Educate me :)

[fern4]

Fern is my 2 year old greek tortoise. Right now he is in the zoo med tortoise house and he has outgrown it and I'm ready to build him a penthouse. I've been doing a lot of research and getting lots of ideas but some of the enclosure threads are dated and without reading every single one I'm getting some answers answered and some not. This is where I hope you can help. I live in Minnesota where we have winter and cool temps 7 months out of the year so this is why I need to make an awesome indoor enclosure. My husband and I are going to do this but please keep in mind that we are not handy so use very basic terminology
My questions:
1. What type of wood do we use. Remember that we have never built a thing in our life. Be specific
2. Do we need to seal the wood and with what. Name brands or specific names would be great so we know what to buy.
3. Do we need a liner on the bottom? I've read about shower curtains and stuff but do we need it?
4. We are thinking about the idea of an "L" shaped enclosure with a hide box at the L corner. Does anyone see a problem with this?
5. He's 2 years old but not fully grown. I know bigger is best but is approximately 21 square feet adequate? Remember it will be L shaped.
I think that's it for now. Thank you to whomever is willing to read this long thread and help me

 

[Odin's Gma]

Hi! We're in Minnesota too! I wish I could help with all of your questions, but I am pretty new to torts myself and so far we have only built one indoor enclosure which we knew wouldn't last long so we didn't go all out. I have been studying up here for ideas on the next one, but I have gotten sidetracked getting his first outdoor playpen up and running. Good luck! There are some very knowledgeable people and helpful threads here!

Oh, ours is a sulcata. Only a year old, so still little...for now.

 

[wellington]

Ply wood is fine to use. I would get it finished/smooth on one side. I would probably do at least 1/2 inch thick, to be more sturdy for years. You can seal it or line it with a liner. Either way you see easier. I would try to find pond liner, it's thicker than a shower curtain if you want that route and will take more of a beating before you would ever get a hole.
I would make it as big as possible. Maybe 4 ft long on the shorter end of the L and 8 feet on the longer end but no less then 3 feet wide, but 4 would be better. You could also attempt a second level to give even more room, but not having to make it so long. I would also put the hide on one end, or one on each end.
I have an L shaped for one of my leopards and I have a humid hide on one end and a regular hide on the other. Hope this helps, others should chime in soon. Good luck, it's not that hard, and don't forget pics either during the build or after its finished.

 

[4jean]

I built my tortoise table out of oak. It also has a plexiglass portion that slides out so I can get inside better. I used shellac because I was told that it is safe to use on baby furniture. Then I lined the inside with contact paper.
My tortoise is just a few months old, so my table is just 3ft by 2ft. I also cover it with foil at night to help with humidity.

 

[mini_max]

You want to water proof it one way or another because you will be dumping water into it and you don't want it to mould, warp or rot. We used an oil based shellac which we are very happy with. If you choose this route, two pieces of advice: 1) allow lots of time for the enclosure to air out as there will be fumes which I cannot think are good for the tortoise, 2) caulk all the seams (any sort of kitchen and bath product from the hardware store will do the trick).

 

[mikeylazer]

We not just build a base for it of wood and use a mini greenhouse that fits inside of the base (base must be covered with thick dropcloth or shower curtain. I will be working on one tomorrow and I can make a little how-to forum if you would like. Mine will be 2ft by 4ft but you can buy one 3x6 which will probably work for a greek for life. There are even easy access ports in the top. You will have to do minimal building and it can look very nice.

 

[Tom]

My questions:
1. What type of wood do we use. Remember that we have never built a thing in our life. Be specific
2. Do we need to seal the wood and with what. Name brands or specific names would be great so we know what to buy.
3. Do we need a liner on the bottom? I've read about shower curtains and stuff but do we need it?
4. We are thinking about the idea of an "L" shaped enclosure with a hide box at the L corner. Does anyone see a problem with this?
5. He's 2 years old but not fully grown. I know bigger is best but is approximately 21 square feet adequate? Remember it will be L shaped.

1. Regular plywood and 2x4s will work fine.
2. For an open table you can just prime and paint it with an exterior paint. I recently used "Drylok" to paint and seal a closed chamber and that is working well too. I've never tried other products.
3. You won't need a liner with either of the above products, but it won't hurt. They sell heavy duty black plastic sheeting at all the hardware store in 25x10 foot rolls for covering furniture. The stuff works well for out purposes.
4. That design would work well. I would also add a hide or two. The "L" shape will be great.
5. 21 square feet would be around 3x7'. That is good size, but I'd rather see it a little bigger if this is going to be a long term home in the frozen North. I shoot for a minimum of 4x8' or 32 sq. ft. Tortoises really benefit from a large enclosure with lots of room to move about.