Finally finished Indoor Enclosure

[Eric Phillips]

Thought I would share a few images of my drafting/ work station desk turned into my EBT's new Indoor Enclosure. It is on mounting drawer rollers, can slide it right out from under the desk. I will still be working from the desk, just have a friend to keep me company below Have a Happy Thanksgiving to all!

 

[wellington]

Looks pretty darn good. I love the idea.

 

[tortdad]

Very cool

 

[leigti]

Very nice. I like the idea of using existing furniture and integrating it into the house.

 

[bouaboua]

Very nice indeed!!

 

[Torch]

Nice!

 

[stojanovski92113]

Really nice job

 

[lynnedit]

Very, very nice! Tell us more: how do you get into it to change water, etc.?

 

[Eric Phillips]

Very, very nice! Tell us more: how do you get into it to change water, etc.?

Well, I took my existing drafting table that I use for graphic design and media purposes and converted the bottom section into the housing for my baby Easterns. I built the frame, added pretty expensive underneath draw brackets to hold the weight so I can slide the enclosure out to access the turtles from the top. The top left is a hinge top that I can open, the middle section I built a acrylic top that I can completely remove to access the water bowl without sliding the whole enclosure, and the right side where the lights is completely screwed in top, cannot remove. My UV light is on a timer can be removed to change the bulb when necessary. The other basking lights are also on timers( I generally only use 1 but have another just in case I really need to up the temp in an emergency. I fill in that hole with an acrylic cover. The substrate is a mixture of Peat Moss, Coco Coir, Organic topsoil from my Red Wiggler Farm, and just a little reptibark. I am growing some Irish moss in the Enclosure which is just now starting to sprout. I lined the bottom of the Enclosure with Hardware Mesh topped 2 Industrial size Garbage Bags to keep moisture off the wood. Added a few plants, hides, and logs. Overall Cost: I had the Wood, I bought a sheet of Acrylic at Menards $11, Plants at Lowes $15, Substrate: Top Soil thank you worms, Peat Moss $7 Big Bag, and 1 brick of Coco Coir $4. If you don't have your own wood, I'd say maybe $50 in lumber. The biggest item was the 2 drawer brackets. I had about $80 in those(which I got on sale). Hope this helps. The Enclosure is 3' x 3'. So far so good, only issue I have is stepping on a kid who is beneath me watching the turtles while I work, lol! Thank You all for the likes!

 

[Lyles]

Maybe I should try leaving the plants in the pots. Every time I try to use live plants the turtles bulldoze them or the plants just wither and die for some reason. I have a black thumb. lol

 

[Eric Phillips]

Maybe I should try leaving the plants in the pots. Every time I try to use live plants the turtles bulldoze them or the plants just wither and die for some reason. I have a black thumb. lol

lol! Yeah lesson learned the hard way a few times. Whether it be fungus gnats or destroyed plants, I decided to keep them in pots just in case this time