How to build 2' x 3' tortoise home

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randy

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I am hopefully going to build a 2' x 3' home for my baby sulcata here in a few months. Anyone have any sites or diagrams to help me, I'm not a carpenter or close to it so any advise would help. I was thinking of using plywood for the bottom, 2 x 4's for the sides but not sure what to use for the top to keep humidity in unless I get plexiglass either 1 large one or a few smaller ones to fit on top to hold the moisture and heat in? With a small house I'm limited at present time with space, but I'm thinking I can build something to go on top of my 30 gallon aquarium stand. At present time her 30 gallon tank is doing awesome and giving her alot of room to roam around in but I know eventually she'll need something larger.
 

Madkins007

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Just FYI- it is easy to spend a lot of time and money making habitats for the always-growing tortoises. I generally recommend doing this in three phases.

Phase 1: The yearling habitat- a big tub or terrarium for up to about 4" long
Phase 2: The 'teen' habitat- a really big tub or simple box for the growth-spurt years. This is mostly a stop-gap measure to give you time and resources to plan and build the..
Phase 3: Adult habitat. If possible, try to aim for roughly 8 adult shell lengths by 4 shell lengths for 1-2 torts. Double it for 3-4, and add another 20-25% for 5-6 torts. For sulcatas, this gets danged big.
 

MORTYtheTORTY

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Tom, as always you have GREAT info! Thanks for sharing and how to save electricity since that is a major issue depending on the enclosure type. I use foil over my aquarium...IDK if it saves electricity as I'm still using the same fixtures (100W)...we'll see what the bill looks like soon :D
@Randy: IDK step by step instructions but I've done alot of googling before I got the hatchlings and bookshelves seem to work great also but IDK how the humidity holds. I'd say keep doing what your doing with the aquarium and foil and then as your hatchling becomes a juvenile then you can make changes into a tort table..just my thoughts..(OR those big long cheap sterlite bins) I got mine from walmart for under $9 and plan on using it as they grow out of the aquarium. The $30 digital thermometer/hygrometer is on point to keep me updated on the humidity and temp, but there are cheaper and just as accurate ones as well.
Mark: Thanks for that info...with all this I need to keep a binder just for the torts ;)
 

randy

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MORTYtheTORTY said:
Tom, as always you have GREAT info! Thanks for sharing and how to save electricity since that is a major issue depending on the enclosure type. I use foil over my aquarium...IDK if it saves electricity as I'm still using the same fixtures (100W)...we'll see what the bill looks like soon :D
@Randy: IDK step by step instructions but I've done alot of googling before I got the hatchlings and bookshelves seem to work great also but IDK how the humidity holds. I'd say keep doing what your doing with the aquarium and foil and then as your hatchling becomes a juvenile then you can make changes into a tort table..just my thoughts..(OR those big long cheap sterlite bins) I got mine from walmart for under $9 and plan on using it as they grow out of the aquarium. The $30 digital thermometer/hygrometer is on point to keep me updated on the humidity and temp, but there are cheaper and just as accurate ones as well.
Mark: Thanks for that info...with all this I need to keep a binder just for the torts ;)

Right now the 30 gallon long is more than enough for the little girl, Petco has there 40 gallon aquariums on sale every so often when they have there $1 a gallon sale, but they go like hot cakes. I am going to check out yard sales, flea markets and other places to see if I can get something a little wider, probably won't need for a few months or so but if I can get it now then I won't have to scrounge for one later.
 

Akronic

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man Home depot has 50gal rubbermaids that are pretty cheap round 25bucks
 
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