# Cement Mixing Tub (Enclosure Ideas)



## spjr6 (Feb 28, 2018)

Hi.

I have my Leopard hatching in a large cement mixing tub that I purchased from Home Depot. I’m wanting to enclose the habitat to better maintain heat & humidity. 

If anyone is familiar with this type of setup, I’m asking for ideas as to better enclose the tub without having to do extensive /or expensive craftsmanship. lol

Thanks.


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## wellington (Feb 28, 2018)

@Little Leopard might share what they did on a mixing tub.
And here is a link to pics of theirs https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/tortoise-pyramiding.164421/


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## spjr6 (Feb 28, 2018)

wellington said:


> @Little Leopard might share what they did on a mixing tub.
> And here is a link to pics of theirs https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/tortoise-pyramiding.164421/



Awesome, I’ll check it out. Thanks.


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## motero (Feb 28, 2018)

I found a display case on Craigslist that lights and mixing tubs fit right inside.


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## Little Leopard (Feb 28, 2018)

Hey there! I actually am using a cement mixing tub right now and it’s working great for me! I’m assuming you want a cost efficient way of doing this all so what I found worked best for me was to create a box out of pvc pipe and wrapping the entire thing (top and bottom) with plastic. I met the plastic at the top and generously applied tape. I taped the back shut and then tapped only the top do the front side and put velcro on the side so that I can easily open and close it. I’ll take more pictures for you when I make it back home but this is what I have right now of the inside. If you want to get fancy you can add some light racks (not that hard to make). The pvc and plastic probably cost me no more than 20 dollars.


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## spjr6 (Feb 28, 2018)

Little Leopard said:


> Hey there! I actually am using a cement mixing tub right now and it’s working great for me! I’m assuming you want a cost efficient way of doing this all so what I found worked best for me was to create a box out of pvc pipe and wrapping the entire thing (top and bottom) with plastic. I met the plastic at the top and generously applied tape. I taped the back shut and then tapped only the top do the front side and put velcro on the side so that I can easily open and close it. I’ll take more pictures for you when I make it back home but this is what I have right now of the inside. If you want to get fancy you can add some light racks (not that hard to make). The pvc and plastic probably cost me no more than 20 dollars.
> 
> View attachment 231753
> 
> ...



Yes, something cost efficient! Lol 

Do you have pictures of the entire enclosure?


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## spjr6 (Feb 28, 2018)

motero said:


> I found a display case on Craigslist that lights and mixing tubs fit right inside.



What type of display case was this?


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## Little Leopard (Feb 28, 2018)

I should In about 30 minutes, on my way home right now, stay tuned


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## spjr6 (Feb 28, 2018)

Little Leopard said:


> I should In about 30 minutes, on my way home right now, stay tuned



Cool, I’ll be on the look-out. Thanks


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## Little Leopard (Feb 28, 2018)




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## Little Leopard (Feb 28, 2018)




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## spjr6 (Feb 28, 2018)

Little Leopard said:


> View attachment 231762
> 
> 
> View attachment 231763
> ...



That’s perfect! ...thanks for the photos. 

I’ll stop by Home Depot after work and grab some PVC. What type of plastic is that?


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## Little Leopard (Feb 28, 2018)

Not sure the name but any old plastic will work. This I found at a local store but I’ve seen some rolls of it at the craft sections of stores like Walmart and Michaels. Usually around a dollar a 1 ‘ by 3’ so you wouldn’t meed more than like 15 feet depending on the tub you got. If you want a good bang for your buck you can do the same thing with painters plastic which isn’t as transparent or strong, but it cost like 5 dollars and gives you more than enough to cover the whole enclosure (found at Home Depot paint section). Only thing is you might want to air it out because they usually have strong smells when you first buy it.


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## motero (Feb 28, 2018)

https://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/bfs/d/retail-display-case/6511055041.html

Regular old display case. If you can't find one wide enough for the tubs you can trim the lip off the tub and get two inches that way.


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## motero (Feb 28, 2018)

Sixish months hot and dry, sixish months hot and humid. The first two babies were bit unsmooth before I got them.

Reese was Two years old before I got her, she is six inches.


Pink was over a year before I got her, six inches.





Junior was two or three months, 5.5 inches.


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## spjr6 (Feb 28, 2018)

Little Leopard said:


> Not sure the name but any old plastic will work. This I found at a local store but I’ve seen some rolls of it at the craft sections of stores like Walmart and Michaels. Usually around a dollar a 1 ‘ by 3’ so you wouldn’t meed more than like 15 feet depending on the tub you got. If you want a good bang for your buck you can do the same thing with painters plastic which isn’t as transparent or strong, but it cost like 5 dollars and gives you more than enough to cover the whole enclosure (found at Home Depot paint section). Only thing is you might want to air it out because they usually have strong smells when you first buy it.



Ok.. I’ll check Walmart or Michaels. I’ll put up pictures once I start the process.


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## spjr6 (Feb 28, 2018)

motero said:


> https://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/bfs/d/retail-display-case/6511055041.html
> 
> Regular old display case. If you can't find one wide enough for the tubs you can trim the lip off the tub and get two inches that way.



Ok gotcha! That’s actually a pretty cool idea.


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## Kapidolo Farms (Mar 1, 2018)

https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/live-naked-people.126107/page-18#post-1470597

I invert one on top of the other, cut a whole on the short side so I can reach in to service the enclosure. Painters tape or duct tape the two together around the seem. All done. I also put drain holes in many of them.


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## Tom (Mar 1, 2018)

Taking a little different tangent here…

Many people get bad advice when they start out and buy the wrong type of enclosure. Its very frustrating. Most of them then try to figure out how to modify, tweak, or somehow change what they've got to make it work better. This is better than nothing, but I can honestly say, having tried to modify the wrong type of enclosure many times, that the tortoise and the tortoise keeper will be much better off and both will have a better life if the old enclosure is scrapped or returned and the correct type of enclosure purchased or built. It just doesn't work well trying to cover the open top of an enclosure with the lights outside. The greenhouse things seem like it would work, but those stll lose a lot of heat due to the thin material which requires the desiccating heating elements to burn more electricity and it requires higher wattage bulbs to maintain the correct temps. More electric heat = more carapace desiccation = more pyramiding.

I recommend people bite the bullet and get a proper closed chamber. It works better than anything else by a wide margin.


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## spjr6 (Mar 1, 2018)

Tom said:


> Taking a little different tangent here…
> 
> Many people get bad advice when they start out and buy the wrong type of enclosure. Its very frustrating. Most of them then try to figure out how to modify, tweak, or somehow change what they've got to make it work better. This is better than nothing, but I can honestly say, having tried to modify the wrong type of enclosure many times, that the tortoise and the tortoise keeper will be much better off and both will have a better life if the old enclosure is scrapped or returned and the correct type of enclosure purchased or built. It just doesn't work well trying to cover the open top of an enclosure with the lights outside. The greenhouse things seem like it would work, but those stll lose a lot of heat due to the thin material which requires the desiccating heating elements to burn more electricity and it requires higher wattage bulbs to maintain the correct temps. More electric heat = more carapace desiccation = more pyramiding.
> 
> I recommend people bite the bullet and get a proper closed chamber. It works better than anything else by a wide margin.



What would be a proper closed chamber?


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## Tom (Mar 1, 2018)

spjr6 said:


> What would be a proper closed chamber?


https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/closed-chambers.32333/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/our-new-closed-chamber-for-our-new-group-of-tortoises.138430/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/2015-growth-experiment.119874/
http://www.apcages.com/home/terrestrial/terrestrial.htm


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## spjr6 (Mar 2, 2018)

Tom said:


> https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/closed-chambers.32333/
> https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/our-new-closed-chamber-for-our-new-group-of-tortoises.138430/
> https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/2015-growth-experiment.119874/
> http://www.apcages.com/home/terrestrial/terrestrial.htm



Of the apc cages, which one would you recommend for a hatchling/yearling Leopard?


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## Tom (Mar 2, 2018)

spjr6 said:


> Of the apc cages, which one would you recommend for a hatchling/yearling Leopard?



It is difficult to use a basking lamp unless you go with one at least 18" tall.

The other concern is how long you want it to last. If you get a 2x4' one it might last 6-9 months before the tortoise outgrows it. If you get the 8'x 36" one, it might last two or three years before the tortoise outgrows it.


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## spjr6 (Mar 2, 2018)

Tom said:


> It is difficult to use a basking lamp unless you go with one at least 18" tall.
> 
> The other concern is how long you want it to last. If you get a 2x4' one it might last 6-9 months before the tortoise outgrows it. If you get the 8'x 36" one, it might last two or three years before the tortoise outgrows it.



Ok, if I decide to go that route, I’d most likely go with the 8’x36” one, hopefully to get more bang for my buck. But, I think I could build something myself and save a ton of money! lol.


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## Tom (Mar 2, 2018)

spjr6 said:


> Ok, if I decide to go that route, I’d most likely go with the 8’x36” one, hopefully to get more bang for my buck. But, I think I could build something myself and save a ton of money! lol.


In the past, I always built my own. Recently, I just bought there T65s. I don't think I will ever build one again.

Maybe you will feel differently about it after building your own.


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## Ghazan (Mar 2, 2018)

Any pictures of your AP cages and set up (lighting, che, hot spots) @Tom ?


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## Ray--Opo (Mar 7, 2018)

spjr6 said:


> Hi.
> 
> I have my Leopard hatching in a large cement mixing tub that I purchased from Home Depot. I’m wanting to enclose the habitat to better maintain heat & humidity.
> 
> ...


I have a different tub but this is what I came up with. Not finished yet but it works fine.I even put a wheeled furniture trolley 
underneath so it can be rolled around


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## Tom (Mar 7, 2018)

Ghazan said:


> Any pictures of your AP cages and set up (lighting, che, hot spots) @Tom ?



The stack is three high. All T65s. I had a heck of a time getting a light bulb that would offer a little basking heat, but not overheat the whole chamber.

The bulb in the pic was too hot. I ended up using 39 watt regular round bulbs. These make the basking area around 93-97, which is good for babies, and they heat the whole enclosure up to the low 90s during the day. Just how I like it.

I'm using little banks of LED lights to brighten it up in there. They are the type for mounting under kitchen counters. Had to wire them myself. These use hardly any electricity, produce very little heat, and with the white walls, they really make it bright in there. They were on sale and each unit cost $18.99. Very happy with them.

These enclosures are in my reptile room which is kept no lower than 80 all the time, so no need for CHE or RHP to maintain ambient temps.

No UV tubes for two reasons. 1. It would over heat the whole thing. 2. My babies get an hour of sun almost every day, so no need for it.

The AP cages come with vents pre-cut into them. This annoyed me at first and before using the enclosures, I went and bought white duct tape and covered most of the venting. Once I started heating and using the cages I realized that I needed all the venting to prevent overheating. Humidity stays between 80% and 90% all the time and the cages warm up nicely during the day, so there is no problem with using the vents as is.

Each T65 is divided in half with an 8" section of white coroplast to make two separate enclosures. Each enclosure has two water bowls, a humid hide, and a food bowl in the front corner that can't be seen in the pic. Bottom one is for SA Leopard babies, middle one for sulcatas, and upper one for stars. My thinking is that since I like to start babies for at least 6 weeks before selling, and sometimes I hang on to them for 8-12 weeks, I can keep the bigger older ones on one side, and put all the tiny new hatchlings on the other side. Each of these enclosure is dedicated to the babies of my adult tortoises of each species, and nothing else will ever set foot in them. This should almost eliminate the chance of any sort of pathogen ever being introduced into my enclosures.

One thing I've started doing that is not shown in the pics is throwing in leafy branches of either lavatera, hibiscus, mulberry or grape vines for the babies to hide in, munch on and use for cover. The branches last for several days before wilting and needing to be replaced.


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## Ray--Opo (Mar 7, 2018)

Tom said:


> The stack is three high. All T65s. I had a heck of a time getting a light bulb that would offer a little basking heat, but not overheat the whole chamber.
> 
> The bulb in the pic was too hot. I ended up using 39 watt regular round bulbs. These make the basking area around 93-97, which is good for babies, and they heat the whole enclosure up to the low 90s during the day. Just how I like it.
> 
> ...


Tom if you can give me some ideas on my hold. Gonna build a outside hold for Opo. I was thinking 4'x8' cinder block 2 rows high. Use a 4'x8' chain link gate for the top to keep out critters. Opo will be a yr old in April about 4 1/2 In long.


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## Ghazan (Mar 7, 2018)

Thanks for the info @Tom, helps put things in perspective as to how much heat and humidity these cages hold. I'm wondering if I need now 1 or 2 ceramic sockets since the fluorescent lights provide some ambient heat. Also having the screen cutouts and keeping the PVC to cover it up as needed is a nice idea to have some heat and humidity escape.


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## Tom (Mar 7, 2018)

Ghazan said:


> Thanks for the info @Tom, helps put things in perspective as to how much heat and humidity these cages hold. I'm wondering if I need now 1 or 2 ceramic sockets since the fluorescent lights provide some ambient heat. Also having the screen cutouts and keeping the PVC to cover it up as needed is a nice idea to have some heat and humidity escape.


I would do two sockets. One for the basking bulb and one for the CHE on a thermostat.


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## Tom (Mar 7, 2018)

Ray--Opo said:


> Tom if you can give me some ideas on my hold. Gonna build a outside hold for Opo. I was thinking 4'x8' cinder block 2 rows high. Use a 4'x8' chain link gate for the top to keep out critters. Opo will be a yr old in April about 4 1/2 In long.



Lots of ideas here:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/outdoor-enclosures.121732/
Look at post number 8 for several ideas from me.


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## Ray--Opo (Mar 7, 2018)

Tom said:


> Lots of ideas here:
> https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/outdoor-enclosures.121732/
> Look at post number 8 for several ideas from me.


Thanks Tom, great thread. I guess I should start searching this site before taking the easy way out and asking you. ​


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## Tom (Mar 7, 2018)

Ray--Opo said:


> Thanks Tom, great thread. I guess I should start searching this site before taking the easy way out and asking you. ​


Some of this stuff is hard to find. No problem with asking.


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## Kyleen (Mar 10, 2018)

wellington said:


> @Little Leopard might share what they did on a mixing tub.
> And here is a link to pics of theirs https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/tortoise-pyramiding.164421/


I use a piece of plexi glass on half of the tub. It made a big difference in humidity and didn't cost much at all. Got it from Home Depot too.


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## Romeo Serback (Aug 14, 2018)

Kyleen said:


> I use a piece of plexi glass on half of the tub. It made a big difference in humidity and didn't cost much at all. Got it from Home Depot too.


A minimum thickness of .22 for the plexiglas. I learned the hard way by going thinner as it bowed and cave in.


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## AgataP (Aug 18, 2020)

Little Leopard said:


> Hey there! I actually am using a cement mixing tub right now and it’s working great for me! I’m assuming you want a cost efficient way of doing this all so what I found worked best for me was to create a box out of pvc pipe and wrapping the entire thing (top and bottom) with plastic. I met the plastic at the top and generously applied tape. I taped the back shut and then tapped only the top do the front side and put velcro on the side so that I can easily open and close it. I’ll take more pictures for you when I make it back home but this is what I have right now of the inside. If you want to get fancy you can add some light racks (not that hard to make). The pvc and plastic probably cost me no more than 20 dollars.
> 
> View attachment 231753
> 
> ...


Is there anyway you could please let me know what are the names of the lights you are using. I mean the dome itself. I did find the bulbs. Thank you.


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