looking for some input and ideas.

[jeffjeff]

i'm in the process designing a new enclosure ready for when we get a new baby star which will be about 5 months old when we get it just after Easter. i'm determined to get it 100% right first time,
The lay out and build is simple enough, i'm going for a big viv with plenty height, sliding glass doors and a high lip along the front edge so i can get a good deep substrate. i have a nice simple idea to make the height of the lights and che individually adjustable to the mm. (i'll let you know if and how it works out, once i knock up a prototype)
i could do with some ideas for the following tho please
waterproofing - what do people use to waterproof the closed chambers? i tried varnish and silicon last time and moister still got in to the wood. i thought plastic would be obvious but i think it would be a night mare to cover 5 sides and still look nice. i was wondering about using contact or spray adhesive and effectively wall papering it with plastic sheets, has any one tried using gloss paint or epoxy? would the color matter?
should i have some ventilation or is that just defeating the object of having the closed chamber?
thanks

 

[Jodie]

I use tile and grout on the floor and walls of my enclosures. It seems to be working. My husband uses some kind of sealer on it, i think.
I had to vent one of my enclosures a bit bcz it was getting too warm. I regret it now though. Should have lowered the wattage of the lamps instead.
Good luck with your Star. They are my someday dream tortoises.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Tile would look nice and finished. You can certainly make it waterproof, too.

 

[Prairie Mom]

I have used exterior polyurethane on some of the wood that I have inside my chamber for hides etc- no problems so far. I also have outside primer and white paint on the interior lid and outside of my chamber--no problems with this yet either. Crossing fingers!

This winter, we put in some of those fake vinyl kitchen tiles that just stick on in squares. They're so easy to work with and look FABULOUS, but you MUST glue additional adhesive on the sticky backing. We used liquid nails on the back of them and even tacked in a couple finishing nails just to make sure the humidity and heat doesn't make vinyl un-stick and slide off or pop out in time. There were a couple spots where we weren't so diligent and had to go back and fix later. Mending the mistakes was incredibly easy and painless.

Here's a photo of my husband when he was putting in the vinyl tiles...


I need to remember to take some better photos of the entire inside of my enclosure, but here is one of our sulcata enjoying some greens...

Like I said...we did have to go back and stick some additional liquid nails on the tiles we neglected during the first install, but the end results were nice. You can barely make out the seems and it was so quick and easy.

Here's the outside. We used some left over closet doors and wainscoting from other projects. It's in my downstairs living room, so I'm really pleased to have a chamber that looks nice and goes well with the room...


Sorry if the pics are poor quality. I hope this helps give you additional ideas to think about.

 

[jeffjeff]

I use tile and grout on the floor and walls of my enclosures. It seems to be working. My husband uses some kind of sealer on it, i think.
I had to vent one of my enclosures a bit bcz it was getting too warm. I regret it now though. Should have lowered the wattage of the lamps instead.
Good luck with your Star. They are my someday dream tortoises.

never thought about tiles. i like that idea, i have a few red mosaic ones left from doing the bath room to they wood look very posh mixed in with the white. do you think it would matter if they where the shinny type? as i have a few already. or would the reflect too much light?
we cant wait to get it. their not very common over here so i figured why not have some thing different.

 

[jeffjeff]

I have used exterior polyurethane on some of the wood that I have inside my chamber for hides etc- no problems so far. I also have outside primer and white paint on the interior lid and outside of my chamber--no problems with this yet either. Crossing fingers!

This winter, we put in some of those fake vinyl kitchen tiles that just stick on in squares. They're so easy to work with and look FABULOUS, but you MUST glue additional adhesive on the sticky backing. We used liquid nails on the back of them and even tacked in a couple finishing nails just to make sure the humidity and heat doesn't make vinyl un-stick and slide off or pop out in time. There were a couple spots where we weren't so diligent and had to go back and fix later. Mending the mistakes was incredibly easy and painless.

Here's a photo of my husband when he was putting in the vinyl tiles...
View attachment 121849

I need to remember to take some better photos of the entire inside of my enclosure, but here is one of our sulcata enjoying some greens...
View attachment 121850
Like I said...we did have to go back and stick some additional liquid nails on the tiles we neglected during the first install, but the end results were nice. You can barely make out the seems and it was so quick and easy.

Here's the outside. We used some left over closet doors and wainscoting from other projects. It's in my downstairs living room, so I'm really pleased to have a chamber that looks nice and goes well with the room...
View attachment 121851

Sorry if the pics are poor quality. I hope this helps give you additional ideas to think about.

that looks amazing not too far from what i was thinking

 

[Prairie Mom]

that looks amazing not too far from what i was thinking

I'm glad you like it. I had similar thoughts as you shared when we planned our closed chamber, so I wanted to show pics of what I settled on Being able to put something "plastic-like" up made the job so much quicker, painless, and we're not having any mold issues. Since, it's basically kitchen or bathroom flooring, it can handle the moisture as long as you're dutiful with the extra glue and the vinyl tiles don't come down. We just painted the ceiling and don't have any issues with the exterior paint so far.

 

[Jodie]

never thought about tiles. i like that idea, i have a few red mosaic ones left from doing the bath room to they wood look very posh mixed in with the white. do you think it would matter if they where the shinny type? as i have a few already. or would the reflect too much light?
we cant wait to get it. their not very common over here so i figured why not have some thing different.

They are covered with substrate mostly so it shouldn't matter. I use ones with texture just for traction was my thought, but covered in substrate it didn't matter. We did not use additional sticky stuff except on the walls. The grout and sealant has held all of mine down really well.

 

[jeffjeff]

i do like the idea of vinyl nice and quick and minimal mess and i'm sure i seen them on sale which is always good.

 

[Prairie Mom]

i do like the idea of vinyl nice and quick and minimal mess and i'm sure i seen them on sale which is always good.

I talked with my husband about it, since he was the sweetheart who did the install... He said that when he went back to mend the ones that didn't stick properly the first time, one came off even though he DID put liquid nails on it. The vinyl tiles that were very close to the heat emitters could be problematic and loosen, so he used his nail gun and tacked those tiles in with teeny tiny finishing nails, just to make sure they stay in place. It only took a minute and we haven't had any issues since.

We don't have any coming loose now and all is well. I like them a lot. It wasn't a ton of money because you don't have to buy many of them, so I spoiled myself and went with my first -more expensive-choice. My husband says, if he were to do it all over again, he would use "liquid nails" glue AND tack all of them up with finishing nails from the beginning, just to be sure nothing comes loose in the future. We recommend them, especially for people who were in a hurry like us. They're probably the quickest wait time before your tortoise can go in and enjoy the enclosure.

 

[Anoktear]

Here's the outside. We used some left over closet doors and wainscoting from other projects. It's in my downstairs living room, so I'm really pleased to have a chamber that looks nice and goes well with the room...
View attachment 121851
Sorry if the pics are poor quality. I hope this helps give you additional ideas to think about.

Hi Prairie Mom,
Congratulations on your beautiful enclosure.

I see that there is some formation of water drops on the glass. Is it because of air humidity?
Do you have ventilation? Or do tortoises even need ventilation?
Also, are you using glass or acrylic?

I'm gathering information to build my very first enclosure
Thank you

 

[Prairie Mom]

Hi Prairie Mom,
Congratulations on your beautiful enclosure.

I see that there is some formation of water drops on the glass. Is it because of air humidity?
Do you have ventilation? Or do tortoises even need ventilation?
Also, are you using glass or acrylic?

I'm gathering information to build my very first enclosure
Thank you

Hello Anoktear. Thank you

Yes, you are seeing lots of water vapor accumulating on the "glass." I keep a young sulcata which have high humidity requirements. My humidity is usually around 85%. I am using plexiglass for the front window. Some members have had issues with the plexiglass warping with the heat and humidity. I believe mine has warped a bit, but it isn't an issue for me because my enclosure opens from the TOP, so I don't have to worry about any sliding doors etc. Most people find it is far more convenient to have a front opening enclosure. -I intentionally made my enclosure difficult to open, because I have lots of young children at home and want to restrict their access.

As for ventilation...we worked hard to insulate our chamber and make it retain the heat and humidity, but it is not perfectly "air-tight." There are gaps around the lid that I could seal a bit better, but am happy with the climate inside, so I don't plan on making any changes right now. Also, the lid gets opened several times a day..."soaks, water changes, feeding 2X, trips to the backyard, etc so I truly don't believe that for my kind of tortoise, I need to add ventilation. It does get aired out several times a day.

When I built my enclosure, I followed the guidelines for sulcatas mentioned in this thread about closed chambers... http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/closed-chambers.32333/ -This thread was started by a forum member here named "Tom" who is very experienced and knowledgeable. I hope this helps! Good luck with your project!