# Dudley's Rebuild



## Yvonne G (Feb 1, 2015)

I have a guy that comes to take care of spiders, roaches, ants, etc. and he has sulcatas of his own, so he understands about not poisoning my animals. He called my attention to what he referred to as "salt and pepper" around Dudley's night house. He said it was termite 'leavings.'




Since Dudley's night house is in the front yard and smack up against my house, I knew I had to get rid of this structure as quickly as possible. 

Dudley's old shelter next to my front door:





So I started building him a shed in the back yard.

I'm an old lady, and I'm quite lazy. My recliner and my Kindle call to me constantly and it's quite a struggle to ignore their call. So even though I started this project way back in October of last year, I wasn't able to wrap it up until today. I started by digging the ground level. I had a bunch of old asphalt shingles that the garbage company won't take, so I put them down on the level ground, then sand then I started laying down cement stepping stones and covering them with termite mesh:












This is the other side of the fence, in Dudley's yard:






I started framing, then after the first of the year I had a little extra help. Steven (Bouaboua) and his wife came and spent the day with me:











Not much left to do now, getting there slowly but surely:





When I put on the shingles, I didn't realize I was supposed to butt the pieces up against each other, and not overlap them, so I ended up with a bump down the middle:








And the final test, it's occupant coming to try it out:








I think he gave it his seal of approval. He's in there digging at the wall.

I'm so very glad to have this project finished. Now I can get rid of the old one and get back into taking care of the day-to-day chores.


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## lismar79 (Feb 1, 2015)

Very nice!


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## JAYGEE (Feb 1, 2015)

Looks great!


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## TortsNTurtles (Feb 1, 2015)

This looks great. That was so nice of Steven (Bouaboua) and his wife to come and help. Its great to see good people with big hearts on this forum.


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## mike taylor (Feb 1, 2015)

Glad to see it finished . Good job!


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## Dizisdalife (Feb 1, 2015)

Looks like a fun project. Dudley is going to be so happy. And you too, of course.


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## Yvonne G (Feb 1, 2015)

I opted for mounting the pig blanket on the wall because Dudley digs before he goes to sleep. In the old shelter I screwed the pig blanket down into the floor. I didn't want to make holes in the rubber mat on the floor and give termites an entry, so wall mount it is. If it gets too cold in there I could add an electric oil filled radiator, I have a couple extras, but there's a 250 watt bird brooder light hanging from the ceiling and I think that will keep it warm enough in there at night.


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## wellington (Feb 1, 2015)

Yvonne, you are as young as you feel and do and by all the things you do, believe me, you are very young. Don't go by the number, only by how much you can still do. You should be very proud of what you accomplish on your own. I know many truely "old" people and you my friend are not one of them. I bet Dudley does love it, why wouldn't he, it's built with love. Great job. 

@bouaboua what can I say. You and your wife are great people for helping out. If I lived near by, I would be giving you a big hug myself. Just too nice.


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## Yvonne G (Feb 1, 2015)

I know, huh? I was so overcome by their generosity. And they both are truly nice, nice people.


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## bouaboua (Feb 1, 2015)

wellington said:


> Yvonne, you are as young as you feel and do and by all the things you do, believe me, you are very young. Don't go by the number, only by how much you can still do. You should be very proud of what you accomplish on your own. I know many truely "old" people and you my friend are not one of them. I bet Dudley does love it, why wouldn't he, it's built with love. Great job.
> 
> @bouaboua what can I say. You and your wife are great people for helping out. If I lived near by, I would be giving you a big hug myself. Just too nice.


You are too kind Barb. I just a regular people doing the thing regular people will do. 

I wish one day, when I get to the age of Yvonne. I still can have the drive and strength to build a night house for my torts.


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## stojanovski92113 (Feb 1, 2015)

That is so awesome


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## wellington (Feb 1, 2015)

bouaboua said:


> You are too kind Barb. I just a regular people doing the thing regular people will do.
> 
> I wish one day, when I get to the age of Yvonne. I still can have the drive and strength to build a night house for my torts.



In the way the world is going and has been, always bad in the news, it's just a very nice refreshing thing to hear about. Not everyone would do something like that. You are food people.


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## Tom (Feb 1, 2015)

Nice job. Does he go in on his own yet?


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## Turtulas-Len (Feb 1, 2015)

Great Job,, Darn termites, if you ever want to put the mat on the floor, you can mount it on a piece of plywood and then secure the plywood to the wall with angle brackets to keep it in place. This way you have no screw holes in the floor. Walkers mat is done this way and he is about the same size as Dudley and digs in the corner also, His mat has been in place for several years now, he tries to move it around but those 3/4 inch screws hold it in place.


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## Yellow Turtle01 (Feb 1, 2015)

Yep. You'll get the official tortoise seal of approval when poops in there for the first time 
Looks so nice! I think the roof looks great. Good idea for the floor. 
You guys did a great job


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## Maggie Cummings (Feb 1, 2015)

Turtulas-Len said:


> Great Job,, Darn termites, if you ever want to put the mat on the floor, you can mount it on a piece of plywood and then secure the plywood to the wall with angle brackets to keep it in place. This way you have no screw holes in the floor. Walkers mat is done this way and he is about the same size as Dudley and digs in the corner also, His mat has been in place for several years now, he tries to move it around but those 3/4 inch screws hold it in place.


Bob too. He digs at it every night, but I also have it screwed in place so it doesn't move.
I am so looking forward to meeting Steven and his wife....


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## Tom (Feb 1, 2015)

maggie3fan said:


> I am so looking forward to meeting Steven and his wife....



Are you coming to town Miss Maggie? Might I be getting a visit soon? You can see the ranch when its all green and I can show you my new ranch too!

Funny thing, the elephantes moved up to Oregon.


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## Tom (Feb 1, 2015)

Sorry Yvonne, that should have all gone in a PM. @maggie3fan please answer in a PM.


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## Yvonne G (Feb 2, 2015)

Tom said:


> Nice job. Does he go in on his own yet?



I had that portion of the yard blocked off this whole time to keep him out of my way, so when I opened it, he was in there in a flash. As soon as he saw the open door to the shed, he went right in. I had nailed a board across the door to his old shelter, but he never even went back to it. In the evening he went into the new shed as if he had always been using it.

The 250 watt brooder bulb keeps the temperature nice and toasty, but at night, from the outside, I can see all the spaces where I'm going to have to add some insulation strips around the edges of the doors. I checked in on him several time through the night, and he never stirred the whole night. The red bulb makes it pretty bright in there, but it didn't seem to bother him.


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## Yvonne G (Feb 2, 2015)

Turtulas-Len said:


> Great Job,, Darn termites, if you ever want to put the mat on the floor, you can mount it on a piece of plywood and then secure the plywood to the wall with angle brackets to keep it in place. This way you have no screw holes in the floor. Walkers mat is done this way and he is about the same size as Dudley and digs in the corner also, His mat has been in place for several years now, he tries to move it around but those 3/4 inch screws hold it in place.



Thanks. I like this idea. I'm not real fond of having it on the wall. The wall mount works for the Manouria because they do pretty well in a cooler environment, but the wall mount just heats up the space right in front of it and really doesn't give a big tortoise much heat.


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## Tom (Feb 2, 2015)

Yvonne G said:


> In the evening he went into the new shed as if he had always been using it.



Wow. How lucky is that?! Good news.


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## Yvonne G (Feb 2, 2015)

Tom said:


> Wow. How lucky is that?! Good news.



I know, huh? Earlier in the day I called my Son-in-law to see if he can come over in the evening to put Dudley away for me. He said he doubted the game would be over before dark, but he would come when he was able. So lucky for him, Dudley went in on his own.


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## Tom (Feb 2, 2015)

Yvonne G said:


> I know, huh? Earlier in the day I called my Son-in-law to see if he can come over in the evening to put Dudley away for me. He said he doubted the game would be over before dark, but he would come when he was able. So lucky for him, Dudley went in on his own.



I'd do it for you, but that would be a loooooong drive...


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## Yvonne G (Feb 2, 2015)

Thank you, kind sir!


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## ZEROPILOT (Feb 2, 2015)

Very nicely done. One thing, though. If you place shingles right on top of wood, the wood will very soon rot. Did you place roofing paper down first?


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## Yvonne G (Feb 2, 2015)

Felt paper.


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## ZEROPILOT (Feb 2, 2015)

You're a pro!


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## Yvonne G (Feb 2, 2015)

ZEROPILOT said:


> You're a pro!



Yeah, right. I don't allow anyone to look too closely at my workmanship.




(It's interesting to note that when I first typed "workmanship" above, it actually came out "workmanshit" I probably should have left it.)


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## Yellow Turtle01 (Feb 2, 2015)

I don't know... depends on the shipiness of the work. 
Did you build that??  (in a good way, because that looks pretty cool)


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## Jacqui (Feb 2, 2015)

maggie3fan said:


> Bob too. He digs at it every night, but I also have it screwed in place so it doesn't move.
> I am so looking forward to meeting Steven and his wife....



Me too!  Along with this silly lady who lives with a Queen and King Bob, too. lol (not to mention a cowboy and his lady)


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## Jacqui (Feb 2, 2015)

Yvonne G said:


> Yeah, right. I don't allow anyone to look too closely at my workmanship.
> View attachment 117002


LOL You know Yvonne, one of the projects I am working on (mentally only at this stage) includes a house sorta like this. lol


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## Jacqui (Feb 2, 2015)

I too think it's wonderful that Steven and his wife helped. How neat it is for tortoise folks to not only get together, but to help each other.  They are awesome folks.

It's nice to see somebody who is as slow as I am with getting things done.  You did a great job.


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## samsmom (May 10, 2016)

Love the shed!


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## BILBO-03 (Aug 22, 2016)

Is it insulated


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## sibi (Oct 20, 2016)

Turtulas-Len said:


> Great Job,, Darn termites, if you ever want to put the mat on the floor, you can mount it on a piece of plywood and then secure the plywood to the wall with angle brackets to keep it in place. This way you have no screw holes in the floor. Walkers mat is done this way and he is about the same size as Dudley and digs in the corner also, His mat has been in place for several years now, he tries to move it around but those 3/4 inch screws hold it in place.



That's a great idea. I just had my new shed insulted and ready for my female sulcata. She's a scratcher and tends to wreak her own house. I too don't want to put screws into the flooring. By screwing it into a board, that solves the problem of her moving things around. I may even use a bracket to screw the board in the wall so that it will stay even more sturdy. Thanks..


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## sibi (Oct 20, 2016)

Yvonne G said:


> Yeah, right. I don't allow anyone to look too closely at my workmanship.
> 
> View attachment 117002
> 
> ...



Lol


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## sibi (Oct 20, 2016)

Yvonne, what a great job you did mostly on your own. I mean, digging and leveling ground is real hard for a non professional to do. Add to that age, aches and pains, and you have a project half done! Thank God for someone like Steven and his wife. I wish I was able to do what you did. I would have saved thousands of dollars. Anyhow, it's done, and Baby Runt has her new home. She hasn't moved in yet cause I want to start decorating it first. Hopefully, she'll move in this weekend.


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## tortoisenana (Sep 17, 2019)

Yvonne G said:


> I have a guy that comes to take care of spiders, roaches, ants, etc. and he has sulcatas of his own, so he understands about not poisoning my animals. He called my attention to what he referred to as "salt and pepper" around Dudley's night house. He said it was termite 'leavings.'
> 
> View attachment 116737
> 
> ...


What is the black floor of your shed?


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## Yvonne G (Sep 17, 2019)

tortoisenana said:


> What is the black floor of your shed?


The local feed store sells thick rubber mats to be placed on the floor of horse stalls. They're about 4'x6' and come in three thicknesses. I've bought the 3/4" thick mats.


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## tortoisenana (Sep 17, 2019)

Yvonne G said:


> The local feed store sells thick rubber mats to be placed on the floor of horse stalls. They're about 4'x6' and come in three thicknesses. I've bought the 3/4" thick mats.


Your tortoise doesn't chew on the rubber?


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## Yvonne G (Sep 17, 2019)

tortoisenana said:


> Your tortoise doesn't chew on the rubber?


It's flush up against the walls and there is nowhere he can get a grip. But even if there were an available edge I doubt he would be interested in chewing it.


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## tortoisenana (Sep 17, 2019)

Yvonne G said:


> It's flush up against the walls and there is nowhere he can get a grip. But even if there were an available edge I doubt he would be interested in chewing it.


Thanks. I am trying to build a new house for my tortoises (separated) and want to do it so they are safe, warm (or cool) and it is easy for me to keep clean as I am 63 years old and don't think I'm going to get any younger. lol Therefore, I need to build it so I can handle things as long as possible. Thank you for all you do for the Sulcatas of the world!


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