# sulcata greenhouse and heated shed. on a budget



## argus333 (Dec 10, 2013)

i live in coastal nj i built heated shed and now with winter here i built a low budget greenhouse. temps in shed are 80 to 100 daytime and 70 to 80 at night. green house is about 10 to 30 degrees warmer then outside depending on sun. other day was 35 out but 75 inside! plastic sweats so humidity is always high 75 to 90%. greenhouse keeps the cold wind off tortoises and as turtles grow i can easily expand. sulcatas are 12 to 14 inch now and will live outside all yr. greenhouse is made to easily take down as temps. warm up in summer. greenhouse cost me about $150 but i had a lot of wood around. took about a day to build and i made it extra strong for snow and wind. i know its not the fanciest but so far has worked great for me !!!!


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## wellington (Dec 10, 2013)

I think it looks great. The best thing is, it's working for you. Great job.


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## BeeBee*BeeLeaves (Dec 10, 2013)

Woo hoo! That rocks! Very resourceful and I think it looks fab. You done good for your babies! Cute and happy and cozy! Yay! : )


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## argus333 (Dec 10, 2013)

something about letting them out on 30 degree days just feels funny to me.


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## Jacqui (Dec 10, 2013)

Nice! Can you keep us posted on how well it holds up and what tempsstay inside when it gets really cold? (wondering how warm it would keep it here where this week we were in the negative figures and lots of wind) Also where inside are you taking the temps?


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## BeeBee*BeeLeaves (Dec 10, 2013)

argus333 said:


> something about letting them out on 30 degree days just feels funny to me.



Yep, being that they come from a range that includes the Sahara desert, I believe. Brrrrrr. OMG, I cannot fathom that either. Out here, that never happens. Three and zero, oh no! No, no. I am freezing just thinking about it. I am a chill chicken.


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## argus333 (Dec 11, 2013)

Today 7 am. 17 outside 41 in greenhouse 72 in shed. Sun is out all day now @ 130pm 68 in greenhouse 98 under light in shed and 80 cool side of shed. Coldest day so far this winter. May add a red bulb in greenhouse to keep night temp up a little on really cold nights.


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## argus333 (Dec 16, 2013)

Ok well so far so good... Temps in greenhouse are almost always 15 to 30 warmer. Just depends on sun. 2 days ago was 44 out but got up to 76! I put hay all over grass floor to help insulate floor a little and got a few more degrees warmer. I have thermonter on floor at tortoise level. Best thing I ever built. has snowed 3 times on it and is great that sulcatas can still come out and graze.
It's pretty cool to go out there in a snow storm and it's 60 degrees in there.


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## Tweeter066 (Dec 16, 2013)

That's a rely nice outdoor cage if I ever get a sulcata I would almost definitely use that design


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## julietteq (Dec 16, 2013)

Love it ! Cheap, simple and effective. Do you think you could use thick see through plastic instead of the white one you are using now so you can see what is going on in there without having to open the door?


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## theresal (Dec 16, 2013)

Great design and even better that it keeps the babies warm!


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## argus333 (Dec 16, 2013)

if i could find clear i would, but all i could find was white and u want it kind of thick to be strong and keep out weathe rand snow real good. next yr ill make bigger. i put a 100 watt che. in greenhouse also just to take off chill in morning and keep it a little warmer on cold days. glad i made it strong its been snowing every other day here!!!!


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## lynnedit (Dec 16, 2013)

Great design, well thought out!


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## bouaboua (Dec 22, 2013)

May I ask for the heater information? What kind of heater you put it in this out door enclosure? I believe I saw it in another posting.

Thanks.


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## argus333 (Dec 22, 2013)

ya its just small oil filled heater. really works great only set on a 2. ill get u name tomorrow other pople on here use it i got it on $60


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## bouaboua (Dec 23, 2013)

Only $60? Not bad at all. Thank you so much. Looking forward to the name of that heater.


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## argus333 (Dec 23, 2013)

made by delonghi model trn0812t


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## bouaboua (Dec 23, 2013)

argus333 said:


> made by delonghi model trn0812t



Thank you for the info. Every where I look, no one less then $69.00. you get yourself a very good deal. Thanks again. I will get one soon.


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## Jacqui (Dec 23, 2013)

So still keeping the temps well? How cold have you been down to at this point?


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## argus333 (Dec 24, 2013)

It's gotten warmer here outside latley temps in the 60s with a 76 day!!!!! Greenhouse was 94 that day and mid 80s on cooler days. It gets really humid in there it jus sweats, humity is 70 to 97%!!!! Shed is a constant 84 to 98 under light and 80 at night. I'd like it to be a little cooler in there at night but it's to hard to adjust heater everynight. Temps dropping here again so well see again how it goes. If your in a cooler area if the country I highly recommend building one of these it's great and sulcatas seem to love it...


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## bouaboua (Dec 24, 2013)

argus333 said:


> It's gotten warmer here outside latley temps in the 60s with a 76 day!!!!! Greenhouse was 94 that day and mid 80s on cooler days. It gets really humid in there it jus sweats, humity is 70 to 97%!!!! Shed is a constant 84 to 98 under light and 80 at night. I'd like it to be a little cooler in there at night but it's to hard to adjust heater everynight. Temps dropping here again so well see again how it goes. If your in a cooler area if the country I highly recommend building one of these it's great and sulcatas seem to love it...



Thank you for the update.


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## Turtulas-Len (Dec 24, 2013)

To help keep a more steady and constant temp in the shed, try putting vents at the highest points possible on opposite sides. I did this to Walkers (adult sulcata) house and and made flexible fiberglass pads to regulate the correct air flow out the vents to maintain good temps for him. I have a small fan at the back vent just in case I need more air circulation. I also have an unheated 16x24 ft enclosure that I turn into a greenhouse for the local turtles spend the winter in, your greenhouse stays a lot warmer than mine, I did some ground temp checks in different areas today and they were all in the low 50s even after the the warm spell that had some box turtles, and russian tortoises waking up to poke their heads out hoping it was spring. I am a little south of you on the Virginia side of the Potomac River.


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## argus333 (Dec 24, 2013)

i put some tick hay/straw on the floor helped raise temps alot and it gets sun almost all day long and i have a 100watt che in there to heat it up on cold mornings. i was thinking of getting small fan for shed. do the vents let in outside air though? wont that cool it down to much?


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## tobpainting (Dec 28, 2013)

Argus great job that enclosure is sweet.


Vents add circulation it should be vented like house


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## argus333 (Dec 29, 2013)

ya im trying


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## Jlant85 (Dec 29, 2013)

Green house looks bad a**!!!!


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## argus333 (Jan 3, 2014)

Well we got 10 inches of snow last night and had winds around 30 to 40 mph. Everything held together strong as could be, brushed snow off before bed last night woke up brushed off the rest. Today for the 1st time I did not open door to greenhouse left them in the house wich was 75 to 86, and then warmed up to 103 under light before I went to work. Outside temp was 16. Tonight temps in the signal digets to 0... I will leave them in shed. Coldest night here since 2009.


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## Jacqui (Jan 3, 2014)

That should be a nice test. Will temps warm up tomorrow?


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## argus333 (Jan 4, 2014)

Still freezing here left them in she'd again today, tomorrow 40's so wil be back out to play then.


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## J_W (Jan 4, 2014)

That is an awesome design. I live in Colorado and the temps get about the same as yours in the winter, but less snow. I will definitely be building one of these when my baby is old enough to keep outside year round.


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## argus333 (Jan 5, 2014)

ya works really well. this has been a heavy snow and cold winter here, tues will 11 for the high!!!!


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## argus333 (Jan 7, 2014)

It was 2 degrees this am. 86 to 88 in shed left torts locked in there today. 10 outside rt now but 29 in greenhouse actually.


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## Yvonne G (Jan 7, 2014)

Many, many years ago I wanted to make a structure similar to yours out of PVC and sheet plastic. I couldn't figure out how to fasten the plastic to the PVC. The wind would shake the plastic (I was going to make it big enough for me to stand up inside) and rip whatever I used to attach. So I never did make it with the plastic. I ended up putting shade cloth over the PVC for a rain forest effect for summer, but never did have a good structure for winter.


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## argus333 (Jan 7, 2014)

all i did was pvc pipe poles attached to a 2.8 then i put hardware cloth over the top to make it more ridged i attached this with zip ties then a warped the whole thing in 6mm plastic twice. i attached it at the bottom with a 2x2 then i put 8 screws in half way sticking out along the 2 x 6 and used rope in a zig zag patters along the top. u can see in this pic along bottom edge. stapled in front to wood door frame. its solid winds up to 50 mph + and 10 inches of snow so far.


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