A new house for Chuck

Dizisdalife

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Dec 24, 2010
Messages
1,754
Location (City and/or State)
California
I started the project back in September when faced with housing a a friend's 65 lb. sulcata with no place to put her at night. Chuck (my 35 lb sulcata) needed a bigger house and so I planned to construct a new house for him and use it to house her temporarily. The house is based on Tom's design, latest version, "Best Night Box Design" http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-66867.html. A special thanks to Tom, not only for the sharing his box design, but also for the advice and consulting during the build process. Without his help it never would have happened. Now if he would only come and help me move it!

Chuck liked his old house. It is 2'x4'x 30" high. It is constructed much like the new house based on Tom's earlier houses. Chuck is a growing boy and needs more room. Especially in the winter months when he won't come out to roam his yard every day. The new house is 4'x6'x2' high.
Old house nestled in the shade of the Fig Tree.
http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa436/101giulia
/new/IMG_20131028_153008_037_zpsa8f59a53.jpg


New house sitting pretty much where I built it.


I am not at all a builder and have very few tools. No table saw, or chop saw, or even a square. Lucky for me, Tom's design is pretty straight forward and with a little planning I didn't really need those tools. Just a circular saw, a drill, a driver, and of course a caulking gun. I bought the wood at Home Depot and had them make some of the major cuts. They have this beautiful beam saw which is great for getting the height, width, and some of the lengths cut very accurately.
Here is the materials I brought home:


And the insulation:


I asked for the 1 1/2" R-Tech insulation, but they were out of it at the time. They sold Me the R-Max that they had for the same price as the R-Tech even though it was much more expensive. Slightly higher rated R-value also.

It took me the better part of a weekend to assemble the lid and the box and get it ready to serve as a temporary house for my friends female. She took to it right away. Having her spend a few nights made me realize that this box is not too big for an adult sulcata. She is only 6 years old and fit very comfortably in this space.





Here is Chuck and Chloe sharing a sunning spot while I worked on the house:


Once Chloe left for her own home and yard I finished Chuck's house. I added the insulated door, the vinyl flaps, a shelf for water containers (which really help with the relative humidity) the heater, and of course a thermostat. I painted it with some primer and a couple of coats of paint I had left from the new fence a few years ago. Same color as Chuck's old house.


The 2x10 is laying there because Chuck needs that extra step to get up to the ramp. If I ever move it to where his old house is under the Fig Tree the extra step won't be needed.

What really surprised me was how quickly Chuck took to the new house. I left both houses open and available to him to see what he would do. The first afternoon he went in the new house and checked it out. Later, at the usual time for him to go in, he returned to the new box and stayed the night. When I heard him digging away in there I knew he would stay. The next day he did go to the old house and I lifted him out an took him to the new house. Since then he has gone to the new house every night.


Since then, the night time temps have steadily dropped. So far the little oil filled heater has done a good job of keeping it warm in there. It is a 500 watt heater that I have set to about 1/2 on the dial. The thermostat is set to 83F. With my temp gun I have measured the surfaces to be 80F or above. I did add a small fan scavenged from a computer to help circulate the air. I can't feel it moving air, but it seems to even out the temps throughout the box. When I open the box up in the mornings I can see moisture condensing on the inside of the vinyl flaps.


Thanks Tom for making this easy for me to build. And Ken for the idea about the fan. And to those forum members that will help me make future improvements on this house.
 

Levi the Leopard

IXOYE
10 Year Member!
Joined
Oct 1, 2012
Messages
7,958
Location (City and/or State)
Southern Oregon
Hey, that tort house looks familiar! ;) Lol

Awesome job. I like seeing so many copies of Toms night box. It's a great design and so many torts are benefiting from it :)

Good job on yours!
 

tmbarta

Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Sep 13, 2012
Messages
37
Location (City and/or State)
Los Angeles, CA
Looks great! Nice job :)

What did you use for the vinyl flaps?

Can't wait to get mine done.

Tammie
 
Top