Galvanized steel deck box for outdoor home?

[leoturt]

Spacemaker® HDG Steel® Deck Box, Anthracite

The stylish Spacemaker Deck Box is a versatile chest for indoor storage and a perfect outdoor storage bench for decks, patios and more.

arrow-sheds.shelterlogic.ca

Is it possible to make this work as an outdoor, heated, humid insulated home?

I'm looking to make a permanent outdoor home now for my young female leopard tort. It will be able to go out whenever it wants to eat grass in a fenced, roofed area.
I wanna make an insulated, heated, humid home using a deck box.
I've seen all those resin/hdpe deck boxes, but I wish I could make a steel box work instead since it would be much stronger, rodent proof, last longer, wouldnt bend from heat (Though, I'd use use aluminum foil/heat reflecting material on the inside which should help) etc.
And I'll add several layers of insulation boards and whatnot on the outside, on all sides. It doesn't get very cold where I live ( around -5 degrees Celsius lowest in winter)


But with such a steel deck box, I wonder,
How I would hang things like a basking bulb and light in the box for my tort? Can you drill into the material?
How would I attach aluminum/heat reflecting material on the inside walls and roof?
And how would I make a big hole on one wall to let my tort go in and out of the box during the day? My plan is to attach a small tort sized automatic door that opens and closes in morning and evening.
These are what's holding me back from choosing a steel deck box rather than resin deck box.

Also, the steel deck box (1 layer of sheet metal) is definitely thinner than those dual-layered resin boxes, so I'd imagine the steel deck box would need more insulation.
I'd imagine a galvanized steel box has less odor, fewer harmful chemicals (and no off-gassing) vs resin boxes, too.

 

[wellington]

You would be better off building a large wood box as you have lots of cold weather that the leopard will not go out in or better yet a shed.

 

[leoturt]

You would be better off building a large wood box as you have lots of cold weather that the leopard will not go out in or better yet a shed.

We have a bit of a rat problem, they chew through other wooden structures in our yard. I imagine they'd also chew through a resin home.
Wouldn't I be able to keep a steel box warm at all times even during winter by adding several layers of insulation boards and whatnot? Hopefully rats wont chew thru them though...
An additional idea is for me to bring the box inside the house during the cold months, then bring it back out when its not too cold.

 

[wellington]

That box is way too small for an adult leopard to be stuck in all winter long.
Do you have a basement or a spare room you can dedicate to the tort? Leopards need to be kept at 80F day and night. She won't be wondering outside during winter.
She will also need a large space to winter in, at least a 10x12 or 12x12. I used to house a female in a pop up green house in my basement and used a basking light and regular lights for basking/heat and light and also a oil filled space heater to heat it. A spare room you can do the same but it has to be dedicated to her. Tarp or plastic can be put down to protect floor and then substrate over that.
She needs to have enough room to be able to roam around to keep her healthy and walking properly. When you live in the cold regions like we both do, extra space has to be provided for winter.

 

[wellington]

A table can be built also but it would have to be at least 4 to 6 feet wide, by 10 or even 12 feet long and that's still on the small side.

 

[Maro2Bear]

Either way you go (metal, wood, resin) you still need to cut out the entrance/exit thus creating a hole for rodents as well. Ive made insulated night boxes out of wood & out of resin. Both were easy to work with & easy to add heat via “pig blankets” and radiant heat panels.

That said, once it gets cold here in Maryland we bring our Sully inside until Spring.

If you can find the links to Tom’s night box builds Id follow those plans.


I did want to say, the dimensions of your Spacemaker steel box are 4.4 x 2.3 x 2.2 ft.. this MIGHT be ok for a nightbox, but not/not as the only space for a full time enclosure.

 

[leoturt]

That box is way too small for an adult leopard to be stuck in all winter long.
Do you have a basement or a spare room you can dedicate to the tort? Leopards need to be kept at 80F day and night. She won't be wondering outside during winter.
She will also need a large space to winter in, at least a 10x12 or 12x12. I used to house a female in a pop up green house in my basement and used a basking light and regular lights for basking/heat and light and also a oil filled space heater to heat it. A spare room you can do the same but it has to be dedicated to her. Tarp or plastic can be put down to protect floor and then substrate over that.
She needs to have enough room to be able to roam around to keep her healthy and walking properly. When you live in the cold regions like we both do, extra space has to be provided for winter.

I never thought of that..We have a room that we don't really use but the green house in a room would work well. Our room is probably around 12x10 or something. Most of that would be used, just gotta move some things around. Do you have a link to the green house?

 

[wellington]

Google "pop up portable green house" is the easiest way to see a lot that is available.

 

[Lyn W]

I would think it is far too small unless you are going to use it just as a hide inside a larger heated and insulated shed.
Tom's designs are great - maybe add a layer of thin metal like aluminium around the outside base or where needed to stop the rats.
My tort has an adapted room in the house, so if you have space I would think that will be the safest and warmer option.

 

[Yvonne G]

I was given a vinyl "patio box", same dimensions as yours for a full grown tortoise about the size of a leopard. It worked just fine as long as there were some sunny days this winter when I could open the door and let him out. But we ended up with many, many overcast, foggy or rainy days, one right after the other, when he had to spend the whole day, day after day, locked up in "jail." I ended up moving him to a vacant, insulated and heated 10' x 10 shed. Now he has much more room to move about on those colder, no sun days.