# New outdoor CDT house



## Team Gomberg

Luke Skywalker finally has his own house! 

He couldn't brumate this year because of the leg amputation, so he borrowed a heated tort house (it was empty) to get through the chilly nights/day.

Now that Spring is here, he finally has a house to call his own. I insulated it the same way as my Leopard house. 1.5" rigid foam insulation sandwiched between plywood all around. I know he may not need it _right now_ but if he has to be kept up next winter, I can easily add a heat source to his house since it's already insulated. 

The house is 2'x2'x1' tall. He's 13" and full grown so I don't have to worry about him outgrowing it. 

















I lined the bottom with vinyl flooring. I'm using a coco coir/ top soil mix for the substrate and didn't want any moisture from the dirt causing wood to mold. Don't know if it will but I wanted to play it safe. 















To show his size in the house..this was before I added the coco coir/ top soil mix and was still in the testing phase





Right now it's set up under a patio awning, facing south. Still deciding if this is the permanent spot for the house...





The door has a lock, just haven't taken a photo since adding that finishing touch. 

He comes out on his own each morning but is still being placed there at night. Hopefully, he likes it. 

I'd love to do an artificial burrow for him someday. So maybe that's in the future....


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## ascott

What does the inside temp sit at during the day and then again at the coldest time just before dawn? Just curious. Do you feel any concern of having is set above ground atop concrete? I ask because there is the free space between the bottom of box and the concrete slab....


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## Team Gomberg

I have a digital hydrometer/thermometer in there that records the 24 hr highs and lows. I believe the low last night was 65 or 68F. The high crept into the 90's. One reason I'm thinking of moving the house is because right now it is in the sun until about 1pm. Once summer hits, I think it might heat up the box too much..



> Do you feel any concern of having is set above ground atop concrete? I ask because there is the free space between the bottom of box and the concrete slab....


Hmm..I guess I'm not sure. ??? The bottom is insulated with the 1.5" rigid foam. Wouldn't that make a difference?

I'll tell ya, I've been reading and searching (and probing DT owners privately in both PM and email) for details on their outdoor housing. _Specifically_ on how cold is too cold. I didn't want this box to get too cold for him but people assure me that as long as they don't freeze, they are ok.

Angela, your a CDT hostess. If you have some temp ranges for me to aim for, I'd sure appreciate it  Luke Skywalker would too


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## ascott

I would wonder if the box being set on the earth would help to level out the temp during the day? I mean, I bet if you temped the concrete under the house during the hottest time of the day...it would be choice---and if the house is set onto the earth the tort may find it a suitable place to work his way under during the heat of the day---and I bet he would LOVE if some human would dig out a readily available pallet and then drop a beautiful house right ontop of it....essentially offering an above ground condo with a basement?? Also, perhaps add a shade that is just a few inches larger in diameter than the entire roof of the house, this way the sun does not directly hit the roof/house but is rather filtered first....see, here in the desert during the tortoise season I only worry about overheating of the torts vs too cold (anything below 32 is undesirable) I mean during the prime season the night temps of course would not get to that winter freezing point, so night temps would not be of concern...and here I don't worry about the night temps...

I mean the men here came out a few weeks ago or so...there was some warm days and cool nights---then there were some cool days and cold nights...then it dipped down to 30-35, so they were plopped back inside their boxes inside for a couple days/nights until the cold temps passed....being that they just completed brumation I did not want to tax their system any further...so this is a decision I will make from time to time---scientific? Nope. Seems to work? Yes.

I would say that you would not want inside of their cool off spot/hide/house to be higher on the hottest parts of the day than 83-85 (total max 85)...it is better if you can offer them a place that gets 78 or less during the hottest time of the day...with access to the outdoors during the day the tort can then exit the cooler area at will and heat back up......

I would be concerned that 90 would stress the tort and also would use up valuable moisture in the tort rapidly....scientific? Nope....just what I would think by putting on my Captain Obvious cap....lol 

I like the houses, I like the idea of the houses--but here in the desert I have not seen one that is practical for the extreme /long heat we get here....I already know that this weekend I will be rebuilding the dirt insulation over the mens above ground hides to assure proper depth of earth to make sure they don't bake...and also to finally uncover the one guys deep natural burrow.....

I do think that the house you built is pretty


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## wellington

Glad he got his own home. I don't know anything about them, but it bet he would love a basement to go into


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## Team Gomberg

ok angela, thanks for the numbers. 

I do know that during the day he isn't in this house. He parks it under an awning next to a block wall and next to my hubby's tool shed. I'll bet it's cooler there. I'll keep playing around with things


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## bouaboua

How cool...No, not cool but warm.....NO, not warm....is keep warm! ! ! ! 

Very nicely done. Great idea to learn and Thank you for sharing it. And thank you all for all the wonderful replies. Very good read.

One question: Do you lock him in the box at night? to prevent night creature's visit?


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## Arnold_rules

Can you put angled cross pieces on the back so that "Luke" can have his own "X" wing star fighter?


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## Team Gomberg

Yes, he is locked in at night so nothing can get him 

Ok, I just spent the morning hours building him a burrow... I'll add photos of it tonight. 

It's 2ft wide, 3ft long, buried in dirt. Basically, I removed the side of a brick planter in his yard and created a burrow in that. It's in the 90s right now, the concrete temps at 115F and this new burrow temps at 66F. 

I'll use the wood house to lock him up each night but we will see how things go with this new burrow.

Here is a sneak peek of what I did..again, details and photos will come when I can use the computer.


And a peek inside...

His wheel had to come off so it doesn't clog with dirt.


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## bouaboua

Team Gomberg said:


> Yes, he is locked in at night so nothing can get him
> 
> Ok, I just spent the morning hours building him a burrow... I'll add photos of it tonight.
> 
> It's 2ft wide, 3ft long, buried in dirt. Basically, I removed the side of a brick planter in his yard and created a burrow in that. It's in the 90s right now, the concrete temps at 115F and this new burrow temps at 66F.
> 
> I'll use the wood house to lock him up each night but we will see how things go with this new burrow.
> 
> Here is a sneak peek of what I did..again, details and photos will come when I can use the computer.
> 
> 
> And a peek inside...
> 
> His wheel had to come off so it doesn't clog with dirt.





This is way cool now....Great idea.


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## kathyth

What a fantastic house, Heather!
Very nice job


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## Grandpa Turtle 144

Great looking house


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## Team Gomberg

The burrow info is here:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-90324.html


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## ascott

> It's in the 90s right now, the concrete temps at 115F and this new burrow temps at 66F.


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## Team Gomberg

Haha thanks Angela. :shy:


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## Team Gomberg

Update: I use this house to lock Skywalker up each night. The temps in the house are just fine for that and I know he is safe. But he uses his planter burrow during the day when he wants to escape the heat. I'm very pleased with how this dual system is working


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## Team Gomberg

Good night! I'll sleep locked up, safe and all right


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## snaofreno

Fabulous! Lucky tort! Well built and quite impressive.


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## Jacqui

I like that you set up the duo. Great job!


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## Team Gomberg

Jacqui said:


> I like that you set up the duo. Great job!



Thanks! 
This double system works so well. Today it was 100F but the burrow temp was 70F. Yet, each night I know he is safe and sound, locked up in the house!


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## Maggie Cummings

Heather...that's a great house! The burrow is perfect and I can tell you are trying to right by this guy. One suggestion, leave the wheel off and put a furniture slide on his plastron in place of it. That's what I did for Mildred and it worked real well...


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## Team Gomberg

Ya, I hear you about the wheel...it's been off for a while now. It worked well on concrete and the cut lawn but not so well on dirt


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