- Joined
- Nov 14, 2013
- Messages
- 25
Hello, all!
As promised when I first joined, I'll be sharing all of my projects with you
My three Redfooted Tortoises (each are about 8 months old now) are doing good, and have outgrown their starter home, a 55 gallon aquarium. For a while now I've been planning their next home, one that'll hopefully last a much longer time, and a few weeks ago I finally settled on a pair of Zoo Med Tortoise Houses (6 ft long by 2 ft wide by 1 ft high when combined), which will give them 12 sqft of floorspace to roam around. This should last them for quite some time!
I've already bought and assembled the two houses, but am waiting on finishing up my design/prepping it before I add the tortoises.
I'll be permanently connecting the two and attaching 6 furniture legs to the bottom for stability, as I want this habitat to be free-standing.
Their setup is going to be very natural, and will include many live tortoise-safe plants such as bromeliads (it's my firm belief that redfoot tortoises feel more secure in habitats with a lot of overhead cover versus just a hide or two and big open spaces), a shallow pond area (I'm thinking of using a paint tray that I'll fill partially with river rock, so I can make it less deep for them since they're still small), a slate feeding area, and much more!
I plan on either replacing the wood in the front panels of both houses and siliconing in glass panels, or doing what I did on my painted turtles above tank basking area and adding in tracks and putting in sliding glass doors. I haven't decided yet.
Right now my plan is to completely paint both tortoise houses, then cover the floor and sides in vinyl stick tiles and run aquarium silicon over any cracks or corners on the inside to protect the wood, but I might change things up a little as I get more into the build.
Sorry I have no pictures yet, those will be coming soon! Tell me what you think so far, and if you have any comments/suggestions! I'll be updating this thread as I get further into this project :3
As promised when I first joined, I'll be sharing all of my projects with you
My three Redfooted Tortoises (each are about 8 months old now) are doing good, and have outgrown their starter home, a 55 gallon aquarium. For a while now I've been planning their next home, one that'll hopefully last a much longer time, and a few weeks ago I finally settled on a pair of Zoo Med Tortoise Houses (6 ft long by 2 ft wide by 1 ft high when combined), which will give them 12 sqft of floorspace to roam around. This should last them for quite some time!
I've already bought and assembled the two houses, but am waiting on finishing up my design/prepping it before I add the tortoises.
I'll be permanently connecting the two and attaching 6 furniture legs to the bottom for stability, as I want this habitat to be free-standing.
Their setup is going to be very natural, and will include many live tortoise-safe plants such as bromeliads (it's my firm belief that redfoot tortoises feel more secure in habitats with a lot of overhead cover versus just a hide or two and big open spaces), a shallow pond area (I'm thinking of using a paint tray that I'll fill partially with river rock, so I can make it less deep for them since they're still small), a slate feeding area, and much more!
I plan on either replacing the wood in the front panels of both houses and siliconing in glass panels, or doing what I did on my painted turtles above tank basking area and adding in tracks and putting in sliding glass doors. I haven't decided yet.
Right now my plan is to completely paint both tortoise houses, then cover the floor and sides in vinyl stick tiles and run aquarium silicon over any cracks or corners on the inside to protect the wood, but I might change things up a little as I get more into the build.
Sorry I have no pictures yet, those will be coming soon! Tell me what you think so far, and if you have any comments/suggestions! I'll be updating this thread as I get further into this project :3