tort rm floor?

[lismar79]

I was going to make my tort rm in the basement but have since decided that it will now be in my 16x16 family room we never use. Lots of natural light for plants. It is also going to be closed off with doors so I can heat it & humidify it where I want. Best part is it has a deck right off it that is attached to my future tort yard enclosure. Sully, harper, will be able to have a 10x 16 section in this room & I can let her out from there when she gets big.

Question is: what do I use for flooring? Has carpet now but that has to go & I want something easy to clean but needs traction for tort feet. Harpers area will be raised up & have a base for coir but when I let her out, it would be nice if she can walk on it. She's only 8 months now but I'm thinking ahead

 

[Maggie Cummings]

My Sulcata has a plywood floor. Easy enough to clean and I don't mind it wrecked with big Sulcata poop and pee.

 

[lismar79]

My Sulcata has a plywood floor. Easy enough to clean and I don't mind it wrecked with big Sulcata poop and pee.

Thanks, that's a great idea & cheap too which is a bonus.

 

[mike taylor]

Sulcatas inside your house is not a good idea . The shed I have has a wooden floor and it holds the smell . Sulcatas poop like a big dog . It smells like a horse barn . The best thing to do is make him a tortoise shed . Tom has a really cheap and easy shed to build . But to each their own . You do what you want . I warned you .

 

[lismar79]

Thanks Mike. I have a 12x10 barn for her already as long long term plan. Just want to make sure she is pretty large by the time we get to that plan or the punks across the street move & I will worry less Hoping it gets me through until shes 20-30 lbs & I plan to keep her outside most of the day when she's ready, she's less than a yr now. The room is about to be completely closed off from rest of the house with an insulated door so smell should not be an issue......hopefully......

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I don't think it smells like a horse barn, I think it smells like an elephant barn. More wild then horse.
A yearling Sulcata should not smell at all. And I think that one that small needs substrate, not plywood. This is Bob's shed. It's heated and well insulated and stays an even 80 degrees even in the winter. The floor and ceiling are insulated as well. It's 20'x12'. I think you should just build a tort table and that would last a yearling several years. I have several, the one that I like the best is 31" wide and 5' long. I have one in Bob's shed with Queenie the Hermanni in it and it's 7' long by 3' wide.That way the heat and light are contained better. I put the animals that live in the tort table outside in safe pens every time the sun shines here.. You might consider something like that instead of trying to turn your family room into something for a small Sulcata...just my opinion...

'

 

[ascott]

Also, I would wonder if the entire room filled with substrate would be a huge amount of springtails hopping in your house....on a table top that is one thing...but an entire room generating these little buggers could creep the humans out...and if there are vents in the room then the smell will move through the house....I wonder if you use like a tortoise table type set up and then set that on the floor with a ramp...you could also sink some heating cable down into the soil and then offer that area as the warm/humid/basking area by placing a basking light for day that includes uva/uvb and then at night you can have a night heat source to attract the tort to the substrate filled area but will also help to avoid the entire room needing to be changed out of the substrate....you can pull the carpet up and the padding up and use the concrete flooring on the remainder of the room....this will make it more efficient to keep the room in a healthier sanitary condition....just my two cents

 

[lismar79]

I prob did not explain well I do plan on making an enclosed tort table in that room for her. She's in a 6x3 now. I am sectioning off a 16x10 or 8....area, got big heavy duty plastic palets to raise off the floor, then will cover those with wood and plastic tarp to hold subtrate. Just trying to figure out a good floor to use for the rest of the room. I have a rt that will get harpers old 6x3 that needs to fit in there & plants & trays of grass in the winter.

 

[lisa127]

What about foam flooring? I put foam tiles in my basement on the floor and I love them. They are very insulating and would have great traction as well. I believe you can buy it in rolls rather than tiles as well, which would be better.

 

[Yvonne G]

Years ago a new member joined the Forum (I think it was Kristina) and she had rescued two fairly large sulcatas. They came with a box to keep them in. The box was too small for the two tortoises, but it would be ideal for your little guy in a tortoise room. The Forum doesn't allow access to posts from way back when, so I couldn't find a picture of it for you, but a big wooden box. You could sit in on the floor, or up on milk crates or whatever. Make the sides high enough so that you can add several inches of substrate. And who cares if the wood gets wet from the substrate. Its disposable because the tortoise will outgrow it.

 

[jaizei]

It was before my time so I'm not sure but this may be what Yvonne is referencing:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/my-sulcata-enclosure.5802/

 

[lismar79]

Thanks, that would do it & is close to what we were planning for Harpers area. I have changed the "plan" so many times, lord know what we will end up with lol but it will be big!

 

[jaizei]

This thread might have some better pictures.

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/ella-and-gwen-got-a-new-den.6270/

 

[Yvonne G]

YES!!! That's the box I was talking about. Leave it to Cameron (Jaizei) to find it for us. He's a wonder at the search and find feature. Kristina used hay as substrate because this was before we learned about moistened substrate. So instead of hay, you should use some sort of substrate that you can moisten.

 

[lismar79]

Yes, plan on using orchid bark & coir for the enclosure. The box is the easy part thanks to the handy hubby, its the rest of the room I am trying to plan out. Mine will be pretty close to that one though, thanks!

Thinking I will do that foam flooring over top of laminate for the rest of the room, that would be easy to clean up. Thanks @lisa127.

 

[lisa127]

You're welcome. I like it because no matter how cold the basement is, the floor is always warm!