Ikea Bookshelf Enclosure

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dreadyA

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Good stuff!! I still can't get over the fact that those tables were 7.99!!! Ikea is awesome. (so is their food court:-D)
 

Kadaan

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Some updates!

Layout out the shower curtain and trimming it to about the right size:


"Taping" the liner to the sides with vinyl shelf liner


I got some thick cardboard and wrapped it in the extra shower curtain trimmings to make dividers. This will (hopefully) keep most of the substrate in this area so the humid bin and the balcony planter don't need to be dug in and out when I need to take them out.


Everything together so far!



I opened the bag of soil and sadly it looks like it contains perlite or vermiculite (not sure which, online photos seem to look similar)


Guess I need to ask the people at the garden center specifically about soil without perlite/vermiculite. Is the only danger of using those two minerals from the tort ingesting them directly? They don't have some sort of toxic dust or anything, right? I'm thinking about using it for the bottom 2/3 of the planter and filling the top with a couple inches of the coir/playsand mixture. That way the plants roots still get some nutrients from the potting soil.
 

Yvonne G

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I really appreciate it when someone sends us pictures of their step-by-step progress when building something for their tortoises. Thank you so much. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product.

Yvonne
 

andred82vert

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cant wait to see the finished product. I would re-think about using that potting soil though. That contains bat guano and chicken manure. That's the worst smelling potting soil that we sell. ( i work at a home depot).
 

chadk

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I think the issue with those white things is that the torts will try to eat them and they can cause imapaction since they will not be able to digest them. Great work so far!
 

Kadaan

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I found a different bag of a similar mix, but minus the perlite. I also got a bag of orchid bark to fill the main area with. I laid the coco husk I bought a while back on the bottom and mixed/covered it with the orchid bark. I had a hard time getting my tiles to make a ramp that wasn't too steep and that I wasn't afraid could topple over, so I ended up making a temporary ramp out of some cardboard.

Cardboard ramp into the humid box


Inside the humid box


I added another slate tile into the humid box propped up from the back wall up onto the log just in case the log is too steep. I'm not completely happy with the way that side is set up, so I'll play around with it this weekend. I also cut out a hole in the ramp so Sherman can hide underneath/inside the ramp if he wants to :).

The plants in the planter right now are 1 ficus and 2 asparagus ferns. The window there only gets a couple hours of direct sunlight per day, so I'm trying to find some tortoise-safe plants that will grow well under those conditions.
 

dreadyA

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Whooooooa! Man, it can out looking spectacular! I hadn't followed up on the updates till now. Looks so luxurious! The plants make it look natural. looks super good!
 

hjalmarsmom

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Hi Kadaan,

I have a redfoot enclosure that gets minimal light, and I've found begonias are easy to get and safe, and don't mind low light, and my spider plants seem to do well also without a lot of light. Le tme know if you find anything else that works for you, I'm always looking for new plants!
 

sammi

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Awesome looking! Who knew what you could do with a bookshelf right? Great job :)
 

Yvonne G

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I know that the ramp at the highest isn't tall enough for him to get hurt, but if he "jumps" off at the top, he might end up on his back. A railing might be in order.

Great job!! I'm going to sticky this thread in Enclosures so that it is one beginners can find quickly.

Yvonne
 

Nay

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First time I am hitting this thread, (or many others lately it seems) But what a nice job!! It seems my wonderful table my hubby made for seem seems so drab. with 2 large RF's they demolish everything I put in there. And I find I have to stir up the substrate after a few days, or it is like concrete. I am very happy we used a heavy pond liner, because the way I dig things ups is by using a flat spatula like piece of wood and I think a shower curtain would not hold up.
Great job
NA
 

webskipper

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Instead of the plastic liners use epoxy paint or just epoxy.

30 and 60 minute epoxy resin glues are waterproof and do not get too hot while curing. I'd use full strength 30 minute for the wooden seems. Then mix a 1/4 cup of epoxy with rubbing alcohol 50:50 and spread on the floor , wait an hour, then the walls, wait an hour, etc. It'll take 24 hours to fully cure and I would do it a second time.

Clear liquid acrylic works well to seal the wood, too.
 

Sudhira

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I never made it to Ikea ( too far ), so I looked around various stores today for an inexpensive bookshelf. Found one at Target ( 42"X24"x12" ), and 2 end tables, $54.00 out the door including tax. I am going to attempt to put it together tomorrow! Wish me luck!
 

webskipper

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Good job.

Same here. Too far to drive. The local Reptile Specialist Store was selling their bookcase for $20. 60X224X9 works for me.

A 24x60x1/4" piece of Plywood is waiting to be nailed to the unit. I disassembled it to where the bottom shelf completes the box. No legs. A few new holes and the cam system for the bottom shelf works again. The epoxy will fill the useless shelf holes and water proof the mating surfaces. A quart of stain/polyurethane will seal and protect the bare wood as only one side of the top and bottom shelves are finished with the simulated artificial finish. I have some old drawers that I can reuse the handle hardware and will look nice on the box. Decorative.
 
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