# Cheap, easy to make coldframes/ greenhouse pyramids



## biochemnerd808 (Jul 7, 2014)

Pyramid-cold frames... Easy-peesy-lemond-squeezy! 

Folks often get caught up on lack of carpentry skills when it comes to providing a cold frame for their tortoise. I thought my little invention might help out a little. I scored a stack of polycarbonate scraps from a local garden center for $5. Polycarbonate is the material used in high-end greenhouses, and it lets heat and UVB in, while being light weight and sturdy. Normally, it is very expensive, but this project was made from scraps. I ended up making 4 of these, and placed them in the areas of the outdoor enclosures where the sun first hits in the morning. It was a good 15-20 degrees warmer inside them than it was outside. My tortoises love them, and I often see 2-3 of them huddled inside in morning, once they come out of their burrows.







The polycarbonate was not too hard to cut. I used chicken shears to cut off one of the corners to make the entry. I sealed all the edges with foil ducting tape, and then used the ducting tape to tape the triangles together to make a 3-sided pyramid. The structure is sturdy, I could lean on the tip if I wanted, and it would hold my weight. 





You can see Amber, peeking out of her pyramid in the quarantine area. She is huge - so the house doesn't look very big with her in it. These are actually quite roomy. No carpentry required!

I hope someone finds this useful.  If you can't find polycarbonate scraps, simple plexiglass would probably work, too.


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## lynnedit (Jul 7, 2014)

These work so well!!!!!


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## Elohi (Jul 7, 2014)

biochemnerd808 said:


> Pyramid-cold frames... Easy-peesy-lemond-squeezy!
> 
> Folks often get caught up on lack of carpentry skills when it comes to providing a cold frame for their tortoise. I thought my little invention might help out a little. I scored a stack of polycarbonate scraps from a local garden center for $5. Polycarbonate is the material used in high-end greenhouses, and it lets heat and UVB in, while being light weight and sturdy. Normally, it is very expensive, but this project was made from scraps. I ended up making 4 of these, and placed them in the areas of the outdoor enclosures where the sun first hits in the morning. It was a good 15-20 degrees warmer inside them than it was outside. My tortoises love them, and I often see 2-3 of them huddled inside in morning, once they come out of their burrows.
> 
> ...



These are awesome!! And they have lovely corners that tortoises seems to love LOL 


Elohi(Earth)


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## biochemnerd808 (Jul 9, 2014)

I should add that I bet this kind of structure (using tape rather than a frame) would probably be possible on a larger scale, too. I plan to build a small greenhouse next Spring, for which I scored some nice triple-pane windows for free from Craigslist (I drove an hour to get them, but they were brand-new, and free!). They won't let UVB in, but the heat and light will be good for the tortoises to retreat to on chilly days, and then they can always run around in the outdoors portion of their enclosure to tank up on 'real' sun.


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## kimber_lee_314 (Jul 9, 2014)

Very nice!


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## leigti (Jul 9, 2014)

I like it! Thank you for giving us non-crafty people some good ideas. You said that polycarbonate does let UVB in?


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## gtc (Jul 10, 2014)

leigti said:


> I like it! Thank you for giving us non-crafty people some good ideas. You said that polycarbonate does let UVB in?




I am pretty sure that polycarbonate does not let UVB in. However, want cheap plastic sheets that do let UVB in? Get a used tanning bed and take out the plastic covering the ubv tubes.


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## biochemnerd808 (Jul 10, 2014)

gtc said:


> I am pretty sure that polycarbonate does not let UVB in.


 
Huh, I just did some digging, and you are right. Polycarbonate panels filter out the UVB. My bad - for some reason I thought I remembered they let it in. Well, no harm done... they got to warm up in their little pyramids, and then can spend the rest of the day running around in good old unfiltered natural sunlight.


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