Gonna build a wood enclosure

[bogart20]

WHat kind of wood wouldu want to stay away frm? And is pressure treated plywood a bad idea

 

[Tom]

Closed chamber or open topped tortoise table?

 

[bogart20]

Open topped 3x3 and 2ft high.
Was gonna use ply wood

 

[mchong9606]

Pressure treated wood will last a very long time. That's what I use with no bad effects.

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Open topped 3x3 and 2ft high.
Was gonna use ply wood

Plywood is what I use indoors, 2 X 4s outdoors (2 X 4s survive weather better).

What kind of tortoise will it house? Will this be winter housing or all-year housing?

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

We use pt wood!

 

[bogart20]

Ok sweet. I heard pt was toxic so I wasn't sure if it was safe.
It's gonna house a baby star tortoise, indoors mainly cause I live somewhere on the cold side of life lol

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Ok sweet. I heard pt was toxic so I wasn't sure if it was safe.
It's gonna house a baby star tortoise, indoors mainly cause I live somewhere on the cold side of life lol

Cool choice!

Make the enclosure as big as possible, 'cause it'll grow fast!

 

[bogart20]

Well right now he's gonna be in a 2ft by 1.7 ft enclosure but in about a month I'm gonna build a 3x3

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Well right now he's gonna be in a 2ft by 1.7 ft enclosure but in about a month I'm gonna build a 3x3

He/she'll out grow the 3 X 3 before you know it...build as large as you can spare the space.

The amount of effort, time involved, and cost of materials will be about the same for a 3 X 3 or a 3 X 6, for instance. Just less left-over wood.

 

[mightymizz]

I thought I heard somewhere that Pressure treated wasn't the best to use? Not sure.

I would go as big as you can like people mentioned because it is easier and almost the same cost with the size you are thinking.

 

[bogart20]

Really it cost the same?

Cayse they said it cost bout 80. I figured 100 cause I was gonna add stuff frm the original sketch.
But I hear they will only need about a 5x5 maybe a 6x6 frm what I've been reading.

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Really it cost the same?

Cayse they said it cost bout 80. I figured 100 cause I was gonna add stuff frm the original sketch.
But I hear they will only need about a 5x5 maybe a 6x6 frm what I've been reading.

I always build to the size that an adult needs, because a well-looked-after tortoise can grow surprisingly fast, and, again, the cost of building/effort to do so won't be much more to build one for an adult (7"-
12") in the first place!

Besides, what will you do with the 3' X 3' when he/she outgrows it?

The current wisdom is that a single adult Star needs at least 12 square feet of floor space in his/her enclosure, so 5' X 5' or 6' X 6' would be even better...you really can't make the enclosure too large.

Call around and see if there's an construction salvage business (where contractors, who buy wood, etc. in quantity, to save $$$, sell extra wood, etc. that they ended up not using on projects, to help w/ their bottom line) near your home...you can often find PT plywood at one of these places for half or less than what some place like Lowes or Home Depot sells it for...bought some 2 X 4s earlier this week for $.68 each that the nearest Lowes sells for $2.14 per.

 

[bogart20]

Thanx for the advice