Input for my outdoor sulcata house

[Phantom9]

So winter is approaching and I don't think Bowser will be able to handle another winter spending a good chunk of his time in his old tortoise table. Last year he spent a good amount of time scratching at the walls.
I am planning the house and right now I have a few ideas for what I would like and I would love the communities input. The house itself is going to be approximately 4ft h x 3ft w and 5 ft long. (I have two sulcatas) I know I am going to pour concrete for the foundation since my yard can get a little muddy during the rainy season. I am thinking of having the house lean slightly to one side to encourage the rain run off away from my extension cord entrance and away from the door. The door will be off center so that they will be able to get out of the wind incase it gets strong enough to move the planned vinyl strips. The house will be constructed by sandwiching pink insulation between two plywood boards for the walls and roof and maybe even the floor to keep my heating bill down. For heating I saw tom using a heater that was elevated off the floor which I liked a lot and is why I chose to have my house as tall as it is so i can recreate it. Right now I am looking Into vinyl for cheap since I don't need much, a good heater, a thermostat for the heater to plug into that I can also plug a heat light into as my backup heat source. Any input would be great I am going to start constitution just before Oct 1st so I have time to pick my final build and procure the materials.

Sent from my HTC One using TortForum mobile app

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Also sorry I just realized I put this under general and not inside tortoise enclosures. Trying to get used to the android app.

Sent from my HTC One using TortForum mobile app

 

[Levi the Leopard]

I like that you plan to use the oil filled radiator. It's what I plan on as well.
4ft tall might be a lot of wasted space/ extra space to heat. Have you consisted only building 2ft high? It could work well.
How big are your sullies? 5' L x 3' W are the dimensions I was debating on doing for young leopards. Do you think it will be big enough for long term or would you re make the house when they grow more?

The pouring, insulation, heating all sounds good.. Maybe just re evaluate the dimensions. ?

Happy building and don't forget to share!

Sent from my TFOapp

 

[Len B]

Here are some pics of the quick build winter house I made for an adopted 17inch sulcata last fall. It worked out well, the only heat source was the heat pad (people will tell you that you can't heat a house with just a pad). I did have to add another 1 inch of armaflex to the roof, The temp inside varied a little more than I wanted when the sun hit the house. I live not far from Wash DC and it gets very cold here at times. There are 2 sets of flaps at a foot apart.It is insulated with urethane, fiberglass, or armaflex on all 6 sides and covered with PVC sheeting all around to control moisture, all seams are caulked to stop drafts. The tortoise in the 4th pic is not the tortoise this house was made for, his house is much bigger. Hope this will give you some ideas for your house.

 

[Tom]

Hi Phantom. I know the box you are referring to. It was good and it worked, but let me throw some numbers at you. On near freezing nights that box used and average of .68 cents of electricity a night and the temp would fluctuate as much as 12-13 degrees, even with the door closed.

For comparison, my new design, which is much better sealed, half the height, and using a "mini" radiant oil heater in stead of the full size version, used and average of only .18 cents of electricity during the same time frame as the other box, and the temperature only fluctuates 3-4 degrees. Here is the new one:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-66867.html

If you do a slab, DEFINITELY insulate your floor.

Please post pics of your build and the results. We all like to see new ideas and will learn from your efforts. I'm sorta self taught, so I look to people like you to learn more from.

 

[DeanS]

I've seen Tom's recent design...several times...FLAWLESS! So I must take this opportunity to chime in...go with rigid insulation rather than fiberglass (the pink stuff)...you won't regret it!

 

[Phantom9]

I like that you plan to use the oil filled radiator. It's what I plan on as well.
4ft tall might be a lot of wasted space/ extra space to heat. Have you consisted only building 2ft high? It could work well.
How big are your sullies? 5' L x 3' W are the dimensions I was debating on doing for young leopards. Do you think it will be big enough for long term or would you re make the house when they grow more?

The pouring, insulation, heating all sounds good.. Maybe just re evaluate the dimensions. ?

Happy building and don't forget to share!

Sent from my TFOapp

I was trying to go for a more long term enclosure so I wouldn't have to rebuild it soon or at least not for a few years.

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I don't have their measurments and I won't be home this weekend unfortunatly to measure them but they are slightly bigger than a man sized hand. You are right I was thinking 4ft might be too tall maybe I will go down to around 30 or 32 inches

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Here are some pics of the quick build winter house I made for an adopted 17inch sulcata last fall. It worked out well, the only heat source was the heat pad (people will tell you that you can't heat a house with just a pad). I did have to add another 1 inch of armaflex to the roof, The temp inside varied a little more than I wanted when the sun hit the house. I live not far from Wash DC and it gets very cold here at times. There are 2 sets of flaps at a foot apart.It is insulated with urethane, fiberglass, or armaflex on all 6 sides and covered with PVC sheeting all around to control moisture, all seams are caulked to stop drafts. The tortoise in the 4th pic is not the tortoise this house was made for, his house is much bigger. Hope this will give you some ideas for your house.

That does help me alot thank you Len, I like the idea of dual vinyl flap door which would help keep the heat inside and drafts out(hopefully) It gets around 28 at it's coldest here and averages 34 at night during the winter would the heat mat you have be capable of fighting the temps? I would like the idea of a heating mat over a hanging light fixture.

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Hi Phantom. I know the box you are referring to. It was good and it worked, but let me throw some numbers at you. On near freezing nights that box used and average of .68 cents of electricity a night and the temp would fluctuate as much as 12-13 degrees, even with the door closed.

For comparison, my new design, which is much better sealed, half the height, and using a "mini" radiant oil heater in stead of the full size version, used and average of only .18 cents of electricity during the same time frame as the other box, and the temperature only fluctuates 3-4 degrees. Here is the new one:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-66867.html

If you do a slab, DEFINITELY insulate your floor.

Please post pics of your build and the results. We all like to see new ideas and will learn from your efforts. I'm sorta self taught, so I look to people like you to learn more from.

Thanks Tom that does help me alot, can you send me a link as to what heater you used so I can use it as a base for find of heater I will need. While I work on their house in 2 weeks I will make sure to either A. Make a new thread or B. post them on this one.

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I've seen Tom's recent design...several times...FLAWLESS! So I must take this opportunity to chime in...go with rigid insulation rather than fiberglass (the pink stuff)...you won't regret it!

Thanks Dean, I havent seen that type of insulation before but then again my house was built in the 40-50's so everything my house has been made out of is long since outdated.

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Anyone have a little bit of the extra vinyl flap material laying around?(Will buy if necessary) The stores around here all want to sell a bulk amount and I really don't need as much as they want to sell. Also I am still looking into a good thermostat to use to regulate the temperature any recommendations. Also mat vs hanging CHE what is in your opinion better. I know heat rises so the CHE would have to work harder to heat them efficiently but I worry about the mat burning their lower plastron.

 

[TigsMom]

Would Rubber Floor Mats (the type you use in cars and trucks) work just as well as the vinyl flaps, just cut them into as wide or narrow strips you would need? OR vinyl carpet protector runners, you can buy that by the foot at hardware and home improvement stores.

 

[Tom]

Would Rubber Floor Mats (the type you use in cars and trucks) work just as well as the vinyl flaps, just cut them into as wide or narrow strips you would need? OR vinyl carpet protector runners, you can buy that by the foot at hardware and home improvement stores.

I prefer clear, but most torts will get used to anything.

 

[Phantom9]

Re: RE: Input for my outdoor sulcata house

Would Rubber Floor Mats (the type you use in cars and trucks) work just as well as the vinyl flaps, just cut them into as wide or narrow strips you would need? OR vinyl carpet protector runners, you can buy that by the foot at hardware and home improvement stores.

I prefer clear, but most torts will get used to anything.

See I would worry about the rubber mat since my bigger tort I refer to as a great white shark because he tries to eat things to figure out what they are.

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A great example is my concrete patio, my bearded dragon, and my boot.

 

[Len B]

Yes the mat will, but you have to do a few things to make it work. We had temps in the single digits at night last winter and the house had more shade during the day than I was expecting when the sun moved south for the winter (less daily direct sunlight). But it stilled worked even though it is an 80 watt max mat, I still never needed to max it out. To me the insulation is the most important part when building a tort house in a cold climate. The urethane I mentioned is a type of ridged insulation that can be bought at hardware stores from 1/2 inch to at least 2 inches thick in 2x4 to 4x8 ft pieces, it is not necessary but I like the foil backed type, it gives a better vapor barrier.To make the mat work at it's best and the most cost efficient you need to insulate under it, I separated the the insulation from the mat with 1/2 inch plywood in the house shown, but in the 8x8 house for the bigger sulcata, using a larger mat (3x4) I have 1 inch of plywood in between them and they both seem to work fine. For the flaps I like to use clear materials so it lights up the inside with sunlight, the outside flaps on this house are a type of shelving protector that I picked up at a thrift store and the inner flaps are just made of several layers 6 mil poly. I wish it only went down to 28 here.

 

[Phantom9]

Yikes, over a month has passed and I failed to post my project. So I finished it all about a week ago. It took me a while between costs, school, work, and other life things but it is pretty neat and sturdy. I wanted originally to only spend approx $200 but I think in the end not including the heating pad and heater I spent around $300.
This was the frame being built out of 2x4

The Finished frame minus the super heavy lid that I kid you not weighs around 80lbs

All primer, painted, sealed and on top of the concrete slab I poured...three times since I didn't have enough the first time and then it was too small by three inches on each end.

The super heavy lid that is on a set of three hinges

The heating pad I picked up at the reptile expo last month that is connected to my 1000 watt thermostat controller that I also go there. My father helped me wire the electrical out to it since it was my first time(computers don't count) I used the cinder blocks to block off a section so I had a place for the thermostat and my water to fit. Also you can see that I got weather strips for doors to affix to the top where the lid sits down so that it will hopefully seal in the heat in case there was any gaps and it seems to work as planned.

Just showing the rest of the interior with the heating pad.

I affixed a door blocker so that I could keep the heat in at night when it gets below 50 and as a peace of mind that neither one takes a leisurely stroll and gets caught outside and cant move to get back inside.

The ramp I had to make up on the fly. Bowser I know can use it and goes in and out constantly but The Boulder is still a mystery. I caught them both on it when I went to take the picture but I haven't gone out there to see The Boulder inside of the house.

My heater finally arrived and works great.

I went to my local feed store and was able to get two chicken feed bags full of hay to use as bedding. No feed stores around here sell anything other than Alf alpha and grassy hay so that's what they got.

Lots of annoyances and far too many trips to the hardware stores.

 

[Phantom9]

Well, its been a few weeks with it totally completed and Bowser knows exactly how to go in and out of his new fancy house so he can go and graze and find the random bits of Mazuri that I toss in the enclosure; but my issue is with The Boulder. He has always been kinda lazy he is not as active as Bowser which I always attributed to differences in personalities and during the summer when they slept inside the burrow that Bowser made he would come out in the morning, bask, graze, the whole shebang but with the new digs he doesn't want to go outside. I have to put him outside everyday and unlike Bowser, when it gets cold he doesn't go back inside he goes to a corner of the enclosure and sleeps. I know he knows how to use the ramp I have seen him use it about two times without my parental nudging.
Basically what I am asking is that when you guys built your new tortoise houses did you ever have to deal with them not wanting to go outside of it. Bare in mind the temps here haven't been really high (Mid 70's ambient) but Bowser ventures forth every morning and I would assume The Boulder would have caught on by now.