# The Mother of All Tortoise Boxes



## Tom (Nov 9, 2010)

This is a project that I've been planning and designing for a long time. The addition of my new girls pushed me over the edge to finally get it done. My old shed was very drafty and used nothing but heat mats to warm my adult sulcatas during the cold winter nights. I was always worried about them. They were always warm enough, but the air in there was cold. They survived the old way for many years, but I see noticeable improvement in just the first few days of using the new box. I keep it around 80, and I just feel a lot better about them at night now. I, and they, will sleep much better on those occasional below freezing nights in the coming winter. I'm also very curious to see what this will do to my breeding success with Delores. Most people get multiple large clutches out of their adult female sulcatas every year. I've been getting just one small clutch out of my young female each year. I wonder if the usual cold winter temps have had anything to do with that. Time will tell.

I tried to keep the pic count down, but still tell the story, so here goes:
















A little size reference.





That's one and a half inch thick insulation all the way around.





Here the floor insulation is in, but not covered yet. You can see the wall insulation is now covered/protected.





Here's the heat source on its raised shelf. The wheels sit in cut-outs so it can't move and its screwed to the floor with metal sash chain.









The door being fitted with its overlapping vinyl flaps.





I used foil backed, fire proof insulation for the top since it will rest right over the heater. I glued it in place with plain silicone sealant.





Here's the finished product next to the old one, and then by itself.









Here are all three girls partaking. You can see that Big Bertha has already anointed the new box. She did this within minutes of climbing in. They've been using it for around a week now and its well broken in. You can see the power cord coming in and my thermostat and temp probe hanging against the back wall. I've also installed an inline electricity meter and I'm going to compare the electricity usage of this 600 watt heater that's rarely on verses the three 72 watt heat mats that were almost always on. I've installed the heat mats because that is what they are used to sleeping on and I want them to feel as comfortable in the new box as possible, but they aren't plugged in. As a side benefit, they protect my wood floor from the always destructive sulcata feet and poo.





Here is a pic from tonight, after the sun went down. They are all going in and out on their own. Words cannot express what a relief that is. Try carrying a 66 pound, unhappy, struggling sulcata for 50 yards sometime. Try doing it every night. No fun. For those deciding whether or not to delve into the wonderful world of sulcatas, that's only about three days of sh** on my brand new floor there, just so you know. I'm assuming the loose stuff is from the recent pumpkin influx. Good times.


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## onarock (Nov 9, 2010)

tom where do you get your flexwatt?


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## Tom (Nov 9, 2010)

onarock said:


> tom where do you get your flexwatt?



What flexwatt?


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## onarock (Nov 10, 2010)

Tom said:


> onarock said:
> 
> 
> > tom where do you get your flexwatt?
> ...



yeah, was that a roll of flexwatt heat tape on the table in one of those pics?


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## Tom (Nov 10, 2010)

onarock said:


> Tom said:
> 
> 
> > onarock said:
> ...



Oh no. That was a roll of vinyl flap material. Its the same stuff they use in commercial freezers to keep the cold air in. I used it to make overlapping door flaps to hold the heat in and keep the cold out. It works really well. I guess you don't have much need for insulating door flaps over there in HI, huh? I'm sure jealous. I love tropical weather. I got the roll of vinyl from a very nice lady here on the forum. Thank you very nice lady. I'm putting it to good use.


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## Sweetness_bug (Nov 10, 2010)

This is awsome! I love it. I wish i was that handy. Power tools and me are not friends LOL...Looks great!


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## Yvonne G (Nov 10, 2010)

Very nice, Tom. If you mount your heat mats on 2x4's you can add substrate to the floor. The 2x4's raise the mat up a bit and the substrate stays off them. I've had to add substrate to my Aldab's shed because they pee a lot in there and I had no way to get the pee off the floor (a 4x4 blocks the doorway so I can't sweep it out).

So just the girls use the shed? I'm curious why all the torts don't live together.


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## J. Ellis (Nov 10, 2010)

Very nice Tom! I will be adding this, like the majoirty of your other posts, to my "favorites". 

I wonder if you were to use a sealant on the inside of the box if it would make it easier to clean, and possibly able to be preasure washed without the risk of damaging the wood?


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## Stephanie Logan (Nov 10, 2010)

Wow, that is impressive. Your tortoises are lucky girls indeed. 

So did Scooter and company commit some violation of Tom's rules and regulations and get sentenced to inferior quarters? Or is the Boys' Box under construction as we speak?


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## Tom (Nov 10, 2010)

emysemys said:


> Very nice, Tom. If you mount your heat mats on 2x4's you can add substrate to the floor. The 2x4's raise the mat up a bit and the substrate stays off them. I've had to add substrate to my Aldab's shed because they pee a lot in there and I had no way to get the pee off the floor (a 4x4 blocks the doorway so I can't sweep it out).
> 
> So just the girls use the shed? I'm curious why all the torts don't live together.



I'm not using the heat mats. They are just in there for them to lay on, so I was actually thinking about throwing some bermuda hay in there.

In the last pic, that's Scooter in the right foreground. Those are his girls now. He just was out carousing the pen when I took that first pic with just the three girls. He's always the first one out in the morning and the last one in at night. I think he doesn't want to miss anything in "his" territory. The last pic was taken at night after everyone had put themselves to bed.



J. Ellis said:


> Very nice Tom! I will be adding this, like the majoirty of your other posts, to my "favorites".
> 
> I wonder if you were to use a sealant on the inside of the box if it would make it easier to clean, and possibly able to be preasure washed without the risk of damaging the wood?



I left the wood inside totally untreated. I just hate "chemical" smells and that box is totally sealed all the way around with silicone sealant. Its airtight, except for the doorway flaps and a tiny crack around the top. I'm looking into some thin weather stripping for the top. Wood has an uncanny way of never rotting at my place even in conditions where it ought to.



Stephanie Logan said:


> Wow, that is impressive. Your tortoises are lucky girls indeed.
> 
> So did Scooter and company commit some violation of Tom's rules and regulations and get sentenced to inferior quarters? Or is the Boys' Box under construction as we speak?



Hi Stephanie. That's Scooter in with the girls there and Bert lives on the other side of the ranch in his own pen with a private heated 4x4 box. When it was just Delores, I used to swap the boys back and forth, but I've decided not to do that anymore. There doesn't seem to be any benefit and it makes the boys very antsy. I've got everything pretty calm with them all right now, so I don't want to mess with it.


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## Balboa (Nov 10, 2010)

Well done Tom!
Now that IS a serious house. Add some plumbing a person could live there


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## terryo (Nov 10, 2010)

Wonderful! Reminds me of the homeless guy we took in for the night, and he told me my bathroom was bigger than his cardboard box.


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## franeich (Nov 10, 2010)

Why does scooter get 3 lady's and bert is all alone


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## Tom (Nov 10, 2010)

franeich said:


> Why does scooter get 3 lady's and bert is all alone



Because I can't find anyone else willing to give up a girl. They are like gold and no on wants to part with them. I've been trying to find some for years with no luck and then suddenly Chewy and Big Bertha became available. If I could find two or three more, they'd go over to Bert's side.


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## ticothetort2 (Nov 10, 2010)

Really nice Tom, I love the craftsmanship! I'm sure the girls will be very cozy for the cold winter nights.


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## ALDABRAMAN (Nov 11, 2010)

I love the color, nice job.


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## sara (Nov 11, 2010)

thats the same heater i have, I love the oil heaters, less risk of fire hazard and they seem to disperse heat more evenly. what a bunh of happy looking girls you have there!


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## Isa (Nov 11, 2010)

Very nice Tom! I really like it


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## Tom (Nov 11, 2010)

Isa said:


> Very nice Tom! I really like it



Thanks Isa. Me too. More importantly all my torts love it. Once I added the new girls not every one was going into their old box every night. Don't really know why, but it got really old carrying all those heavy torts around in the dark every night. Now all of them go in all by themselves EVERY night. Words cannot express what a relief that is.


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## laura808 (Nov 13, 2010)

Your daughter is so cute!!! how many animals do you have??


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## solstitialis (Nov 13, 2010)

Can you give me some info on the oil heater you use? What brand? Are they really a low fire risk? 

I currently keep my tortoise in a rubbermaid storage shed like the one you have pictured but I would like to build him something a bit nicer and yours looks fairly simple to duplicate. Thanks for posting!


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## Tom (Nov 13, 2010)

laura808 said:


> Your daughter is so cute!!! how many animals do you have??



Oh good lord... a whole bunch. I'm an animal trainer by trade, so all I do is mess with animals all day every day.

Thanks for complimenting my little girl. Every father thinks their little one is the cutest. I bet your dad does too.



solstitialis said:


> Can you give me some info on the oil heater you use? What brand? Are they really a low fire risk?
> 
> I currently keep my tortoise in a rubbermaid storage shed like the one you have pictured but I would like to build him something a bit nicer and yours looks fairly simple to duplicate. Thanks for posting!



They are relatively safe. Most of them have a tip over shut off switch and if you keep them on low, they don't get hot enough to start a fire. I have a friend who used one in a plain, 3', plywood cube tort box. It rested up against the plywood inside the box and his tort would rest up against the heater with no problems. You can see I took lots of extra precautions with mine. Also, even though they draw a lot of power when they are on (600 watts on low), in a well insulated box they only come on two or three times a night. I'm using a watt meter right now to compare usage with this to a couple of heat mats that are always on, but using less electricity. Temps have been in the 40's here, but even with my thermostat set to 80, that heater rarely comes on...

... and I've got some happy torts.


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## ChiKat (Nov 14, 2010)

It looks wonderful! Sounds like the torts are very happy 
Your daughter is so adorable!


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## REXANNismyprettygirl (Nov 18, 2010)

WOW!!! that is definately the mother of all tort houses!!  I think I will share your handywork with my husband so he has an idea of what I am looking for in Rexann's new house!! hehehe


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## DeanS (Nov 18, 2010)

THE GURU I SAY! Is there any doubt?!?!? Nice work Tom (but really...I expected nothing less)!


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## solstitialis (Nov 19, 2010)

Tom said:


> laura808 said:
> 
> 
> > Your daughter is so cute!!! how many animals do you have??
> ...





What kind/brand thermostat are you using?


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## tortoises101 (Nov 19, 2010)

Extremely innovative and well designed. I like the idea of the build in heater; very smart design!!!


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## Tom (Nov 20, 2010)

solstitialis said:


> Tom said:
> 
> 
> > laura808 said:
> ...





Its called "A Life 1000 Watt Thermostat". I bought them from LLL Reptile. I've bought around 10 of them over the last couple of years and they all work great on a variety of electrical products.





tortoises101 said:


> Extremely innovative and well designed. I like the idea of the build in heater; very smart design!!!



Thank you. I spent A LOT of time thinking about every aspect of it. Took me around two weeks to actually build and finish it.


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