Building Tortoise Room-Advice appreciated

[Tortoise]

Hi
I am having difficulties with keeping some of my tortoises enclosures hot enough and also high enough humidity. I use various methods of heat-MVB, radiant heat panel, red heat bulb, ceramic heat emitters etc

I use moist hides, watering can, sphagnum moss etc to help with humidity.

I am starting to think I may be better off clearing a space in my basement for a dedicated tortoise room. I wondered if anyone could advise me on how best to protect the rest of the house from the higher humidity needed in that room? Would I build the rooms differently, add extra barriers somehow etc?

Any experiences or comments appreciated as this will a be starting from scratch and easier to build with these things in mind.

I have The Hinges and Red Foots and they will require the higher humidity in there.

Thanks

 

[lynnedit]

There have been a couple of threads about persons building 'room's in their basements. With the more recent thread, it might give you some ideas of keepers you could PM, if you wanted.

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Wiring-for-tortoise-reptile-room#axzz1kus0lfrP

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Reptile-Room-Basement#axzz1kus0lfrP

I saw another thread where they discussed setting up a small plexiglass greenhouse ( from a less expensive source like Harbor freight tools or Home Depot or Lowes), inside a room, to contain the humidity, etc.

Thinking of eventually setting up an area in the basement myself...

 

[chairman]

The first thread link is mine. My room isn't complete yet but it is functional. Let's see...

The wire is run from the box to the room, but it isn't attached at the box and isn't installed in the room. So far I haven't needed the extra circuit, though it sure would have been convenient to have my ambient lighting on timers and my heater running on a better thermostat than the one installed internally on the unit. On the subject of heating, I am currently using a combination of a single oil-filled radiator-style space heater, some thermostatically controlled heat lamps, and some lights on timers.

I did "complete" the floor, I went with rubber fatigue mats and I really like them. They appear to be insulating the floor rather well, they clean up well, I don't have to worry about them getting wet, and they buffer impacts from objects and animals.

I have not done anything to the room to protect against moisture but I also do not keep the room very humid. I have a couple animals in there that can/should have their humidity set at around 50%, so that is the target I have set for the room. That value is typically not hard to achieve in my basement except during winter. For those animals needed a boost in humidity, like my hingebacks, I use the more traditional approaches of adding water to the substrate, sealing the enclosures, planting plants, and misting the animals. I am planning to add a an automated rain system and a 75 gallon fish tank with sump to the room shortly to help with the humidity rather than using a humidifier but have not done so yet. One project at a time.

If I was going to build a room designed to handle high humidity I would use the same construction techniques used in bathrooms. Usually all you need to do is put at least 3 coats of a gloss or semi-gloss paint on the walls to protect the drywall and possibly install a vent fan controlled by a humidistat. I suppose you could go with tileboard or FRP coated walls, but I wouldn't think it would be necessary. I wouldn't want to do too much more than that because adding too many vapor barriers could cause you to trap moisture where you don't want it, like in the drywall, the insulation, or between the top of your ceiling and the floor above. My personal opinion is that it would be more damaging to your house to contain the humidity than it would be to allow it to dissipate naturally. I am not, however, a contractor, so I could be wrong.

 

[lynnedit]

Thanks for the input, Mike!

 

[Tony the tank]

I built several rooms in my basement..I built an elevated floor.using marine plywood..and osb on walls and plastic on ceilings..for doors I used glass storm doors so I could peak in without disturbing them..for heat I cut into the house heating duct and a oil filled radiator in each room... for lighting I ran dedicated circuits on timers.. for humidity..I installed a whole room misting system...and last for substrate I use hay...so far it works great...

 

[Irwin4530]

**Insert standard plea for pictures **

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

I built several rooms in my basement..I built an elevated floor.using marine plywood..and osb on walls and plastic on ceilings..for doors I used glass storm doors so I could peak in without disturbing them..for heat I cut into the house heating duct and a oil filled radiator in each room... for lighting I ran dedicated circuits on timers.. for humidity..I installed a whole room misting system...and last for substrate I use hay...so far it works great...

WOW, That sounds very nice!

 

[Tony the tank]

I posted some pics a few month ago I believe..when I first built the first room.. My home lap and desktops go through a vpn..and won't let me access non secure sites....and I'm all set with the iPad app..to hit or miss...when I get back home will try to post via phone..

 

[lynnedit]

Here is the post, I think, but I can't see the pics this time (looks like we could by the 3rd or 4th post when you first created the thread).
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Pics-of-Tonys-room#axzz1lBhNaoSI

 

[Tortoise]

Thanks so much for the replies, I hadn't had chance to check in until now.
You guys have some great ideas here, thank you very much for all the input.

My biggest task is getting rid of stuff to create the room sized space I will need-it could take some time but it sounds like such a good idea having a special place for the tortoises.

The green house idea is interesting too although my basement is generally cooler so I need to contain heat too as well as humidity.

Thanks for the time you took to respond-it helps a lot!

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Chairman and Tony the tank do you have any photos we could look at please?
The rooms sound really good
Thanks