# New Indoor Enclosure (Converted Raised Garden Bed)



## Souptugo (Jun 29, 2017)

Hello everyone. Just wanted to share my new indoor enclosure I made for my 2 year old Hermann's Tortoise.

I converted a raised garden bed lined with light outdoor tarp and placed it on plywood with castors.

I bought the raised garden beds from Costco. https://www.costco.com/White-Vinyl-Raised-Garden-Bed-2-pack.product.100153335.html

Dimensions are 4' x 8' x 11". I use coco coir from EcoEarth (bought at Petsmart). Plants have been transported from his old house to new one. I'm growing some organic dandelions and once they sprout and get mature I will transfer them to fill the enclosure more. So far he seems to love it!


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## Guggie (Jun 29, 2017)

Love it!


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## Markw84 (Jun 29, 2017)

Nice looking enclosure. Well done.

Just a suggestion. You may want to get a reflector hood for the fluorescent tubes. I assume one is a UVB tube and looks like T8. If we assume that is a T8 10.0 bulb, At that height there would be little effective UVB at tortoise level. A reflector hood would almost double the amount directed downward. I also would not want to look directly into the UVB tube every time you want to look at your tortoise - or at least wear sunglasses when you do!


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## Souptugo (Jun 29, 2017)

Markw84 said:


> Nice looking enclosure. Well done.
> 
> Just a suggestion. You may want to get a reflector hood for the fluorescent tubes. I assume one is a UVB tube and looks like T8. If we assume that is a T8 10.0 bulb, At that height there would be little effective UVB at tortoise level. A reflector hood would almost double the amount directed downward. I also would not want to look directly into the UVB tube every time you want to look at your tortoise - or at least wear sunglasses when you do!



That extra long tube is just an LED strip for extra lighting  I will be installing more UVB strips later with deflectors  I've seen so many of your enclosures and they are WAYYYYY COOOL!! So it means a lot to me that you think this is good. Thank you!!


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## Scubaroo (Jul 1, 2017)

Did you put anything between the wood and the soil before putting the soil in, like plastic liner or something?


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## Careym13 (Jul 1, 2017)

Very nice!!! I'm looking for something like this for my Russian. Any issues with escape attempts with 11" walls?


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## Souptugo (Jul 1, 2017)

Scubaroo said:


> Did you put anything between the wood and the soil before putting the soil in, like plastic liner or something?



Yes. I taped a tarp around the inside. Also the top of the wood planks have corrugated plasted screwed on top for extra layer of protection.


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## Souptugo (Jul 1, 2017)

Careym13 said:


> Very nice!!! I'm looking for something like this for my Russian. Any issues with escape attempts with 11" walls?



Not yet  He doesn't try to ever escape. Plus the siding is very smooth and he can't get a grip on it.


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## Scubaroo (Jul 2, 2017)

Souptugo said:


> Yes. I taped a tarp around the inside. Also the top of the wood planks have corrugated plasted screwed on top for extra layer of protection.


Brilliant. Love the wheels too! Can always redecorate the house easily!


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## Shaif (Jul 2, 2017)

Beautiful!


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## BevSmith (Jul 6, 2017)

The enclosure looks gorgeous! I would be proud!


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## Oxalis (Jan 17, 2018)

Love the build! Walls and wheels are awesome! Nice job! The spider plant is super cute too.


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## lisa127 (Jan 17, 2018)

Nice job!


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## CarolM (Jan 18, 2018)

Souptugo said:


> Hello everyone. Just wanted to share my new indoor enclosure I made for my 2 year old Hermann's Tortoise.
> 
> I converted a raised garden bed lined with light outdoor tarp and placed it on plywood with castors.
> 
> ...


That is a really nice enclosure.


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## Sheldon’s mom (Feb 7, 2019)

That looks great. That’s what I am looking to do for my Russian.


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## Butrbean (Feb 9, 2019)

Looks great but I thought these guys needed roughly
60-70% humidity and I don’t see how that will keep any humidity


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## leigti (Feb 9, 2019)

Butrbean said:


> Looks great but I thought these guys needed roughly
> 60-70% humidity and I don’t see how that will keep any humidity



Adult Russians are fine with about 50%. You can either cover it somehow or make sure you add water to the substrate often.


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## MidwestyB (Dec 29, 2021)

Souptugo said:


> Hello everyone. Just wanted to share my new indoor enclosure I made for my 2 year old Hermann's Tortoise.
> 
> I converted a raised garden bed lined with light outdoor tarp and placed it on plywood with castors.
> 
> ...


Beautiful! 
If you don’t mind, how do you keep the humidity up?


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