# Underground Tortoise Bunker



## Tom (Aug 28, 2010)

This is my latest project. It was inspired by some of the really cool caves and shelters I saw here on the forum, but mostly I got the idea from Tyler. I've always wanted my sulcatas to be able to be underground, somehow, but I don't want them to just start digging willy-nilly all over the place and get stuck in a collapsed or flooded tunnel. This is Daisy's pen and it was sort of a small scale experiment. I intend to add a heat mat when fall gets here and watch the over night temps, without her in it. If I like how it goes, I intend to do something similar on a large scale for the adults."Underground" chamber dimensions are 2x3' and I filled it with 3-4" of peat moss and coco chips.

Start of construction.






Top, before insulation.





Coming together now.





Starting to dig... not fun in 114 degree weather, in direct sun, in rocky, rooty, hardpacked soil.





Checking the fit.





Adding the tunnel.





This piece is sort of a rain cover. Its around 20" of ground covered and sloped away from the tunnel entrance. Unless water starts flowing uphill, it can't flood the underground chamber from here.





The interior of the chamber showing peat and coco chips, as well as temp/humidity probe and Daisy.





Finished and buried. She's in there in this pic.





The end result. The bottom two numbers are current temp and humidity where ever the unit sits. In this case in the shade near the pen. The upper numbers are temp and humidity where the probe sits, in the underground chamber, and the high and low for the last 24 hours. The probe wasn't in there when that high and low were recorded. It basically stayed 80-81 all day down there and 84% humidity, even though it was in the direct sun all day on a 100 degree day.





She didn't use it much on the first day. I put her in the chamber once and down the tunnel twice, but she preferred to stay above ground. I'll keep putting her in this enclosure and see if she starts to like it or not.


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## ekm5015 (Aug 28, 2010)

Very nice. That is a great setup. I will have to do something similar in the future.


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## Neal (Aug 28, 2010)

Did you use anything to treay the wood? I would like to do something like this, but I worry about the wood rotting. 

treat*


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## TylerStewart (Aug 28, 2010)

Works great, doesn't it? That 80 degrees will drop quite a bit more if you put 2-3" of soil on top of that lid..... You can keep it above grade if you want, but when the sun is hitting it directly like that it will still heat up the inside of the box a lot more than it would if there was a small amount of soil. I just put enough on there that it's not a big deal to scrape it off (or lift it off) if you need to access the inside. I think you'll find you don't need to access the inside very much.


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## Missy (Aug 28, 2010)

Very nice, lucky tort.


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## Tom (Aug 28, 2010)

Neal, Its just plain old plywood. Its so dry where I am that wood just doesn't rot, even in areas that get hosed a lot. I pulled a 2x4 up that had been buried in a constantly wet area for 12 years and it looked pretty rotten. I cut it with a chop saw just to see how bad it was in cross section and it was in perfect condition except for the outer 1/16th of an inch or so. I'm the one who put it in the ground 12 years ago and the dog kennels get hosed almost every day, so I'm sure of the conditions too. I won't cry if that shelter only lasts for 15 or 20 years. Ha ha.

Tyler, you can see in the one pic that I glued a one inch thick piece of rigid foam insulation to the inside of the lid and that seems to have done the trick. I still put some dirt on top after the pics on your recommendation from before. I'll be checking temps daily for a while.

Everyone else, Thanks for the compliments.


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## Neal (Aug 28, 2010)

Tom said:


> ... in the one pic that I glued a one inch thick piece of rigid foam insulation...



Random response: I use that same exact type of foam insulation for my tortoises winter house, that stuff works really good!!


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## terryo (Aug 28, 2010)

There is a sanctuary in Florida that my sister sent me a picture of with the same thing on a very large scale for ...I think they were....sulcata's. I have to ask her if she still has the pictures. That's really cool.


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## Tom (Aug 28, 2010)

terryo said:


> There is a sanctuary in Florida that my sister sent me a picture of with the same thing on a very large scale for ...I think they were....sulcata's. I have to ask her if she still has the pictures. That's really cool.



I would love to see that Terry! I'm considering cinderblocks instead of wood for the big one. It will be roughly 4x8'.


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## terryo (Aug 28, 2010)

I just called my sister and she said she's going to try and find the pictures she took.


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## Tropical Torts (Aug 28, 2010)

That is so cool inovative and just plain Awsome!!


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## TOK DADDY (Aug 28, 2010)

Very cool - one of the more original things I've seen thus far on this forum. I've done several underground "borrow's" just as you have. They absolutely love it. Great job!


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## Scooter (Aug 28, 2010)

Great idea! Thanks for the step by step shots.


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## Yvonne G (Aug 28, 2010)

I thought of cinderblocks too. Buried wood in my part of the country has rot and termites within 6 months. I like that a lot. Thanks for the pictures Tom. Bookmark!!


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## Becki (Aug 29, 2010)

Awesome! Thanks for the pictures. 114 degrees! Yikes!


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## TKCARDANDCOIN (Aug 29, 2010)

Very cool!Great idea!


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## terryo (Aug 29, 2010)

My sister sent me these pictures a few months ago from some place in Fl.


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## Candy (Aug 29, 2010)

That is very nice Tom, but I have one question. What about other animals getting in there do you think that could be a problem? You can only see so far in I'd be afraid of predators.


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## Tom (Aug 29, 2010)

Thanks for the pics Terryo.

Candy, the opening is only around 7x10" so nothing big enough to eat a 6-7" tortoise couldn't really fit in there. Plus the lid comes off really easily, so I can check it before I put her out there. Plus we don't have predator problems out at the ranch.


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## DeanS (Aug 29, 2010)

Is there any kind of drainage for rainwater during the winter?


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## Tom (Aug 29, 2010)

No. That's one of the things I intend to watch before I build the big one. It doesn't seem to be a problem for most people, but my intention is to cover that area with a tarp on the rare occasion that it should rain out here.


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## DeanS (Aug 29, 2010)

So, I trust it's going to be built on a higher elevation part of the property? I'm not trying to mess with you Tom...I'm planning on building two underground concrete bunkers...in accordance with what the guy from AZ (I think his name was Trent?) had built under his patio.,,so more than anything else, I'm just picking your brain!


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## Candy (Aug 29, 2010)

Tom said:


> Thanks for the pics Terryo.
> 
> Candy, the opening is only around 7x10" so nothing big enough to eat a 6-7" tortoise couldn't really fit in there. Plus the lid comes off really easily, so I can check it before I put her out there. Plus we don't have predator problems out at the ranch.



O.K. I'm glad to hear that I was a little worried. Maybe I'll think about this for Fernando I'm sure he would love to hide like that.


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## Tom (Aug 29, 2010)

DeanS said:


> So, I trust it's going to be built on a higher elevation part of the property? I'm not trying to mess with you Tom...I'm planning on building two underground concrete bunkers...in accordance with what the guy from AZ (I think his name was Trent?) had built under his patio.,,so more than anything else, I'm just picking your brain!



No problem Dean. Pick away. The whole property is on a very gentle downhill slope and drains very well. This one is pretty much toward the top and the big one, if I build it, will be at the very top.

One more time, just bring yourself on over anytime you like and have a look. You must pass right by me twice a day. Good lord man, what's it gonna take?


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## Isa (Aug 30, 2010)

Nice job Tom! It looks very very nice


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## Tom (Sep 28, 2010)

Check out these numbers!!! This is the reason I built this! The top number is the temp at the probe which is underground, in the bunker. Then second number is the humidity at the probe. It sits right next to Daisy. The next two side by side numbers are the high and low over the last 24 hour period. The lower two numbers are the temp and humidity where the unit is sitting. In this case, above ground, in the shade, at 5:30pm yesterday. For some reason this gauge never goes below 16% humidity although I know its lower than that according to all my other gauges. The temp was 110-115 all day, but by 5:30pm it had dropped all the way to 107.


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## DeanS (Sep 28, 2010)

Damn Tom! Those numbers are so perfect...it's unreal! Good job!


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## Jermosh (Oct 13, 2010)

I like that setup, termites would have a buffet though. 

Maybe bricks and composite timber. Do you have a caliche layer over there as well? I will have to rent a jack hammer for anything lower then 1-2' in my yard.


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## Tracy Gould (Oct 13, 2010)

Great bunker Tom.


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## Tom (Oct 13, 2010)

Jermosh said:


> I like that setup, termites would have a buffet though.
> 
> Maybe bricks and composite timber. Do you have a caliche layer over there as well? I will have to rent a jack hammer for anything lower then 1-2' in my yard.



Yeah, wood lasts forever underground here. No termite or rot problems for me. Sorry I don't know what a caliche layer is, so I'm pretty sure we don't have one. There are a lot of rocks in the ground here, but I just work around it. I'm waiting for the first big rain to see if it floods or not. If not then I'll probably start designing a big one for the adults.

Thanks Tracy.


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## Livingstone (Oct 15, 2010)

Great job man, wish I was in arizona, I'd come check it out.


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## froghaven5 (Oct 15, 2010)

Really cool. My little guy is too small to think of this now and wood definitely wouldn't work here, but I'll be watching this thread to see how things go and remembering it for the future.


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## Dutch-az (Oct 16, 2010)

Tom said:


> I would love to see that Terry! I'm considering cinderblocks instead of wood for the big one. It will be roughly 4x8'.



Tom - here is a plan for a Desert tortoise burrow... might give you come ideas as well: http://www.azgfd.gov/w_c/tortoise/documents/PhxTucBurrows.pdf


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## Tom (Oct 16, 2010)

Dutch-az said:


> Tom said:
> 
> 
> > I would love to see that Terry! I'm considering cinderblocks instead of wood for the big one. It will be roughly 4x8'.
> ...



Those are some fantastic ideas. Thanks.


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