It's wonderful! I do have just one tiny question... when can I bring my truck to Omaha to pick up mine? 
Tortarium
- Thread starter Madkins007
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After I pick up mine!
Some new pics- I've added the cover, rigged up a support for lighting, tweaked the plantings, etc.
You can see the new photos at the same link as earlier- http://www.flickr.com/photos/madkins007/sets/72157624738958833/
I had planned on the lids since the beginning. They are 3 pieces of Lexan, with the edges bent to fit over the existing sides as invisibly and strongly as possible.
As usual, when you make a change, the little guys are all over it- checking everything out, etc. I am quite happy with it- although the condensation makes it hard to see every corner.
The only downside so far- I seem to have picked up ants- little, fast moving ants.
Making them for others? It was not hard, and not massively expensive, but the sheer size makes it hard to have enough room to do it and to move it much. (It is light enough, just not real strong that way.)
You can see the new photos at the same link as earlier- http://www.flickr.com/photos/madkins007/sets/72157624738958833/
I had planned on the lids since the beginning. They are 3 pieces of Lexan, with the edges bent to fit over the existing sides as invisibly and strongly as possible.
As usual, when you make a change, the little guys are all over it- checking everything out, etc. I am quite happy with it- although the condensation makes it hard to see every corner.
The only downside so far- I seem to have picked up ants- little, fast moving ants.
Making them for others? It was not hard, and not massively expensive, but the sheer size makes it hard to have enough room to do it and to move it much. (It is light enough, just not real strong that way.)
Looking good, Madkins!
this is awesome. the hermit crab thing is really cool, and i've been wanting a hermit crab too. so if i got one and put it in the same enclosure with my redfoot, would i have to provide it with care? or would it beable to survive on its own?
heyprettyrave said:
1. Make sure it cannot climb out.
2. Make sure it has its own hiding places, or places it can go to get away from the tortoises (mine often climb into the plant pots)
3. I think it is important that there be plenty of space overall so the torts and crabs are not all forced too closely together.
4. Otherwise- I don't do anything special for them!
In fact, when the old herd went outside, I had hermit crabs in the indoor habitat, and just plain forgot about them. After a few months of no food, no water, no moisture, no nothing, I was tearing out the old habitat and found the three of the crabs alive and well skittering in the pile of trash I was making!
awesome because ive wanted one, do you think it could climb out via plant?
Madkins007 said:
You forgot to feed/water your hermit crabs? How many did you start out with, with only 3 survivers?
i was actually wondering about this, do i need to feed the crab its own food?
Terry Allen- I started with three, all three survived- and are still doing great! (Well, 2 are, 1 escaped a couple weeks ago and we have not found it! It may have been buried in the pot of a plant we took out of the habitat.)
Rave- they eat mostly what the torts leave, and the tort droppings. I have a jar of Hermit Crab food, but the torts seem more interested in it than the crabs are.
Also, yes, they can escape by climbing a plant- as long as the plant holds their weight. They are really, really good at getting out if they have a chance.
Rave- they eat mostly what the torts leave, and the tort droppings. I have a jar of Hermit Crab food, but the torts seem more interested in it than the crabs are.
Also, yes, they can escape by climbing a plant- as long as the plant holds their weight. They are really, really good at getting out if they have a chance.
NOVEMBER UPDATE
Lighting and heat-
- Now have a UVB-MVB bulb on a 6 hour timer for spot heat and UVB
- Plain cool-white compact fluorescent on a 13 hour timer for overall light with a blue tint to balance the yellow-red of the MVB.
- Small CHE that is mostly unplugged even though temps in the room get to the low 60's often
- Undersoil cables still working great!
Hides-
- I just built a hide the width of the Tortarium (20") from chunks of cork bark I pinned and glued together with a goal of replicating a hollow log. The space under it has a lining of cypress and some damp sphagnum stuffed inside. The humidity of the habitat is now helping keep the moss lightly damp.
- All of my live frog moss is on top of the 'log' to help keep it moist underneath.
- Part of the space under the 'log' does not have heating cables underneath, so is a bit cooler for better thermoregulation
- Coming off the log along the back wall is a long mound of cypress that I've hollowed out, stuffed lightly with moss, and covered with bark to make a simulated burrow. There is a half-log opening, but almost everyone makes their own holes and access points.
- Similar hides are in two other corners as well, even though most of the time they are in the log lately.
Plants & Critters:
- Lace fern died, probably from too much water. (I had some frog moss in the pot and probably overwatered the fern keeping the moss green.
- One of the hermit crabs was missing, found in a deep pile of cypress and thought it was dead- shell looked empty. Set it to a side in the habitat, and dang if it is not walking around a few hours later.
- Small ants are gone, but occasionally see one really big ant.
I'm pretty happy with the way things are going in there! It is not as pretty as Terry O's place, but it is a dang site better than I used to provide young'uns. About the only big change coming will be making a rolling table for it so I can park it in a warmer room for the winter, or outside for easier cleaning.
Lighting and heat-
- Now have a UVB-MVB bulb on a 6 hour timer for spot heat and UVB
- Plain cool-white compact fluorescent on a 13 hour timer for overall light with a blue tint to balance the yellow-red of the MVB.
- Small CHE that is mostly unplugged even though temps in the room get to the low 60's often
- Undersoil cables still working great!
Hides-
- I just built a hide the width of the Tortarium (20") from chunks of cork bark I pinned and glued together with a goal of replicating a hollow log. The space under it has a lining of cypress and some damp sphagnum stuffed inside. The humidity of the habitat is now helping keep the moss lightly damp.
- All of my live frog moss is on top of the 'log' to help keep it moist underneath.
- Part of the space under the 'log' does not have heating cables underneath, so is a bit cooler for better thermoregulation
- Coming off the log along the back wall is a long mound of cypress that I've hollowed out, stuffed lightly with moss, and covered with bark to make a simulated burrow. There is a half-log opening, but almost everyone makes their own holes and access points.
- Similar hides are in two other corners as well, even though most of the time they are in the log lately.
Plants & Critters:
- Lace fern died, probably from too much water. (I had some frog moss in the pot and probably overwatered the fern keeping the moss green.
- One of the hermit crabs was missing, found in a deep pile of cypress and thought it was dead- shell looked empty. Set it to a side in the habitat, and dang if it is not walking around a few hours later.
- Small ants are gone, but occasionally see one really big ant.
I'm pretty happy with the way things are going in there! It is not as pretty as Terry O's place, but it is a dang site better than I used to provide young'uns. About the only big change coming will be making a rolling table for it so I can park it in a warmer room for the winter, or outside for easier cleaning.
What a great thread. The tortarium looks amazing! I wish you'd taken pictures of how you made it. Very nice.
I'm glad to hear the cables are working so well. It sounds like that's providing much of the heat they need.
I'm glad to hear the cables are working so well. It sounds like that's providing much of the heat they need.
Madkins007 said:
Thanks to whoever did this!!!!
PeanutbuttER said:
There is a photo of the basic tank sitting on my work bench in the collection. I took some photos during assembly but I really did not feel they added much- it really is nothing more than a slab of MDF board for the base, 2 end pieces of thicker Lexan plastic (although before I found the Lexan, they were going to be more MDF), and two big sheets of thin Lexan fom Home Depot for the front and back. I screwed all the plastic to the MDF base, and then screwed and glued the front and back pieces to the sides.
I laid a piece of plastic sheet material on the bottom and silicone caulked all the seams.
In the photo, the heating cable is taped to the plastic base. That has been changed to using a wire mesh piece to hold the cables instead.
The lids are three pieces that I used a heat gun to bend two sides down on to fit over the top, and I cut two big half-circles out of each for the heating lamps.
The lighting frame is 3 pieces of L-shaped aluminum stock that I bolted to the sides and at the top corners, then drilled holes for S-hooks to hang the lamps from.
I made most of it up as I went, measuring and cutting to fit. A carpenter would laugh at the slight mis-fits I have in several places, but it looks good, and is lightweight enough I can empty and move it by myself. (All the water in the substrate is probably the heaviest thing of all.)
If you want, I can try to write up a more step-by-step process- I was thinking about trying to make it an Instructable.com project for a bit there.
I would love a more step-by-step process cause this looks so great. I will be building a new enclosure for my hatchling here in not too soon (she's getting bigger!!!) and this looks like it would work great.
May I ask why you chose to use Lexan? I'm not super familiar with it. Is it any different from say plexiglass? Are there any benefits from it compared to actual glass?
Thanks!
May I ask why you chose to use Lexan? I'm not super familiar with it. Is it any different from say plexiglass? Are there any benefits from it compared to actual glass?
Thanks!
PeanutbuttER said:
Polycarbonate (Lexan is a brand name) works a lot like hardboard or something- you can cut it, drill it, shape it, sand it, etc. whereas acrylic is so much more brittle. Lexan scratches more easily than acrylic but it is remarkably tough- almost unbreakable in some formulations.
It is a lot lighter than glass, and, of course, a lot tougher.
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