Bookcase as Outdoor Enclosure

[sbwalker5]

Hi all, I've just moved house this week - having gone from a flat to having a large garden, I have been constantly trying to think of how to house by Marginated yearling Douglas outside!

There is a separate garden section that is about 6 x 2 metres, that I think will be great when he's more of an adult size, and when I can get round to creating a proper outdoor space for him. For the meantime, I really want to get him outside, whilst it's summer, at least for a few hours a day.

I've had an idea, involving spare bookcases that we no longer require for house storage. They are from Ikea http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/10208472/#/50208465
Douglas is only around 3 inches long, so it should be plenty big enough for now

The idea is to take to back and the shelves of, to leave just the wooden perimeter, and place this on the garden as his enclosure. I'd look into getting/making a mesh lid for protection (there are a lot of cats knocking around!). I can get a mini greenhouse or cold frame for him to warm up in (never reaches the 90-100 degrees here in UK!).

Does this seem like a viable option?
This section of garden has very recently been turfed, so I would want to dig up the section for his enclosure, and placing down a bit of plain topsoil - would I have to worry about if the turfing had been treated or not?

Also, would the bookshelf itself have to be treated with anything? I'd guess it's not built to withstand moisture?

Any advice would be great, thanks!

 

[alysciaingram]

Hey! I used an old bookshelf for my first outdoor enclosure too. You will have to treat it heavily with outdoor paint, and I see no problem as this being a temporary pen. Even then though, it might only last you about a year, so I would make plans for building something else within that time frame. I live in Florida so it rains frequently and the humidity levels are high. It only took roughly 10 months for the effects to be so bad I ended up building am entire new one. Happy Painting!

 

[sbwalker5]

@alysciaingram yes that's what I was planning, as a temporary space for this year really! Thanks!
My long-term plan is to basically dig up the entire 6 x 2 m space, and border it with something suitable (fencing/brickwork or something), get a cold frame and possibly heated/covered area for colder times!

 

[alysciaingram]

I've had great success with my coldframe this winter. Again, I live I'm FL, so our cold last about six weeks max. But every morning still in the summer my torts will line up and get toasty in their AM sun before going to graze. There's pretty inexpensive ones on amazon for about $80. I've had it for two years and probably won't ever get rid of it until they can't fit in it anymore lol.

 

[dmmj]

Besides being akward to move, I don't see a problem.