This is a very hot, sunny part of the ranch. Great in the winter, but darn hot in the summer. I wanted to give her all the benefits of a burrow, but without all the substantial risks. Here is what I see as potentially dangerous with "natural" burrows: They can flood or collapse. They are too cold most of the year here. And once a sulcata is down a burrow, even a few feet, there is no access to them. However, the benefits of a burrow are substantial. Very stable temps all year. Good humidity. Simulates what they would do in nature and, this is just a guess, I'm certain that they "like" the security of being underground. So I set out to design and build something that would give me the benefits of a burrow, but none of the risks. This one is my third attempt. The first was a small in ground, but level with the surface, prototype that has been in use for about a year now. The second is in my Tegu cage and it is working better than I could have ever hoped for. Since the Tegu hibernates and prefers cooler underground temps, I used no electricity or heat of any kind in Clyde's burrow. I wanted the ability to control the temp in this burrow and the pics will show the result.
This is the "Before" shot.
Here are my friends Gus and Cory "breaking ground" for me.
Getting closer.
Here's the box.
The Hole.
The electrical stuff. I've got an outlet, so I can change things around or add an "appliance" if I need to. I've got a thermostat. And I've got a 60 watt, 20 year old, Pearlco in a ceramic fixture. The lamp fixture is mounted with bailing wire to those metal strips and there is an 18x24" metal heat shield on the wooden roof above the fixture.
Here's the box with 8' tunnel attached and partially buried.
Top in place now.
Here's me inside making sure the silicon is all good inside. I sealed the whole box and every joint with silicone.
This is a tortoise eye view, looking down the tunnel.
This one show's the total depth of the box. I'm standing on the ground here.
Here's another wide shot of the whole thing coming together.
This one shows the above ground chamber/rain cover in place before burying. It also shows the "shade table" I built to cover her water pan. This area is in full sun from sun up 'til sun down.
Here's what the inside of the cover looks like.
Finally finished.
Wide view.
Other side.
Daisy partaking.
I let it sit there unplugged for a couple of days and the temp stabilized at 72. I decided to bump it up just a little to 75. I have an electrical appliance meter inline that measures how much electricity is used. After three weeks of maintaining a temp of 75 in a 4x4x2' underground box, I've spent a whopping .42 cents. And that's on CA's ridiculously high rates. The temp is completely stable down there. We've had nights in the low 40's and days over 100 and it just stays 75 ALL of the time. Humidity is stable at 71%, but that is easy to increase, if I wanted to.
Now I just need to find some sort of plants that won't fry in that spot to give some shade and make it look a little nicer.
Daisy took a couple of weeks to learn to go down the hole every night, but she's got it now. I had to put her in there and block the entrance every night for two weeks.
So collapse, flood and cold are all fixed, and through my portal, I have access to her anytime I need it. At the same time, she gets warm winter nights, cool summer days, and I don't have to carry her in and out every day. Hope y'all like it.
This is the "Before" shot.
Here are my friends Gus and Cory "breaking ground" for me.
Getting closer.
Here's the box.
The Hole.
The electrical stuff. I've got an outlet, so I can change things around or add an "appliance" if I need to. I've got a thermostat. And I've got a 60 watt, 20 year old, Pearlco in a ceramic fixture. The lamp fixture is mounted with bailing wire to those metal strips and there is an 18x24" metal heat shield on the wooden roof above the fixture.
Here's the box with 8' tunnel attached and partially buried.
Top in place now.
Here's me inside making sure the silicon is all good inside. I sealed the whole box and every joint with silicone.
This is a tortoise eye view, looking down the tunnel.
This one show's the total depth of the box. I'm standing on the ground here.
Here's another wide shot of the whole thing coming together.
This one shows the above ground chamber/rain cover in place before burying. It also shows the "shade table" I built to cover her water pan. This area is in full sun from sun up 'til sun down.
Here's what the inside of the cover looks like.
Finally finished.
Wide view.
Other side.
Daisy partaking.
I let it sit there unplugged for a couple of days and the temp stabilized at 72. I decided to bump it up just a little to 75. I have an electrical appliance meter inline that measures how much electricity is used. After three weeks of maintaining a temp of 75 in a 4x4x2' underground box, I've spent a whopping .42 cents. And that's on CA's ridiculously high rates. The temp is completely stable down there. We've had nights in the low 40's and days over 100 and it just stays 75 ALL of the time. Humidity is stable at 71%, but that is easy to increase, if I wanted to.
Now I just need to find some sort of plants that won't fry in that spot to give some shade and make it look a little nicer.
Daisy took a couple of weeks to learn to go down the hole every night, but she's got it now. I had to put her in there and block the entrance every night for two weeks.
So collapse, flood and cold are all fixed, and through my portal, I have access to her anytime I need it. At the same time, she gets warm winter nights, cool summer days, and I don't have to carry her in and out every day. Hope y'all like it.