# Two Story Insulated Tortoise Town-home



## Ramsey (Jan 20, 2018)

Hello,

Here are some pictures of the new home that we built for our torts. Basic construction is framed with "2x2", covered with plywood and insulation all the way around (all walls, both floors, and ceiling). Front view/access section is 1/4" tempered, sliding on rails. Had the glass custom cut at my local shop. Rolling on casters so we can move it as needed.

Total dimensions are 8' wide 4' deep 6'tall on 24" legs. Inner dimensions will be about 4" less.

Please let me know if you have any questions.


Starting Point, all the wood. You know how it is, being picky at the lumber yard taking hours to select the specific pieces in what I call a fire-sale:






Insulation (best investment of all):

-floor





-walls





Show-and-tell time,Unpainted:





If you're interested, this is the dowel installation for the mid-braces





Painted. This thing DRANK paint. And I kept feeding it. If I recall, on the order of 3 gallons. semi-gloss non VOC, non-toxic. Fully primered with mold-resistant base.





Testing Electrical, using lights for the heating elements:





Twilight moved in, caught nibbling the fern, then taking off.





Vinyl flooring for the 2nd level resident.... should be "pet safe".





Final Product (for now)






This thing is so well insulated, that the thermostat is only on during the coldest part of the night. Fewer than 3-4 hours per night. Of course, doesn't hurt that I live in a temperate environment. It's very well sealed, it holds humidity very well.


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## wellington (Jan 20, 2018)

Great job! Who lives in them? I couldn't see them good enough.


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## Sterant (Jan 20, 2018)

Looks very nice. I like it! How deep a substrate layer can you put in before it spills out the door opening?


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## baldegale (Jan 20, 2018)

Ramsey said:


> Hello,
> 
> Here are some pictures of the new home that we built for our torts. Basic construction is framed with "2x2", covered with plywood and insulation all the way around (all walls, both floors, and ceiling). Front view/access section is 1/4" tempered, sliding on rails. Had the glass custom cut at my local shop. Rolling on casters so we can move it as needed.
> 
> ...



what kind of paint did you use? makes me wanna build it..


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## baldegale (Jan 20, 2018)

also, is the insulation sandwiched between wood?


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## Ramsey (Jan 20, 2018)

wellington said:


> Great job! Who lives in them? I couldn't see them good enough.



Thanks. It's for leopards.


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## Ramsey (Jan 20, 2018)

Sterant said:


> Looks very nice. I like it! How deep a substrate layer can you put in before it spills out the door opening?




Thank you.
About 2 inches of substrate.


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## baldegale (Jan 20, 2018)

Ramsey said:


> Thank you.
> About 2 inches of substrate.



1.75 is the actual measurement of a 2x2 [emoji6]

whoops just saw theres two


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## Ramsey (Jan 20, 2018)

baldegale said:


> also, is the insulation sandwiched between wood?



Yes, the insulation is in between plywood on. all surfaces. I'll see if I still have the paint cans in the garage. I interviewed the hell out of a few different people when shopping and even researched the technical spec sheets online. It's from Home Depot.


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## baldegale (Jan 20, 2018)

Ramsey said:


> Yes, the insulation is in between plywood on. all surfaces. I'll see if I still have the paint cans in the garage. I interviewed the hell out of a few different people when shopping and even researched the technical spec sheets online. It's from Home Depot.



just looks amazing. got me wanting to do the same thing but 4ft instead of 6ft and the top half would be split into 4x4 sections for other animals


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## baldegale (Jan 20, 2018)

any idea on how much this thing weighs? wanna get an idea on if its movable LOL. also how much was the total?


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## Cheryl Hills (Jan 20, 2018)

Looks great. One problem. Substrate should be 4 to 6 inches at the least. Torts need a place to dig and bury them self’s to help regulate temps. 2 inches is not deep enough.


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## Ramsey (Jan 20, 2018)

baldegale said:


> any idea on how much this thing weighs? wanna get an idea on if its movable LOL. also how much was the total?



Yes, it was designed with the intent of being able to split each floor in half with a board. Although I doubt any time soon.

It's heavy. I mean, a ton. I had to use a floor jack at some points. I wanted the look of the smaller casters, and so far they are holding up the weight.

I can move it with ease by myself... But it is heavy. If I ever sell the house, the new tenant better like tortoises.


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## KevinGG (Jan 21, 2018)

It’s beautiful. Great job


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## baldegale (Jan 21, 2018)

Ramsey said:


> Yes, it was designed with the intent of being able to split each floor in half with a board. Although I doubt any time soon.
> 
> It's heavy. I mean, a ton. I had to use a floor jack at some points. I wanted the look of the smaller casters, and so far they are holding up the weight.
> 
> I can move it with ease by myself... But it is heavy. If I ever sell the house, the new tenant better like tortoises.



i had a single walled 4x8x3.5 and it wouldnt even budge, but if i build this i know exactly where its going and it wouldnt move


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## CarolM (Jan 21, 2018)

Ramsey said:


> Hello,
> 
> Here are some pictures of the new home that we built for our torts. Basic construction is framed with "2x2", covered with plywood and insulation all the way around (all walls, both floors, and ceiling). Front view/access section is 1/4" tempered, sliding on rails. Had the glass custom cut at my local shop. Rolling on casters so we can move it as needed.
> 
> ...


That is great work. Looks really good.


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## kesh2l (Jan 21, 2018)

Wow that looks amazing!!


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## Bambam1989 (Jan 21, 2018)

Very inspiring, thank you for sharing.


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## Maro2Bear (Jan 21, 2018)

Looks really nice! New houses always look great...hope the tenants don’t wreck it!


*Question*: the rectangle frame hanging down from the ceiling, is that an air diffuser/shield to prevent a/c or heat from blowing directly down on the enclosures?


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## baldegale (Jan 21, 2018)

Maro2Bear said:


> Looks really nice! New houses always look great...hope the tenants don’t wreck it!
> 
> 
> *Question*: the rectangle frame hanging down from the ceiling, is that an air diffuser/shield to prevent a/c or heat from blowing directly down on the enclosures?



i think its an LED light just to make things look nicer


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## Ramsey (Jan 21, 2018)

baldegale said:


> i think its an LED light just to make things look nicer




Correct. It's an LED light I installed last year.


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## Maro2Bear (Jan 21, 2018)

Ramsey said:


> Correct. It's an LED light I installed last year.



Interesting, thanks. Looks great!


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## Ramsey (Jan 21, 2018)

Maro2Bear said:


> Interesting, thanks. Looks great!



NP, thank you.


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## Sterant (Jan 21, 2018)

Cheryl Hills said:


> Looks great. One problem. Substrate should be 4 to 6 inches at the least. Torts need a place to dig and bury them self’s to help regulate temps. 2 inches is not deep enough.


Agreed - but also seems like if you forget to close the doors (which I do constantly in mine) the tortoises could fall out. Even though it doesn't look as good, IMHO, you might consider putting a 6" piece of something thin across the door openings of both enclosures allowing you to use more substrate and provide a barrier so that the tortoises can't fall out.


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## cheerios586 (Jan 24, 2018)

Ramsey said:


> Hello,
> 
> Here are some pictures of the new home that we built for our torts. Basic construction is framed with "2x2", covered with plywood and insulation all the way around (all walls, both floors, and ceiling). Front view/access section is 1/4" tempered, sliding on rails. Had the glass custom cut at my local shop. Rolling on casters so we can move it as needed.
> 
> ...


Hi, very cool! My Russian Tort would like this. But I'm afraid the substrate wouldn't be deep enough for her. We have over 4 inches now in her enclosure and she digs to the bottom and seems to want to dig deeper. However, this is a very nice enclosure, good job!


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## Ramsey (Jan 24, 2018)

cheerios586 said:


> Hi, very cool! My Russian Tort would like this. But I'm afraid the substrate wouldn't be deep enough for her. We have over 4 inches now in her enclosure and she digs to the bottom and seems to want to dig deeper. However, this is a very nice enclosure, good job!



Thank you. The substrate gets deeper further back. Only towards the front is it a couple of inches.

We even have created little hills.

Glad you like.


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## Ramsey (Jun 24, 2018)

Ramsey said:


> ...
> 
> Vinyl flooring for the 2nd level resident.... should be "pet safe".



So it's been a few months and everything is still solid. The paint (inside and out) is holding up well with the 90% humidity.

The vinyl flooring in the upper level is the way to go. It's in excellent shape and hasn't negatively affected the residents. I'll be converting the lower to vinyl when I have a chance.


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## Pearly (Jun 24, 2018)

Ramsey said:


> So it's been a few months and everything is still solid. The paint (inside and out) is holding up well with the 90% humidity.
> 
> The vinyl flooring in the upper level is the way to go. It's in excellent shape and hasn't negatively affected the residents. I'll be converting the lower to vinyl when I have a chance.



Great enclosure! Love it!


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## MichaelaW (Jun 24, 2018)

Did you happen to calculate the cost of the build? It looks amazing.


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## Ramsey (Jun 24, 2018)

MichaelaW said:


> Did you happen to calculate the cost of the build? It looks amazing.



"Next question."

Haha, jk. The cost eventually became the elephant in the room that I didn't want to acknowledge. I could have probably cut corners here and there, but I chose to do it right the first time. The glass and the paint were the priciest.

All in all, with all electrical, wiring, fixtures and materials it was about $1000 IIR.

You can probably find a plastic setup for less, but it won't have the insulation or customizations, plus this matches my home decor perfectly. In addition, if I ever need to modify it, I have the blueprint somewhere in my head.

Oh, I should note that all of the wood and paint was purchased at Home Depot here in Southern Cal where even the air we breath has a premium surcharge on it.


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## Turningstar (Jul 7, 2018)

And my quest for the perfect tortoise habitat is over!

What lighting and heat do you use for each tank? 
And can you give me the name of the paint so that I can start collecting supplies to build it?


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