This is my latest project. It was inspired by some of the really cool caves and shelters I saw here on the forum, but mostly I got the idea from Tyler. I've always wanted my sulcatas to be able to be underground, somehow, but I don't want them to just start digging willy-nilly all over the place and get stuck in a collapsed or flooded tunnel. This is Daisy's pen and it was sort of a small scale experiment. I intend to add a heat mat when fall gets here and watch the over night temps, without her in it. If I like how it goes, I intend to do something similar on a large scale for the adults."Underground" chamber dimensions are 2x3' and I filled it with 3-4" of peat moss and coco chips.
Start of construction.
Top, before insulation.
Coming together now.
Starting to dig... not fun in 114 degree weather, in direct sun, in rocky, rooty, hardpacked soil.
Checking the fit.
Adding the tunnel.
This piece is sort of a rain cover. Its around 20" of ground covered and sloped away from the tunnel entrance. Unless water starts flowing uphill, it can't flood the underground chamber from here.
The interior of the chamber showing peat and coco chips, as well as temp/humidity probe and Daisy.
Finished and buried. She's in there in this pic.
The end result. The bottom two numbers are current temp and humidity where ever the unit sits. In this case in the shade near the pen. The upper numbers are temp and humidity where the probe sits, in the underground chamber, and the high and low for the last 24 hours. The probe wasn't in there when that high and low were recorded. It basically stayed 80-81 all day down there and 84% humidity, even though it was in the direct sun all day on a 100 degree day.
She didn't use it much on the first day. I put her in the chamber once and down the tunnel twice, but she preferred to stay above ground. I'll keep putting her in this enclosure and see if she starts to like it or not.
Start of construction.
Top, before insulation.
Coming together now.
Starting to dig... not fun in 114 degree weather, in direct sun, in rocky, rooty, hardpacked soil.
Checking the fit.
Adding the tunnel.
This piece is sort of a rain cover. Its around 20" of ground covered and sloped away from the tunnel entrance. Unless water starts flowing uphill, it can't flood the underground chamber from here.
The interior of the chamber showing peat and coco chips, as well as temp/humidity probe and Daisy.
Finished and buried. She's in there in this pic.
The end result. The bottom two numbers are current temp and humidity where ever the unit sits. In this case in the shade near the pen. The upper numbers are temp and humidity where the probe sits, in the underground chamber, and the high and low for the last 24 hours. The probe wasn't in there when that high and low were recorded. It basically stayed 80-81 all day down there and 84% humidity, even though it was in the direct sun all day on a 100 degree day.
She didn't use it much on the first day. I put her in the chamber once and down the tunnel twice, but she preferred to stay above ground. I'll keep putting her in this enclosure and see if she starts to like it or not.
