We put weatherstripping on ours
My Best Night Box Design Yet
- Thread starter Tom
- Start date
I fill it daily sometimes every other it depends on outside humidity. I do not use the hose. I had to play around with settings a bit to get it right
Mine is 4x6x3 and it worked for me
So I got a humidifier the other day. With that controller on the way.. stupid amazon.. Did you notice a temperature drop? Or having a harder time keeping temps up? It seems when I have it on during the day, the box is staying around 81 with 70% humidity.. Usually when it was off it stays around 85 or so during the day. We were about 75 yesterday lol (poor cold weather folks). I haven't had it on at night since I'm worried the temps could drop even more.. last night we were about 40 and the box stayed at 83 with about 30%humidity with the humidifier off.
Kaliman1962
Active Member
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2016
- Messages
- 193
i have the humidifier going 12 hours, i have a 4x4 totally enclosed, the humidity is only maybe 40%, but my tank is hotter too, i wonder if i need to soak the substrate too, but the lights dry everything out, any suggestions??
I do wet the substrate once a week or so and mix it up well. I am not having issues during normal weather. This extreme cold is killing me though
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2014
- Messages
- 3
I followed Tom's directions in this post and made this box pictured above. In NE Ohio it's too cold to keep our sulcatas outside all Winter long - they'd be in this box for 3-4 months - but having the box allowed me to keep our guys out until the first week of December instead of late October. I hope to put them outside at the end of his month (March) as long as we get periods of warmer weather in between our typical 30-40 degree temps.
Great plan Tom, thanks a bunch.
kellygirl64
Well-Known Member
It's very awesome. Thanks for sharing it with all of us !!
Emily Oliveira
New Member
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2017
- Messages
- 24
that looks great!
After much thought about what worked and what I wanted to improve over previous attempts, here is the latest version with a step by step pictorial on how I did it. It is time for my 2010 South African herd to move outside. They are moving into a 16x20' completely closed in enclosure. The enclosure is a wooden frame enclosed top to bottom with welded wire. It has a wire roof and the wire extends 18" down into the ground. The actual night box is 4x8x2'. I found a mini oil-filled heater to heat it with. The heater is on a thermostat and will be set to 80 for about half of the year and 70 over the warmer months.
Here is the lid. You can see the insulation in place.
Here is the plywood cover going over the insulation in the lid. The lid fits on top of the box and is hinged. There will be weatherstripping all around the top and the lip on the lid keeps the rain out of the box. You can see a finished lid for a second box in the background.
Here is the bottom. Notice the door notch and how that will fit in later.
Insulation in the bottom. All the insulation is 1.5" thick and has the shiny mylar foil side pointing to the outside. Don't know if that matters much, but thats how I did it.
Insulation on the floor all covered up.
Here the front and back are attached. Notice the door taking shape. Since 9 animals will initially share this, and as they get older they will get bigger, I went kinda big with the door at 26x16". This way one of them won't be able to sit in the doorway and block all the others in or out, and later, when they reach adult size, they will easily fit in and out of this door.
Another view of the front with the sides going up.
Here the side wall insulation is in place and about to be covered up. This box is also double caulked to keep out any cold drafts on those below freezing winter nights. The only air movement will be from the door, or when I open the lid.
All buttoned up.
Here goes the front insulation.
The front insulation is all covered up here. The 2x4 blocks there will support a 2x10" water tub holding shelf. Having containers of water inside will keep the humidity up in the night box, and act as a bit of a heat sink. This technique has been working very well in my underground sulcata night box.
Here's a top view showing the area where the heater will live, the weather stripping in place, the door flaps, and the 2x4 in the back that the lid hinges attach to.
Here is the front with paint and door flaps and water shelves in place.
Here is the door. I will carve out the dirt where the door/ramp hits the ground so it sits flush. One "weak" spot of previous designs was the simple plywood door. I went to great time and trouble to super insulate my night boxes, but then just used thin plywood to cover the door holes. This time the door shares the same 1.5" insulation as the rest of the box. Door open:
Door Closed:
Here you can see the heater installed, the metal heat shield above it, the water tubs for humidity on the shelves, and my purple shoe box that holds all my electrical stuff.
Here are some of the babies enjoying their bermuda grass bedding.
Here is a wide view showing some of the enclosure. The empty wooden box in the lower right foreground of the pic is their 4x8' shade table/planter box. I will be filling it and planting leopard tortoise food in their in the next few days.
One more view of the same thing from the other side.
Well that's it. Tell me what you think.
Hey Tom, I hope you don’t mind if I use your pictures to totally plagiarize your night box?[emoji6]My Two are getting their outdoor house built this Summer (somehow... I hope I find some guy (or gal) handy with their tools which I AM NOT) and instead of trying to explain the specifics and trying to stimulate their imagination, I’d just SHOW them how it could be done. With your permission that is. I love your design! And I totally envy your skills. I could only do a decent job with decorating it and plant a tortoise garden around it with native to my area tort friendly plants to make it look natural (or cute). So, with your permission I’d like to use your well illustrated post in building my RF house, please?
No permission needed. I posted it here in the hopes that other people would be able to copy it or use it for inspiration. I also hope people come up with ways to do it even better than what I've been able to figure out so far.
Here is a CAD exploded view that might help your builder:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/h...g-of-toms-night-box-with-exploded-view.97697/
Thank you❣️ Thank you❣️Mmmmmmwwwwwaaaa[emoji182]❣️❣️❣️
After much thought about what worked and what I wanted to improve over previous attempts, here is the latest version with a step by step pictorial on how I did it. It is time for my 2010 South African herd to move outside. They are moving into a 16x20' completely closed in enclosure. The enclosure is a wooden frame enclosed top to bottom with welded wire. It has a wire roof and the wire extends 18" down into the ground. The actual night box is 4x8x2'. I found a mini oil-filled heater to heat it with. The heater is on a thermostat and will be set to 80 for about half of the year and 70 over the warmer months.
Here is the lid. You can see the insulation in place.
Here is the plywood cover going over the insulation in the lid. The lid fits on top of the box and is hinged. There will be weatherstripping all around the top and the lip on the lid keeps the rain out of the box. You can see a finished lid for a second box in the background.
Here is the bottom. Notice the door notch and how that will fit in later.
Insulation in the bottom. All the insulation is 1.5" thick and has the shiny mylar foil side pointing to the outside. Don't know if that matters much, but thats how I did it.
Insulation on the floor all covered up.
Here the front and back are attached. Notice the door taking shape. Since 9 animals will initially share this, and as they get older they will get bigger, I went kinda big with the door at 26x16". This way one of them won't be able to sit in the doorway and block all the others in or out, and later, when they reach adult size, they will easily fit in and out of this door.
Another view of the front with the sides going up.
Here the side wall insulation is in place and about to be covered up. This box is also double caulked to keep out any cold drafts on those below freezing winter nights. The only air movement will be from the door, or when I open the lid.
All buttoned up.
Here goes the front insulation.
The front insulation is all covered up here. The 2x4 blocks there will support a 2x10" water tub holding shelf. Having containers of water inside will keep the humidity up in the night box, and act as a bit of a heat sink. This technique has been working very well in my underground sulcata night box.
Here's a top view showing the area where the heater will live, the weather stripping in place, the door flaps, and the 2x4 in the back that the lid hinges attach to.
Here is the front with paint and door flaps and water shelves in place.
Here is the door. I will carve out the dirt where the door/ramp hits the ground so it sits flush. One "weak" spot of previous designs was the simple plywood door. I went to great time and trouble to super insulate my night boxes, but then just used thin plywood to cover the door holes. This time the door shares the same 1.5" insulation as the rest of the box. Door open:
Door Closed:
Here you can see the heater installed, the metal heat shield above it, the water tubs for humidity on the shelves, and my purple shoe box that holds all my electrical stuff.
Here are some of the babies enjoying their bermuda grass bedding.
Here is a wide view showing some of the enclosure. The empty wooden box in the lower right foreground of the pic is their 4x8' shade table/planter box. I will be filling it and planting leopard tortoise food in their in the next few days.
One more view of the same thing from the other side.
Well that's it. Tell me what you think.
We are about to build this. My husband is worried the insulation will not be good enough if it dips into the 20-30s at night in the winter. We plan on closing the door when that happens. Does your box stay warm enough in those nighttime temps? Our stores around here only have the insulation 1" thick. Do you think that will be good?
My night box is built like this and, with an oil filled radiator, it stays warm when nights are 30°. We don't see any nights in the 20's, but I'm sure it would stay warm if we did. The heater would run more often of course. I close the door every night. It keeps predators out and my tortoise in. I would suggest you ask you hardware store to order the 1-1/2" thick insulation for you. It will really help out on the cold winter nights. If they won't get 1-1/2" insulation for you then use a 1" piece and a 1/2 piece with it to fill the space with insulation.
Its been down to 22 here at night and boxes stayed 80. Most winter night are in the 30s here, and my heaters don't even have to run all that much.
Like Joe I close the door every night on all my boxes, after I make sure everybody is inside the box, of course.
I also agree that you'll need 1.5 inch insulation. I use that and I seal the seems several times as I build to ensure redundancy. The sealing and thick insulation make all the difference in the world.
My local Lowe's was out of 1.5" insulation so I went with 1" of the hard green kingspan insulation and 1/2" of the foam / foil backed kind to fill up the full 1.5 inches. I'm not sure how much less effective this is compared to just using 1.5” insulation
Yes, yes Guys, please keep it going here in this thread! I’m soaking it ALL right in!
Does your box hold the correct temp on a cold night? Seems like it would with your method.
He hasn't actually moved in yet, but this box is also setup for an indoor enclosure, so I was less worried about the possible reduction in insulation. I've done some test runs with the Olympus mini radiator you recommend and it definitely gets nice and toasty in there, and stays that way for awhile. I don't have any doors on it yet either.
My build progress is here: https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php?posts/1594079
Thank you again for all your hard work in perfecting the best night box possible over the years Tom [emoji846]
After much thought about what worked and what I wanted to improve over previous attempts, here is the latest version with a step by step pictorial on how I did it. It is time for my 2010 South African herd to move outside. They are moving into a 16x20' completely closed in enclosure. The enclosure is a wooden frame enclosed top to bottom with welded wire. It has a wire roof and the wire extends 18" down into the ground. The actual night box is 4x8x2'. I found a mini oil-filled heater to heat it with. The heater is on a thermostat and will be set to 80 for about half of the year and 70 over the warmer months.
Here is the lid. You can see the insulation in place.
Here is the plywood cover going over the insulation in the lid. The lid fits on top of the box and is hinged. There will be weatherstripping all around the top and the lip on the lid keeps the rain out of the box. You can see a finished lid for a second box in the background.
Here is the bottom. Notice the door notch and how that will fit in later.
Insulation in the bottom. All the insulation is 1.5" thick and has the shiny mylar foil side pointing to the outside. Don't know if that matters much, but thats how I did it.
Insulation on the floor all covered up.
Here the front and back are attached. Notice the door taking shape. Since 9 animals will initially share this, and as they get older they will get bigger, I went kinda big with the door at 26x16". This way one of them won't be able to sit in the doorway and block all the others in or out, and later, when they reach adult size, they will easily fit in and out of this door.
Another view of the front with the sides going up.
Here the side wall insulation is in place and about to be covered up. This box is also double caulked to keep out any cold drafts on those below freezing winter nights. The only air movement will be from the door, or when I open the lid.
All buttoned up.
Here goes the front insulation.
The front insulation is all covered up here. The 2x4 blocks there will support a 2x10" water tub holding shelf. Having containers of water inside will keep the humidity up in the night box, and act as a bit of a heat sink. This technique has been working very well in my underground sulcata night box.
Here's a top view showing the area where the heater will live, the weather stripping in place, the door flaps, and the 2x4 in the back that the lid hinges attach to.
Here is the front with paint and door flaps and water shelves in place.
Here is the door. I will carve out the dirt where the door/ramp hits the ground so it sits flush. One "weak" spot of previous designs was the simple plywood door. I went to great time and trouble to super insulate my night boxes, but then just used thin plywood to cover the door holes. This time the door shares the same 1.5" insulation as the rest of the box. Door open:
Door Closed:
Here you can see the heater installed, the metal heat shield above it, the water tubs for humidity on the shelves, and my purple shoe box that holds all my electrical stuff.
Here are some of the babies enjoying their bermuda grass bedding.
Here is a wide view showing some of the enclosure. The empty wooden box in the lower right foreground of the pic is their 4x8' shade table/planter box. I will be filling it and planting leopard tortoise food in their in the next few days.
One more view of the same thing from the other side.
Well that's it. Tell me what you think.
After much thought about what worked and what I wanted to improve over previous attempts, here is the latest version with a step by step pictorial on how I did it. It is time for my 2010 South African herd to move outside. They are moving into a 16x20' completely closed in enclosure. The enclosure is a wooden frame enclosed top to bottom with welded wire. It has a wire roof and the wire extends 18" down into the ground. The actual night box is 4x8x2'. I found a mini oil-filled heater to heat it with. The heater is on a thermostat and will be set to 80 for about half of the year and 70 over the warmer months.
Here is the lid. You can see the insulation in place.
Here is the plywood cover going over the insulation in the lid. The lid fits on top of the box and is hinged. There will be weatherstripping all around the top and the lip on the lid keeps the rain out of the box. You can see a finished lid for a second box in the background.
Here is the bottom. Notice the door notch and how that will fit in later.
Insulation in the bottom. All the insulation is 1.5" thick and has the shiny mylar foil side pointing to the outside. Don't know if that matters much, but thats how I did it.
Insulation on the floor all covered up.
Here the front and back are attached. Notice the door taking shape. Since 9 animals will initially share this, and as they get older they will get bigger, I went kinda big with the door at 26x16". This way one of them won't be able to sit in the doorway and block all the others in or out, and later, when they reach adult size, they will easily fit in and out of this door.
Another view of the front with the sides going up.
Here the side wall insulation is in place and about to be covered up. This box is also double caulked to keep out any cold drafts on those below freezing winter nights. The only air movement will be from the door, or when I open the lid.
All buttoned up.
Here goes the front insulation.
The front insulation is all covered up here. The 2x4 blocks there will support a 2x10" water tub holding shelf. Having containers of water inside will keep the humidity up in the night box, and act as a bit of a heat sink. This technique has been working very well in my underground sulcata night box.
Here's a top view showing the area where the heater will live, the weather stripping in place, the door flaps, and the 2x4 in the back that the lid hinges attach to.
Here is the front with paint and door flaps and water shelves in place.
Here is the door. I will carve out the dirt where the door/ramp hits the ground so it sits flush. One "weak" spot of previous designs was the simple plywood door. I went to great time and trouble to super insulate my night boxes, but then just used thin plywood to cover the door holes. This time the door shares the same 1.5" insulation as the rest of the box. Door open:
Door Closed:
Here you can see the heater installed, the metal heat shield above it, the water tubs for humidity on the shelves, and my purple shoe box that holds all my electrical stuff.
Here are some of the babies enjoying their bermuda grass bedding.
Here is a wide view showing some of the enclosure. The empty wooden box in the lower right foreground of the pic is their 4x8' shade table/planter box. I will be filling it and planting leopard tortoise food in their in the next few days.
One more view of the same thing from the other side.
Well that's it. Tell me what you think.
Omg! Literally have found this so helpful!
