Sulcata Night Box And Great Way To Monitor Temp & Humidity

Big Charlie

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queen koopa

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Oh wow! That’s great!!! I wanna sleepin there! Cutest little heater ! Also Taking your idea making the little barrier so the heat source can be closer to the torts. THANKS!
 

tortlover73

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Wow, after two months I finally completed my Sulcata's outside night box. Moved him outside Friday (5/25/2018) night. Very much the same design as Tom's (Kudos to Tom, Thank You Tom!!!) also wanted to Thank Big Charlie for the info on the radiant heat panel and the Kane heat mat!!! This thing is a BEAST to move (8' X 4' X 44")!!! Another item that I found on line and added to my night box is called a Temp Stick. It's a WiFi temperature & Humidity sensor that you set high and low alarm points for both temp & humidity and if it goes into alarm it will send you a text, e-mail or both. It has an app that you download to your phone/tablet so you can check on current temp/humidity, provides historical data log, monitors battery life of the unit and sends alerts to multiple phones/e-mails!!! For those that want to monitor or get a little worried about the temp and humidity inside the box at night this is a great tool (only had it a week but love it), check it out at IdealSciences.com.
The box sits on my covered patio with two ceiling fans and a sun shade on the west side.
Anything I need to add/delete?? I have one question, I know the box should be at least 80 degrees but is there a temp that is too hot?

Floor, ready for insulation.View attachment 240048

Framed Out, Tito already checking it out!!View attachment 240050

Walls up and ready for insulation
View attachment 240051

Insulated and wire run for power
View attachment 240052

Getting Close to completion
View attachment 240054

Door with strip curtainView attachment 240060

Tito Love It!!! You can see the Temp Stick on the end of the shelf next to the plastic box.

View attachment 240061 View attachment 240062
Basking lamp and fan
View attachment 240065
Done at last!!!
View attachment 240066

Two quick questions from your pictures
1. Do you have the Kane mat at the same level as your substrate? Can’t tell if it it elevated but it is definitely clean and I don’t see any substrate on the mat.

2. Where did you get the strips for the door. I like the clear view :).

Thanks!
 

Johnkoch

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Two quick questions from your pictures
1. Do you have the Kane mat at the same level as your substrate? Can’t tell if it it elevated but it is definitely clean and I don’t see any substrate on the mat.

2. Where did you get the strips for the door. I like the clear view :).

Thanks!
1. No, the Kane mat sits on a platform that I made out of 2 X 4's and a 1/2" plywood. So the Kane mat sits up off the substrate by 4" (3 1/2", 2X4 and 1/2" plywood). The mat looks clean in the picture but he has a bad habit of pooping and peeing on it everyday, even though he has access to the outside, lol.

2. The strips came from an online vendor, strip-curtains.com
 

tortlover73

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How big is your tort? Just wondering because I’m building the platform for the Kane Mat but I’m not sure if mine can go up 4 inches... she is 9 inches long...
 

Johnkoch

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How big is your tort? Just wondering because I’m building the platform for the Kane Mat but I’m not sure if mine can go up 4 inches... she is 9 inches long...
He's around 30 pounds. You might build a ramp until she is big enough, ramp would need to be the full lengh of the platform so she does not fall off and get hurt or flip on her back. Since she is so small you could us a 1" X 2", lay the 1" X 2" on the 1" side (which I believe is 3/4") and lay the 1/2" plywood on that for a total of 1 1/4". Then when she gets bigger you could change out the 1 X 2 with a 2 X 4 ?
 

tortlover73

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The sixth picture shows the door with the flaps installed. Do you want a specific angle or a picture from the inside? I bought the vinyl doors from a company call strip curtain https://www.strip-curtains.com/
If you go to the website you will see a box that says "Custom design your own strip door" it will ask you a few questions and bam you're ready to order. I got the 8 inch strips and cut them in half (4 inch strips). If I remember correctly they have a minimum order of $49 and my order came to about $30 so what I did was ordered extra replacement strips (enough to total $49). I kind of pushed his head through the first time (gently of course) but once he got the hang of it there was no stopping him. You know they are like bull dozers, they push thru anything LOL. If you decide to go this route and have any ordering questions please ask.
Kane states that hay or any bedding material should not get on the mat so I put the mat up higher than the main floor, built up the floor where the mat is with 2 X 4's, so the 2 X 4's raise it 3 1/2 inches and have a piece of 1/2 inch plywood on top then the thickness of the mat. So far no hay has got on the mat (well maybe a couple small pieces now and then but nothing significant). Hope this helps!! If you have anymore questions please let me know.
I’m about to order my door flaps from that website. What overlap did you get??
 

Johnkoch

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I’m about to order my door flaps from that website. What overlap did you get??
I ordered the partial overlap because I was not sure he would be able to push thru with the full overlap. FYI, once in a while the flaps stick together due to humidity so I think the partial is the better choice. Just my opinion!!
 

Nash

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Thank you for your comments!! The shocks I used are Suspa 26" gas spring shocks (100 lbs per strut, 200 lbs for the pair), bought them from Amazon for $48.50 for the pair. I originally bought the 20" model and they bottomed out before the lid was closed so I had to upgrade to the 26" model. Here is the link to Amazon for the 26" model: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BE5JBQE/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20
Yeah, I definitely needed the shocks that lid is heavy.

Hello Johnkoch, thank you for the Suspa spring shock idea. I made Tom's 4x4 box to the "t". I purchased two of Suspa 26" gas springs shocks (100 lb. per strut, 200 lbs for the pair) and bought them from Amazon. I loved them but found that these are too powerful for the 4x4 night box. I mounted them in the same place as I see yours are. As I closed the lid, about 1/2 way down it gave me all the weight; going up I had all the weight to a certain point then the springs took it, then on top of that, the springs were trying to push my lid off it's hinges once it was down. Good thing the lid had a lip. I ended up calling the Suspa Engineer and talking to him. What was I doing wrong?! He was VERY generous with his time. I sent him pictures and measurements and weights of the lid. He put together the correct location where the springs need to be mounted for best mechanical use as well as the best springs to purchase for the 4x4 lid's weight. I asked him if it was because the springs were too powerful. He said that might have something to do with the lid pushing once it is down (I was afraid eventually through time the 26" springs would push a hole through the plywood), but that he felt that your springs weren't mounted in the best location for optimal use. I thought I'd share my findings, I hope you don't mind. The Suspa springs are amazing and thank you for putting us on to them. I asked him if I could recommend him to our forum. If anyone is interested for their Tom's 4x4 and 4x8 night boxes, Suspa's contact information is: 616-241-4200, ask for an application engineer or for Chadwick. He emailed me diagrams that explained everything perfectly.
 

Johnkoch

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Thank You Nash for the information!!! It's been 2 years and I have not had any problems with the shocks, in fact they have worked great!! But there is a better way to mount the shocks I am very interested in that.
Thanks Again,
John
 

Connie Jo

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vanessaordiales

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Wow, after two months I finally completed my Sulcata's outside night box. Moved him outside Friday (5/25/2018) night. Very much the same design as Tom's (Kudos to Tom, Thank You Tom!!!) also wanted to Thank Big Charlie for the info on the radiant heat panel and the Kane heat mat!!! This thing is a BEAST to move (8' X 4' X 44")!!! Another item that I found on line and added to my night box is called a Temp Stick. It's a WiFi temperature & Humidity sensor that you set high and low alarm points for both temp & humidity and if it goes into alarm it will send you a text, e-mail or both. It has an app that you download to your phone/tablet so you can check on current temp/humidity, provides historical data log, monitors battery life of the unit and sends alerts to multiple phones/e-mails!!! For those that want to monitor or get a little worried about the temp and humidity inside the box at night this is a great tool (only had it a week but love it), check it out at IdealSciences.com.
The box sits on my covered patio with two ceiling fans and a sun shade on the west side.
Anything I need to add/delete?? I have one question, I know the box should be at least 80 degrees but is there a temp that is too hot?

Floor, ready for insulation.View attachment 240048

Framed Out, Tito already checking it out!!View attachment 240050

Walls up and ready for insulation
View attachment 240051

Insulated and wire run for power
View attachment 240052

Getting Close to completion
View attachment 240054

Door with strip curtainView attachment 240060

Tito Love It!!! You can see the Temp Stick on the end of the shelf next to the plastic box.

View attachment 240061 View attachment 240062
Basking lamp and fan
View attachment 240065
Done at last!!!
View attachment 240066
This looks amazing!!!! How do you keep the hay separate from the heat mat? A little hard to see but is it on a different level?
 

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