closed indoor enclosure floor questions

captain

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Hi everyone, I am slowly putting together my closed indoor closure for my baby red foot..
I have been tossing around ideas for my floor:

So what I am doing so far I have a coffee table I bought and am going to use wood glue and glue down a platform that is painted with waterproof paint which is the base of my enclosure and also put a few screws in it to secure it.

But I was wondering if I could put tiles down on the floor of it to make it easier to clean instead of just straight painted wood, (Have no idea what kind, maybe linoleum? I'll take any suggestions). I was reading some stuff about it here and had some questions...

So if I put down tile will it get/stay cold or would it stay okay because of the heat lamps and the humidity within the closure?

I will of course put substrate (coco coir, mulch and moss) over top of the tiles (probably about 4 inches). I was thinking of substrating (is that a word? lol) the whole thing but also I could only do half and leave half tile to put the food/water on until he is a bit bigger and at about 6 months probably do the whole thing. Is this ok?

Also so if I do do tiles I read I have to silicone around each tile? What silicone do I use and is it toxic, would it harm my tort or what if he tried to eat it/chew at it or something? :(

Any suggestions help :D Should I stick with one type of substrate or do the mixtures??
 

kathyth

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I line the bottom of Redfoot enclosures with pond liner, a shower curtain or linoleum and they work well.
The first two are the best.
 

lisa127

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I used a tarp that I cut down to the size I wanted it.
 

wellington

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Any of the suggestions given, and your tile suggestion will be fine as long as you put substrate over it. It won't stay cold, the lights/heat will heat the floor along with the rest of the enclosure.
 

captain

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Great everyone, i will probably do the linoleum tiles maybe pond liner if its cheaper... but for now tiles is the plan, so what about the silicone?


Is the silicone for inbetween even neccessary? And also how would i put the tiles down, with glue or the sticky stuff they already have on them?
 

AZtortMom

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I used tile on the floor for my enclosure. We didn't use anything in between except the substrate. The tiles we used were pretty big so there was really not much gap at all. We put about 6" of substrate on top of the tiles and they love it!
 

Yvonne G

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If you don't grout between and under the tiles with something - silicone, grout, etc - moisture will seep down in between the tiles and you defeat your purpose. The wood will get wet.
 

AZtortMom

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Oh sorry! I forgot to tell him we sealed the wood before we put the tile down..oops!
 

captain

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All my wood has been painted with a watersealent so because of this would I be okay to just use the tiles and no silicone or should i do the silicone just in case? If so, is this safe for my torty???
 

iluvtorts

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captain said:
Hi everyone, I am slowly putting together my closed indoor closure for my baby red foot..
I have been tossing around ideas for my floor:

So what I am doing so far I have a coffee table I bought and am going to use wood glue and glue down a platform that is painted with waterproof paint which is the base of my enclosure and also put a few screws in it to secure it.

But I was wondering if I could put tiles down on the floor of it to make it easier to clean instead of just straight painted wood, (Have no idea what kind, maybe linoleum? I'll take any suggestions). I was reading some stuff about it here and had some questions...

So if I put down tile will it get/stay cold or would it stay okay because of the heat lamps and the humidity within the closure?

I will of course put substrate (coco coir, mulch and moss) over top of the tiles (probably about 4 inches). I was thinking of substrating (is that a word? lol) the whole thing but also I could only do half and leave half tile to put the food/water on until he is a bit bigger and at about 6 months probably do the whole thing. Is this ok?

Also so if I do do tiles I read I have to silicone around each tile? What silicone do I use and is it toxic, would it harm my tort or what if he tried to eat it/chew at it or something? :(

Any suggestions help :D Should I stick with one type of substrate or do the mixtures??

With my redfoots, I use sheet fiberglass. It is a product sold at home depot or other large stores. It comes in 4ft x 8 ft sheets. It is either white or off white and has a pebbley finish. The normal use for it is for walls in commercial kitchens or public restrooms. You can cut it with a utility knife. It can be glued down with liquid nail. I also use it with large sulcatas. It is indestructible, completely waterproof and easy to clean. I even use it on enclosure walls. You can seal corners with silicone.
 

AZtortMom

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captain said:
All my wood has been painted with a watersealent so because of this would I be okay to just use the tiles and no silicone or should i do the silicone just in case? If so, is this safe for my torty???

Just my two cents and what we did.. We did not use the silicon because it wasn't needed. We sealed the wood like you did. :) I think you will be fine, like it was stated earlier, with the tile, as long as there is substrate over it. We have 5 inches of substrate over ours
 

captain

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Ok thanks everyone i am for sure doing tiles but i am still curious to know if the silicone is safe to use with tortoises?? They wouldnt try to chew it would they and woukd it withstand the heat and humidity??
 

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