So far my red foots are loving their sunroom

[jeannettep]

I know there's probably a difference of opinion on what I've done for our torts. But keep in mind I work from home, so they have lots of supervision. This includes webcams. We live in the south, so it's just a little cold for them. I wanted to make sure their plants make it so I got a greenhouse. This thing is much bigger than I thought! I keep a saucer of water in it & it is accessible for them at the bottom, if they slip out & go exploring. Then they seemed to want to come outside a little but it was 50. So I thought about a short greenhouse attached to their warm house. I got one that zips at the bottom, so it's not completely closed. Where the greenhouse attaches, there is a gap on each side so it gets air circulation. I also got a coop heating pad & hung it on the wall of their house. The plants are starting to take off. They are loving this idea. They came out for a soak, lunch, exercise, a nap, then went back in their warm house. Yep they are pampered. One of their soaking spots is complete with a reptile water heater.

 

[Relic]

You know the rules...pictures or it didn't happen ;-)

 

[Yvonne G]

Sounds pretty nice, but I have to second Relic's opinion!

 

[jeannettep]

Lol! It's an ugly mess in progress!

Step 1 termites invaded the tort habitat 4ftx8ft, heated spa with waterfall filter. So yeah hadn't ripped it out yet so that end of their habitat is not done.

Step 2 layed out the new area added approx 21ftx10ft. Got a sale on some plants right before a cold snap. They were so helpful with my printed list of all the acceptable plants, since I just know vegie plants.

Step 3 oh brilliant I dont want to lose my new plants. Let's get a greenhouse like I just bought for the plants on the driveway, too lazy to drag them inside on the rare occasion its needed & they work great with a coop heater. My husband has showed me the importance of understanding watts on each item & on the total breaker & what happens when you overload it with a 10 watt aquarium water pump in the aviary... so the heater is warm, you can touch it, no burn, low watts, etc. So bought a greenhouse I could walk in. That was a pain to put together & I couldnt figure out how to use the tie down ropes, but zip ties help. I'm still working on plants & growing tort grass.

Step 4 Tom was right I would have preferred to make a larger warming house now that it's altogether. But it's ok for now. I'll add another section later. But this adds another 2ftx4ft area.

Step 5 I found these neat metal spikes that keep animals from digging under your fence. Spacing is 2 inches & its 10 inches deep. Perfect to put around to keep them from digging under the fence. Paranoid they might climb over, I had some scrap boards that I used under my sons bed so they would stop putting trash under their bed, now they are in college so these worked perfect for an overhang & I can sit & enjoy the work, rather decide on more work to do.

Step 6 the greenhouse stayed warm, but all this insulation, radiant barrier is not keeping their house warm enough. So this is where i got the idea for them to have a small greenhouse & I had another coop heater leftover. It arrived not being the breathable type I wanted but there is cross ventilation. I plan to look for a different one & use this as a tunnel to go to the larger greenhouse. But the concept works so far. But they can get out of it, which is ok. I probably should have taken time to spray paint the bottom so they couldnt see out. I'm impatient so I used cypress mulch around the outside, bad idea, they want it. So I'm adding more mulch inside today & in the warming house. Tort the investigator, found the way out & went back in, never left since.

Step 7 it's still too cold from what I read on here. It was 31 & very windy outside & 70 in the warming house. Which temporary might be ok, but it was going to be a week. Then it will go back to 70s outside... so I found these neat covers at amazon that work great on the aviary, shiny inside during winter, shiny outside in summer, they arent suppose to be flammable or anything. So I used the anchors for the big greenhouse to anchor this blanket to the ground, using my usual go to thing of zip ties. Bingo! Warm house 82 degrees. Torts drink out of the terra cotta dishes so I haven't put the larger one in their sunroom & put the smaller, but taller water container in the warm house & move these dishes out. I prefer the water container because I put a big car wash sponge in it to make sure it evaporates faster making sure there's plenty of humidity, but it's usually 70-100% humidity outside anyways, but heat equals loss of humidity. Many of the posts here talk about humidity. So input about my back and forth issues here!

Step 8 although I like the cleanliness of reptile mats, they seem to prefer deeper stuff in their warming house, so I guess I'll be changing this.

I loath the ugliness of how the edges look using this foundation foam boards around the outside & top. I tried to paint them but it dissolves the foam, so I'm thinking to at least glue camo or color duck tape to the edges so it might look a little better.

I'm still working with how I want the water hose, but I'll put small slits in it where I want water to spray or seep.

My in laws have lots of plants so I can get free tort acceptable plants to add to this huge greenhouse.

So far I had to buy the stuff for the warming house, but I did have the thermal regulator thing, yes it had the right wattage. I had to buy the greenhouses, cinderblocks, plants & the no dig spike panels. We spray a lot of stuff with kennel spray which makes things last longer & easier to clean.

 

[Yvonne G]

Those darned termites! I had that problem too with my sulcata shelter.

Your set up, even with all the destruction/construction, looks like RF paradise!

 

[jeannettep]

Those darned termites! I had that problem too with my sulcata shelter.

Your set up, even with all the destruction/construction, looks like RF paradise!

Thanks to everyone posting on the forum! I couldnt get it to this point without reading this forum.

 

[Relic]

I think you have done quite well...as the old adage goes: adapt, overcome improvise

 

[jeannettep]

I think you have done quite well...as the old adage goes: adapt, overcome improvise

Thanks! We've been working hard on it trying to keep them happy and healthy. To everyone using a radiator to keep their torts warm. Please be careful! I had no idea it would be so easy to start a fire with something else that pulled little wattage that ran 15 min a day on the same breaker.

 

[Blackdog1714]

Thanks! We've been working hard on it trying to keep them happy and healthy. To everyone using a radiator to keep their torts warm. Please be careful! I had no idea it would be so easy to start a fire with something else that pulled little wattage that ran 15 min a day on the same breaker.

It is very important to add the total amps and also the total watts all the pluggy in things we use keep our torts happy. I installed a 12 gauge wire, 20 AMP breaker and 20 amp outlet for my torts.

 

[jeannettep]

It is very important to add the total amps and also the total watts all the pluggy in things we use keep our torts happy. I installed a 12 gauge wire, 20 AMP breaker and 20 amp outlet for my torts.

That's a great idea!