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You will need to seal the wood. Over time a tort enclosure usealed will rot because of the moisture from the enviornment and the tort itself. I would suggest constructing it with silicone calking on seams and wood screws to hold it together. I would also use the caulk and screws on the bottom plexi. For sealing the wood, multiple coats of child proof paint or other such sealer and about a week cure time should be good.

Thank you soooo much everyone. You are helping me a lot with all your advices.

Robyn, my BF thinks you are a geniussss, he loves the idea of using a bookshelf. That's what we are going to use. Should I put a sealer on the bookshelf? or only on the plywood? I will go check at home depot if they sell tarps (they dont sell a lot of things in Canada ). If they dont sell tarps, can I put laminate plywood instead of a wood plywood, if yes, should I seal the laminate plywood? I cant wait to see my little Hermy on her new tort table. We want to make a second floor . I can't wait to see the results.

Thanks a lot

Isa

Here is something I learned today about wood, moisture and raw plywood. I took down my small turtle table to replace with a bigger one. What I discovered under the damp dirt/substrate shocked me. I used raw plywood to make the table and sealed it with I believe 5 layers of water based polyurethane. I did not however treat the underside of the box. The wood looked and felt like I did not treat it at all. It was even going thru to the other side. The cloth I had under the box to protect my table was damp and a bit moldy. I am thinking that if you treat it, layer it ALOT. Could it be that the polyurethane is not meant to be under ground and cannot take the dampness needed for the box turtles? Thats what I am thinking at this point. Maybe I used the wrong kind of polyurethane. It said outdoors on the can.

Box turtles are in pretty damp conditions where Hermanns are not. I would think that with a box turtle or RF you would need to have a water resistant tarp or some sort of water resistant barrier down. I have my large table on cinderblocks
5 of them standing on end. The bottom is dry but I have it fairly dry as I have Greeks.
Isa. Depending on the type of book shelf you get depends on how you will treat it. Some are made of lumber, some are made of pressed wood or partical board with a veneer over the pressed wood that makes it look like a solid piece of wood. this is simply glued onto the wood and if damp over a span of time I would think it would seperate. Laminant is like a coating on the wood people use to call it Formica it too is glued. I would think that you could use just that. But if you are getting a book shelf (which is usually made of particle board with a laminant or veneer over it) where are you using plywood? If you are talking about the plywood that is pressed together and looks as if it is all chopped up wood, Yes you would need to seal that very well. If you are using pressed wood or fiberboard yes it must also be sealed well. That is why I use a tarp. Think of it as a drop cloth for painting. Any raw wood needs to be sealed but an already made bookshelf or waterbed frame could have a tarp (drop cloth) just placed in it, add substrate and your done.

You can find heavy duty tarps at a farm supply store. They are fairly inexpensive and last a long while. One thing I'm going to try on my next enclosures is making them out of shower surround panels. I made a cage for boa of this and it worked well and had little leakage.

Curious about the tarp idea. My Russians dig alot and scrape at the sides, corners and bottom of the box. How would I secure a tarp so they are not digging it up all the time and how to make it look nice? The bookcase has pressboard sides but the back is a fake back, its a very thin piece of laminate. I nailed plywood to the back of that, after I sealed it with 3 coats then I sealed the fake laminate backing with 5 coats. Being that the torts are no wheres near as wet at boxies I am hoping to be fine. I did seal the sides with 3 coats.

Thanks a lot

My boyfriend wants tp use a bookshelf and put a laminate plywood to replace the thin backing and seal the interior sides and the bottom with 5 coats of sealer (non toxic and child proof, I dont know which brand we have in Canada yet but I will go to the store this week). Then, cover the interior sides and the bottom with a thin sheet of plastic (we dont know which one yet we have to go to home depot) and seal all corners with a non toxic silicone for water resitance and maintenance. Do you think the plastic could harm my little Hermy?? What do you think of the idea??

Thanks

As long as the plastic is heavier grade (tear proof) it should be good.

I think this is the best idea yet. It would hold moisture, no sealing other than aquarium silicone in the joints. If thin stabilize by placing it on plywood or boards with screws. Thanks for the Idea.

You are sooo lucky in the States, here in Canada, we dont have farm supplies stores and our Home depot does not have all the things you do in the states. We have Reno depot but we don't find the stuff you do. Even our pet store, they sell the brand exo terra (I dont like it much) It is very hard to find zoo med. I cant wait to go in the states in June for a wedding in the Connecticut. I will go to home Depot and the pet store there to buy what I cant find here. I will go check at wal mart or reno depot to see if they sell cheap shower surround panels, that's the kind of plastic I am looking for plus it is very easy to clean.

I will keep you posted.

Isa