layers of child friendly/pet friendly water proof sealant. Unfortunately, all of the woods I'm seeing say 'treated' and I was wondering if this is a problem? Also, any other advice to make things easier would be greatly appreciated!

I do have lots of wood in my garden which will be going to waste (simply because we have no use for it) however as it's been outside for over 2 weeks and in the rain I wasn't sure if there is a full proof way to disinfect or make it safe for constructing my table (unless I'm just being silly and this won't make a difference).

Any advice is appreciated, this is my first Tortoise!!

Hi Amelia, apologies for the late reply, I’ve just seen your message. Great news about your new tort, you must be excited.

Regards the timber ‘treated’ could mean any number of things so you’d be best to ask the shop/merchant. Here in the UK at least it usually means ‘pressure treated’ whereby preservative chemicals (including pesticides) are forced into the wood. This isn’t ideal, as you can imagine, but realistically it probably wouldn’t do a lot of harm as long as the timber is coated with varnish. The best grade of timber would be untreated, kiln dried wood if you can find it, it’s important that it’s kiln dried otherwise it’s likely to shrink and/or warp once you put damp substrate and a heat lamp near it which can really screw up your nice new tortoise table. All timber merchants and most big hardware shops will stock kiln dried timber.

In case you don’t have tonnes of woodworking experience, hardwood can be tricky to work with. I do quite a lot of carpentry and my preference would always be to use a softwood such as pine for a job like this. It’s almost always cheaper and generally a lot more forgiving to work with. There are some people who say that pine releases harmful toxins when heated but as long as you give it a good few coats of varnish or similar you should be fine. I’m pretty sure these concerns are more around pine chip substrates than timber and I’ve seen no strong evidence to support the theory anyways.

Regarding the wood you have outside, bring it into the warm and if it’s only been outside for 2-3 weeks, it should dry out in a few days. Again, as long as you’re putting a waterproof coating on it, you shouldn’t need to worry about disinfecting the timber. These little guys spend their lives scratching around in the dirt (and often their own poop), so wood that’s been in the garden for a few weeks shouldn’t cause too many issues. If it’s usable wood then I’d try that first before buying anything new in.

You must post some pictures when you’re done!

 

[AmeliaJ]

Hi Amelia, apologies for the late reply, I’ve just seen your message. Great news about your new tort, you must be excited.

Regards the timber ‘treated’ could mean any number of things so you’d be best to ask the shop/merchant. Here in the UK at least it usually means ‘pressure treated’ whereby preservative chemicals (including pesticides) are forced into the wood. This isn’t ideal, as you can imagine, but realistically it probably wouldn’t do a lot of harm as long as the timber is coated with varnish. The best grade of timber would be untreated, kiln dried wood if you can find it, it’s important that it’s kiln dried otherwise it’s likely to shrink and/or warp once you put damp substrate and a heat lamp near it which can really screw up your nice new tortoise table. All timber merchants and most big hardware shops will stock kiln dried timber.

In case you don’t have tonnes of woodworking experience, hardwood can be tricky to work with. I do quite a lot of carpentry and my preference would always be to use a softwood such as pine for a job like this. It’s almost always cheaper and generally a lot more forgiving to work with. There are some people who say that pine releases harmful toxins when heated but as long as you give it a good few coats of varnish or similar you should be fine. I’m pretty sure these concerns are more around pine chip substrates than timber and I’ve seen no strong evidence to support the theory anyways.

Regarding the wood you have outside, bring it into the warm and if it’s only been outside for 2-3 weeks, it should dry out in a few days. Again, as long as you’re putting a waterproof coating on it, you shouldn’t need to worry about disinfecting the timber. These little guys spend their lives scratching around in the dirt (and often their own poop), so wood that’s been in the garden for a few weeks shouldn’t cause too many issues. If it’s usable wood then I’d try that first before buying anything new in.

You must post some pictures when you’re done!

Hi thank you so much!! I've decided to use a combination of pallets and plywood and then seal and varnish with a child/toy safe varnish. In your opinion is that okay?

Very, very excited - have always wanted a tortoise. It's great to hear advice from somebody in the UK as I see a lot of references to Home Depot and such XD

Will deffo upload some photos after!!

 

[ManAlive85]

Hi thank you so much!! I've decided to use a combination of pallets and plywood and then seal and varnish with a child/toy safe varnish. In your opinion is that okay?

Very, very excited - have always wanted a tortoise. It's great to hear advice from somebody in the UK as I see a lot of references to Home Depot and such XD

Will deffo upload some photos after!!

My pleasure, I’m don’t claim to be a tortoise expert but I know a bit about wood.

I may be way off but I’m assuming you’re thinking of ply for the base (floor) and pallet wood for the sides? In theory that should work fine but consider a couple of things first:

- pallet wood is quite thin and weak, it’s also rough so will need an amount of sanding and finishing before you can varnish it. It’s also a motherb*tch to break apart and often snaps and splinters when you pry the pallets apart. If you already have the pallet wood ready to go then go for it but if you’re looking at buying in the pallets and then breaking them up yourself think about buying some planed (or PAR) timber from a merchants or B&Q. It’ll cost more but it’s easier to use and much better suited to the job.

- ply is fine but marine ply is ideal if you can afford it. Sterling board (or OSB) is a good alternative and often cheaper. Either way, it should be at least 10mm thick.

What you’re suggesting is, in theory, fine but you‘ll find it easier and get a better finish with the right materials.

Realistically, any varnish should be safe once it’s dried so don’t stress about getting one that specifies that it’s child safe. What you’re looking for is good quality exterior varnish (even though it’s for an interior piece), or even better, yacht varnish. Look for an ingredient called polyurethane. Ronseal’s Ultra Tough range is pretty good and all hardware shops sell it - B&Q and Homebase both stock it. You’ll need at least 3 good coats and you’ll probably want to use silicone sealant in all of the joints inside the table. Just make sure you give it a day or two after applying the final coat of varnish and the sealant before you put your tort in there because they can both be toxic before they’re fully dried/cured.

You should also think about putting a plastic membrane down to protect the floor area where the substrate will sit as this will almost certainly need to be damp most of the time. Varnish will offer some protection but it’ll start to break down after months and months of contact with damp substrate.

Karen made a really good point when she asked what kind of tort you’ll be getting. If you’re looking at getting a tort with plenty of growing still to do, it’ll need to be kept warm and very humid for the first few years at least. It is possible to maintain these conditions on a table but it’s really not ideal, especially in the UK because even with all the rain, our homes tend to be very dry. I built a table last year when I got my baby Indian Star but after months of tweaks and redesigns I’ve ended up building a closed vivarium for her because even with a partially closed table it was too hard to manage her humidity levels. I don’t know much about horsefields but you’re usually looking at humidity levels in the 80% region which is similar to your bathroom after a hot shower has been running for 20 mins. Getting the humidity up is easy but you need to find a way to trap the warm, humid air inside the enclosure and not let it mix with the cool, dry air in the rest of the room or else it drops straight away.

Apologies if this was a longer response than you were anticipating, there’s lots to consider when choosing a home for your tort and even more when you’re planning on building one yourself. I fully recommend building an enclosure yourself if you can, there’s a great feeling of accomplishment in it and you can make a unique solution bespoke to your space. But the crucial thing is to make sure you’re able to provide the tort with the habitat it needs to thrive, even if that means buying a ready made solution for now.

All of the info you need is on this forum, it’s the only source I use these days for tortoise care info (as well as an app called the tortoise table). And I’m happy to help with any advice I can regards the build, as I’m sure are plenty of others.