Climbing

[Kurstonm]

Hi, so I am building my tortoise a new enclosure out of a dresser! It has three shelves inside, with sliding glass doors to close it. I want to make all three levels usable for my sulcata tortoise, so that means building something like stairs that she can climb! I just don’t know how to build it with out them being to steep or what to build it out of! I am hoping some type of expert can help me!!! If y’all want pictures I will post them!

 

[Maro2Bear]

Hi, so I am building my tortoise a new enclosure out of a dresser! It has three shelves inside, with sliding glass doors to close it. I want to make all three levels usable for my sulcata tortoise, so that means building something like stairs that she can climb! I just don’t know how to build it with out them being to steep or what to build it out of! I am hoping some type of expert can help me!!! If y’all want pictures I will post them!

If you are trying to build a vertical enclosure, like a book case normally stands, it won’t work. You want to lay it flat, remove all the shelves, & start from there.

ps - take a read here too, https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threa...se-a-sulcata-leopard-or-star-tortoise.181497/

 

[Minority2]

If you are trying to build a vertical enclosure, like a book case normally stands, it won’t work. You want to lay it flat, remove all the shelves, & start from there.

ps - take a read here too, https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threa...se-a-sulcata-leopard-or-star-tortoise.181497/

I'm one member that is extremely on the fence when it comes to multi-level enclosures. I just don't see them successfully working (tortoises constantly using both/all levels) unless the enclosure is as long and as wide as your average 8ft x 4 ft single level enclosure.

I would love a member with a multi-level enclosure to prove me wrong by showing a time-lapsed video on how active their tortoises are in one of their "limited space" creations. You can probably train a tortoise to look for food at a different level than where they sleep but I think it'll be hard for them to freely and actively use both levels as if they've would've done so with just the one.

 

[Maro2Bear]

I'm one member that is extremely on the fence when it comes to multi-level enclosures. I just don't see them successfully working (tortoises constantly using both/all levels) unless the enclosure is as long and as wide as your average 8ft x 4 ft single level enclosure.

I would love a member with a multi-level enclosure to prove me wrong by showing a time-lapsed video on how active their tortoises are in one of their "limited space" creations. You can probably train a tortoise to look for food at a different level than where they sleep but I think it'll be hard for them to freely and actively use both levels as if they've would've done so with just the one.

Yep. I agree. A book shelve laying down horizontally is really just the external shell of the basic stat of an enclosure. No way to make one work vertically.

 

[Tom]

I'm one member that is extremely on the fence when it comes to multi-level enclosures. I just don't see them successfully working (tortoises constantly using both/all levels) unless the enclosure is as long and as wide as your average 8ft x 4 ft single level enclosure.

I would love a member with a multi-level enclosure to prove me wrong by showing a time-lapsed video on how active their tortoises are in one of their "limited space" creations. You can probably train a tortoise to look for food at a different level than where they sleep but I think it'll be hard for them to freely and actively use both levels as if they've would've done so with just the one.

I did a multi-level tank years ago. They never went "underground". The pictures are lost in my old computer somewhere... I did a thread on it here, but those pics got lost when tinypic.com shut down.

I hate to discourage people from trying new stuff. If lit well and made safe, I think it could work and be kind of neat. Not my cup of tea, and it didn't work well for me, but my lower level was kept dark to simulate a burrow or underground chamber. They didn't seem to like that. LEDs weren't in common use back then, but I've always wondered what they would have done it the lower levels were all lit up. The first airplanes all crashed and burned too. People said it would never work and couldn't be done...

@Kurstonm give it a try. The ramps leading up to upper levels need to be long and not steep, and they need to have guardrails to keep him from falling off and flipping. Then you need a "bannister" around the opening of each portal going up and down to each level so he can't fall down the hole and must use the ramp to get up or down. I'd suggest LED lighting on each level and a basking lamp on at least one level if not two. You'll have to watch and see if he uses the whole thing or not. Show us what you come up with.

 

[Maro2Bear]

I did a multi-level tank years ago. They never went "underground". The pictures are lost in my old computer somewhere... I did a thread on it here, but those pics got lost when tinypic.com shut down.

I hate to discourage people from trying new stuff. If lit well and made safe, I think it could work and be kind of neat. Not my cup of tea, and it didn't work well for me, but my lower level was kept dark to simulate a burrow or underground chamber. They didn't seem to like that. LEDs were in common use back then, but I've always wondered what they would have done it the lower level were all lit up. The first airplanes all crashed and burned too. People said it would never work and couldn't be done...

@Kurstonm give it a try. The ramps leading up to upper levels need to be long and not steep, and they need to have guardrails to keep him from falling off and flipping. Then you need a "bannister" around the opening of each portal going up and down to each level so he can't fall down the hole and must use the ramp to get up or down. I'd suggest LED lighting on each level and a basking lamp on at least one level if not two. You'll have to watch and see if he uses the whole thing or not. Show us what you come up with.

I really can’t see how you can make this happen with a standard width bookcase of lets say 36 inches wide (max). The slope from one shelf to the next and next seems crazy hard to convince a baby Sully up. But..like you said, “give it a try”.

 

[Tom]

I really can’t see how you can make this happen with a standard width bookcase of lets say 36 inches wide (max). The slope from one shelf to the next and next seems crazy hard to convince a baby Sully up. But..like you said, “give it a try”.

Depends on how high the next level is. My ramps were only around 24 inches long, if I recall correctly, but only climbing about 10-12 inches.

I need to find those old pics...

 

[Pastel Tortie]

Hi, so I am building my tortoise a new enclosure out of a dresser! It has three shelves inside, with sliding glass doors to close it. I want to make all three levels usable for my sulcata tortoise, so that means building something like stairs that she can climb! I just don’t know how to build it with out them being to steep or what to build it out of! I am hoping some type of expert can help me!!! If y’all want pictures I will post them!

Is this a long dresser, or a tall one? Or maybe I should just ask the dimensions. I'm trying to envision what you're working with. I keep thinking about multi level possibilities myself, for my box turtle's indoor enclosure.

Definitely want pictures. I'm very interested to see what you come up with.