# Ikea Bookshelf Enclosure



## Kadaan

I've noticed my greek pacing back and forth along the front wall of his enclosure trying to walk up the side there, and being a very adept climber reaching close to the top of the 6.5" high walls where the plants are. I decided to make a different enclosure with the following goals:

- Completely opaque
- At least 12" high walls
- More 'appealing' to have sitting in my living room
- Be able to swap out planters of live plants/grasses/weeds for grazing

With those things in mind, I spent a little over an hour at Ikea and found exactly what I wanted!






23 5/8" wide, 50 3/8" tall, and a nice 15 3/4" deep, for $80. I put it together without shelves, laid it down, and put one shelf on "vertically" (horizontally when it's laid down). Makes a perfect hide, and a shelf for me to put stuff on.






To place it on, I picked up 2 of these small tables for $7.99 each:





Assembled one in the corner to see if there's enough space:




The whole thing:





I picked up a plastic bin at Target for $5 that fit perfectly length-wise inside:




They wouldn't fit in evenly if I bought more of them, so I'm trying to find something that will fit well in the remaining 35" x 22". I was trying to stay away from directly putting substrate inside, since pressboard and moisture don't play nicely together.

One option I've been thinking about is lining the inside completely with clear contact paper and sealing the joints with silicone. Would contact paper work, or is it not waterproof? I could always go the vinyl shower curtain route, but I was hoping to keep the wood look inside.


----------



## Meg90

I'm not sure about contact paper, I would just use a shower liner, but MAN GREAT JOB.

Can't wait to see it when its done!

Makes me wish we had an Ikea. I can't find shelves deep enough to convert.


----------



## Yvonne G

I like the fact that you've used one of the shelves as a lid at one end. Very inventive on your part!

I purchased a plastic shower curtain liner from Orchard's for about $7. Its very flimsy material, as its meant to be used as a liner to an existing shower curtain, and its see-through, so your wood grain would show through.

Good job!!

Yvonne


----------



## Sudhira

I wondering if one could line the bottom with the self stick vinyl floor tiles? An get the vinyl coving for the joints?

Love the idea,worth a trip to Ikea for me!


----------



## fishtanker

IKEA! Gotta love those craft scandinavians! Shower curtain is probably the cheapest way to go. You could use thicker plastic sheeting from the hardware store but it may be more expensive. Pool or pond liner too. I like the way your table looks not only functional, but incredibly pleasing to they eye an professional.


----------



## terryo

Wow! What a great idea with that shelf.


----------



## Isa

Really nice, I love the idea! I like the color and it looks really nice on the 2 tables!


----------



## Meg90

The stick tiles would work---I know people use them in custom enclosures for tegus, and the substrate is moist and the environment is humid.

Good idea!


----------



## Sudhira

I am very inspired to follow your lead Kadaan. How did you affix the end board to pivot?

Thanks,

S


----------



## chadk

Kadaan said:


> They wouldn't fit in evenly if I bought more of them, so I'm trying to find something that will fit well in the remaining 35" x 22". I was trying to stay away from directly putting substrate inside, since pressboard and moisture don't play nicely together.
> 
> One option I've been thinking about is lining the inside completely with clear contact paper and sealing the joints with silicone. Would contact paper work, or is it not waterproof? I could always go the vinyl shower curtain route, but I was hoping to keep the wood look inside.




Looks a lot like mine.

I used heavy plastic liner (vapor barrier type stuff in construction stores). Just used black duct tape to holt it right up to the top level of the substrate, so you hardly see it.

I aslo used a bin like that on one end. I put if full of substrate for better digging, burrowing. I then kept only that bin really moist. The other areas I let dry out for the most part. I built a humid hide on the deep soil\bin and a ramp leading up to the bin using state tiles to trim nails. Then placed other slate around the enclosure for walkways and then water dishes and food dishes.


----------



## Kadaan

Where's a good place to get slate? I bought a box for $30 from petco that was for an aquarium, but people have said you can get it much cheaper elsewhere. I looked around Lowes and didn't find anything besides their perfectly shaped garden tiles. Where can you find just plain old irregular shaped slate pieces?


----------



## chadk

Lowes\Home Depot should have some. Just check in the landscaping area by the pavers.


----------



## Yvonne G

Or look in the Yellow Pages of the phone book for gravel, sand, rocks

Yvonne


----------



## Meg90

I bought a piece of tile (the nicely shaped ones ) like, the 12in square, and then wrapped it in a towel, and hit it with a hammer in different spots to bust it up.


----------



## chadk

Oh, and if you need to ask someone there, ask for "flagstone"


----------



## Kadaan

Sudhira said:


> How did you affix the end board to pivot?



I just used the shelf and pin-things that came with the bookshelf. You get those little metal plugs that go into the holes to set the height of the shelf, I just put them in holes so the shelf would be horizontal when the bookshelf was laid flat . I'll see if I can take a better photo later.


----------



## Sudhira

Kadaan said:


> Sudhira said:
> 
> 
> 
> How did you affix the end board to pivot?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I just used the shelf and pin-things that came with the bookshelf. You get those little metal plugs that go into the holes to set the height of the shelf, I just put them in holes so the shelf would be horizontal when the bookshelf was laid flat . I'll see if I can take a better photo later.
Click to expand...


Oh goodie, thanks so much!


----------



## Kadaan

Sudhira said:


> Kadaan said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sudhira said:
> 
> 
> 
> How did you affix the end board to pivot?
> 
> 
> 
> I just used the shelf and pin-things that came with the bookshelf. You get those little metal plugs that go into the holes to set the height of the shelf, I just put them in holes so the shelf would be horizontal when the bookshelf was laid flat . I'll see if I can take a better photo later.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Oh goodie, thanks so much!
Click to expand...


Here's a better photo of the shelf:





I grabbed a few things from Lowes tonight after work; two 30" window planters that fits really well inside, a heavy-duty clear vinyl shower curtain, 2 rolls of shelf liner, and a box of 8 3"x6" slate tiles. I figure this way I can rotate one planter outside/one inside to let the weeds regrow and get some real sun.








Right now I'm trying to work out how to raise the substrate in just that empty spot. The planter/bin are a good 7" high, which is quite a bit more substrate than I'd like to use. Since I'm going to be using the bin in the back as the humid area, do you think I could just cut and stack some cardboard 3-4" high and put 3-4" of substrate on top of that?

I also tried finding some Organic mulch/potting soil but couldn't find anything labeled as such. The closest thing I could find is this bag of "All Natural" potting soil. Would this work to mix with coir/playsand for a substrate?


----------



## Kadaan

Just spent a good 2 hours wrestling with the shower curtain and vinyl shelf liner that's supposed to tape/hold it up. Got ONE WALL done -.-. That stuff sticks to the shower curtain like nothing else, the curtain stretches a bit, and it's hard getting it to go in a straight line! ARGH!


----------



## chadk

Instead of trying to raise the lower area up to the bins, why not use ramps? A slate tile ramp or other similar approach offers great exercise, a nice hiding place under the ramp, and can help keep the nails trim.

Oh, and that potting soil should work fine. Just be sure it doesn't have the little white balls of perlite or vermiculite.


----------



## Kymiie

I use table protector or you could get some oil table cloth xxxx


----------



## dreadyA

Good stuff!! I still can't get over the fact that those tables were 7.99!!! Ikea is awesome. (so is their food court:-D)


----------



## Kadaan

Some updates!

Layout out the shower curtain and trimming it to about the right size:




"Taping" the liner to the sides with vinyl shelf liner




I got some thick cardboard and wrapped it in the extra shower curtain trimmings to make dividers. This will (hopefully) keep most of the substrate in this area so the humid bin and the balcony planter don't need to be dug in and out when I need to take them out.




Everything together so far!





I opened the bag of soil and sadly it looks like it contains perlite or vermiculite (not sure which, online photos seem to look similar)




Guess I need to ask the people at the garden center specifically about soil without perlite/vermiculite. Is the only danger of using those two minerals from the tort ingesting them directly? They don't have some sort of toxic dust or anything, right? I'm thinking about using it for the bottom 2/3 of the planter and filling the top with a couple inches of the coir/playsand mixture. That way the plants roots still get some nutrients from the potting soil.


----------



## Yvonne G

I really appreciate it when someone sends us pictures of their step-by-step progress when building something for their tortoises. Thank you so much. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product.

Yvonne


----------



## andred82vert

cant wait to see the finished product. I would re-think about using that potting soil though. That contains bat guano and chicken manure. That's the worst smelling potting soil that we sell. ( i work at a home depot).


----------



## chadk

I think the issue with those white things is that the torts will try to eat them and they can cause imapaction since they will not be able to digest them. Great work so far!


----------



## Kadaan

I found a different bag of a similar mix, but minus the perlite. I also got a bag of orchid bark to fill the main area with. I laid the coco husk I bought a while back on the bottom and mixed/covered it with the orchid bark. I had a hard time getting my tiles to make a ramp that wasn't too steep and that I wasn't afraid could topple over, so I ended up making a temporary ramp out of some cardboard.

Cardboard ramp into the humid box






Inside the humid box




I added another slate tile into the humid box propped up from the back wall up onto the log just in case the log is too steep. I'm not completely happy with the way that side is set up, so I'll play around with it this weekend. I also cut out a hole in the ramp so Sherman can hide underneath/inside the ramp if he wants to .

The plants in the planter right now are 1 ficus and 2 asparagus ferns. The window there only gets a couple hours of direct sunlight per day, so I'm trying to find some tortoise-safe plants that will grow well under those conditions.


----------



## andred82vert

very nice! now, i want to re-do my tort habitat........thanks alot! :3


----------



## Sudhira

Very clever, can't wait to see more!


----------



## Kadaan

Exploring the planter











Full enclosure shot


----------



## Isa

Really nice enclosure, I love it. Your little one seems really happy in it


----------



## dreadyA

Whooooooa! Man, it can out looking spectacular! I hadn't followed up on the updates till now. Looks so luxurious! The plants make it look natural. looks super good!


----------



## hjalmarsmom

Hi Kadaan,

I have a redfoot enclosure that gets minimal light, and I've found begonias are easy to get and safe, and don't mind low light, and my spider plants seem to do well also without a lot of light. Le tme know if you find anything else that works for you, I'm always looking for new plants!


----------



## sammi

Awesome looking! Who knew what you could do with a bookshelf right? Great job


----------



## Yvonne G

I know that the ramp at the highest isn't tall enough for him to get hurt, but if he "jumps" off at the top, he might end up on his back. A railing might be in order.

Great job!! I'm going to sticky this thread in Enclosures so that it is one beginners can find quickly.

Yvonne


----------



## terryo

I love that side part with the plants in it. Really, really, nice enclosure. Great job.


----------



## Nay

First time I am hitting this thread, (or many others lately it seems) But what a nice job!! It seems my wonderful table my hubby made for seem seems so drab. with 2 large RF's they demolish everything I put in there. And I find I have to stir up the substrate after a few days, or it is like concrete. I am very happy we used a heavy pond liner, because the way I dig things ups is by using a flat spatula like piece of wood and I think a shower curtain would not hold up.
Great job
NA


----------



## webskipper

Instead of the plastic liners use epoxy paint or just epoxy.

30 and 60 minute epoxy resin glues are waterproof and do not get too hot while curing. I'd use full strength 30 minute for the wooden seems. Then mix a 1/4 cup of epoxy with rubbing alcohol 50:50 and spread on the floor , wait an hour, then the walls, wait an hour, etc. It'll take 24 hours to fully cure and I would do it a second time.

Clear liquid acrylic works well to seal the wood, too.


----------



## Sudhira

I never made it to Ikea ( too far ), so I looked around various stores today for an inexpensive bookshelf. Found one at Target ( 42"X24"x12" ), and 2 end tables, $54.00 out the door including tax. I am going to attempt to put it together tomorrow! Wish me luck!


----------



## webskipper

Good job.

Same here. Too far to drive. The local Reptile Specialist Store was selling their bookcase for $20. 60X224X9 works for me.

A 24x60x1/4" piece of Plywood is waiting to be nailed to the unit. I disassembled it to where the bottom shelf completes the box. No legs. A few new holes and the cam system for the bottom shelf works again. The epoxy will fill the useless shelf holes and water proof the mating surfaces. A quart of stain/polyurethane will seal and protect the bare wood as only one side of the top and bottom shelves are finished with the simulated artificial finish. I have some old drawers that I can reuse the handle hardware and will look nice on the box. Decorative.


----------

