I've been going back and forth in my head about building a tort table or using a "rabbit cage" for my torts new enclosure. I have a question though about building a wood tort table. Does it matter what kind of wood I would use? I would need to seal it in order to make it waterproof, would this be hazardous to the tort?
I like the idea of the "rabbit cage" because it has the cage top on it and it would keep out my other pets and it is also portable so I could take her outside in the warmer months right in the cage. I don't have the money right now to do anything but I'm trying to decide what would be best, low cost, more room and last a while.

I have not done this for my torts yet, but have used this for lizards. My hubby made enclosures out of melamine. It is a laminate covered wood. One of these days he is going to build one for my leo hatchlings. It wipes down really nice. You can get it at the Home Depot, Lowes, etc. Just a thought!

Liz, I bought a rabbit cage, a tiny one for my hatchling actually it is a transport cage $14.00. It's nice if you move them around a lot. But I don’t house him there. Then I bought a large rabbit cage on sale $34.00 and thought I would set it up so he could live in it. He’s only 2 inches now. But you can't fill the plastic bottoms with sand and/or dirt mixtures because if you try to lift it, it will break. So I took it back and I built a square box from scrap wood (I do not use pine as it gives off toxic fumes when heated) that I got at Home Depot in there discounted area for about 5 dollars for all the wood and then I bought the netting the metal is more expensive but works to keep predators out better if you aren’t close at hand to watch over Sparkles.Oh yeah I also had to get two hinges. So the whole thing cost me about $10.00 for that amount you could build two one for inside and one for outside.
My opinion is that a Rabbit cage is nice and convenient but if you are a little handy with a hammer and nails, or screws you can be so much more creative with some wood and a little netting (metal or plastic) and save a ton of $$

This post was last modified: 01-26-2008 05:07 PM by Crazy1.

Thanks for the input.
Robyn, just so you know I don't use the sand/soil mix as substrate. I use the Eco earth coconut fiber.
hmmmm I still don't know what to do!!
I have some time to think about it.

<br>
Have you thought about using a wood bookcase as a table. Line the inside with heavy duty plastic sheeting or a shower curtain liner. Just staple it to the top ledge and trim excess to look neat. An inexpensive solution that might give you longer use. A kiddie pool is another inexpensive option for short time use.

We used high density particle board and 2x4s for the frame for our tort table. If you go that route I'd still line it with heavy duty plastic sheeting as it will make it a lot easier to clean.