indoor enclosure ideas

[james1990]

hi, before i get my tortoise im trying to decide and get ideas as to the best way to keep him indoors during bad weather. as i am not so good with tools and building stuff, i think that it would be a bad idea for me to try and make one meself lol!!
i was looking into a vivarium, but have been told about stress to them with the glass, however if i was to put the aquatic type backgrounds around three sides and a 4inch covering around the bottom would that be okay? with plants etc to hide in ?

the only other option i had was like a plastic storage box, although what i have been looking at so far arnt the biggest.

this will be for a russian tortoise too, and regarding humidity im not to sure , would there be much difference in a vivarium and a platic tub if there the same height on the sides ?

thanks a lot for your help!
james

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi James:

If you're getting a baby, a viv would be ok, but a bigger Russian would need more space than a viv would allow. The cheapest way to go would be to buy two large rectangular tubs (the same size), cut out one end on each of them and set them together to make one long tub. Another way would be to build a tort table. Then there's always the galvanized and rubber horse/cattle troughs.

 

[GBtortoises]

James, almost any solid, secure container with sides that are high enough will work fine. It comes down to what you have available to you. The advantage of being able to build a wooden enclosure is that you can build it any dimensions that you need to and even to fit a specific space. Wood enclosures should be sealed with either a non-toxic clear finish or a non-toxic durable paint. Either will make cleaning much easier and help to prevent moisture from coming in contact with the bare wood which can lead to mold and rotting. Some people also use various types of plastic liners inside of the enclosures for added protection. Wood enclosures can be heavy depending upon size, especially once filled with substrate material. But they are also extremely durable and can easily be modified. Glass aquariums are okay too but need to be large to give the tortoise enough floor space and the larger they are, the heavier they are. Some tortoises will constantly pace back and forth along the glass but visual barriers attached to the glass that they cannot see through will often be enough to calm them. Glass tanks are probably the least versatile material for an enclosure. You can't do much in the way of modifying them if you ever need to. Plastic Rubbermaid type containers work very well and most big chain stores like Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Lowe's often carry a large variety of sizes. They can be easily modified and can even be joined together when you want to go larger. They are very light weight, yet very durable. Really easy to clean and inexpensive when compared to glass tanks or wood enclosures. Humidity and heat retention is going to be basically the same in all of them as long as you're comparing the same substrates, lighting and whatever else you'll have in their. Basically they're all just a box only made of different materials.

 

[james1990]

thanks for your advise guys. if i was to put two large plactis tubs together, what would i use to seal them together ? how do i fix them and attach them to each other to make it safe.
thanks

 

[Stephanie Logan]

Two words: Duct Tape!

 

[GBtortoises]

As much as I laughed at Stephanie's "two words" she is right, duct tape does work well on plastic containers. As long as it doesn't get too wet or too hot both of which will eventually tend to make the tape lose it's grip. But it does work good. You might also want to consider a few strategically placed short round head machine screws (bolts) and nuts to hold sections together securely. Caulk works well to seal joints but isn't very good at hold two pieces together unless they have enough overlap.

 

[DonaTello's-Mom]

Love duct tape! It comes in lots of cool colors too! (huh Stephanie!)

 

[GBtortoises]

I'm one of those "right tool for the job" type of guys so the thought of duct taping something together goes against the grain for me! But I have to admit, it does have it's uses and some pretty cool colors too! One of my teenagers made an orange and yellow dress out of duct tape for an art project last year. She actually wore it to school the day of the project judging!

 

[james1990]

haha ! ok cheers guys!
also, at night time. iv been told to turn the lights off because they only need so much hours of light a day. is this the uv light and the basking lamp ?? both ?

 

[Yvonne G]

Tortoises need a day/night cycle. Have you heard the stories of people who live in Alaska and have to endure the endless days of darkness, then the endless days of daylight? It gets to you after a while. Your tortoises need the darkness to rest, feel safe and recuperate from the day. If you're afraid your house is too cold at night you can buy some sort of heat without light, like a ceramic heat emitter.

 

[james1990]

ah right ok thanks. last question for today i think .. is if i made a wooden enclosure ... would polystyrene be ok to line the bottom with for cleaning purposes ? or is it dangerous to him if he gets through the substrate to the level of it ??

 

[jackrat]

thanks for your advise guys. if i was to put two large plactis tubs together, what would i use to seal them together ? how do i fix them and attach them to each other to make it safe.
thanks

Gorilla tape.This stuff is unbeleivable!

 

[GBtortoises]

ah right ok thanks. last question for today i think .. is if i made a wooden enclosure ... would polystyrene be ok to line the bottom with for cleaning purposes ? or is it dangerous to him if he gets through the substrate to the level of it ??

Polystyrene as in insulation board? If that is what you mean then no, it is not a good base. It is styrofoam (simplified) and is not digestable for any living creature. If you're concerned about a ease of cleaning why not use a good quality paint or clear sealer?

---

"Gorilla tape.This stuff is unbeleivable!"

Gorilla tape is like the Arnold Schwarzenegger of duct tape!

If you like Gorilla tape, try Gorilla Glue, just be careful what you glue together because it does not come apart!

 

[DonaTello's-Mom]

ah right ok thanks. last question for today i think .. is if i made a wooden enclosure ... would polystyrene be ok to line the bottom with for cleaning purposes ? or is it dangerous to him if he gets through the substrate to the level of it ??

Polystyrene as in insulation board? If that is what you mean then no, it is not a good base. It is styrofoam (simplified) and is not digestable for any living creature. If you're concerned about a ease of cleaning why not use a good quality paint or clear sealer?

---

"Gorilla tape.This stuff is unbeleivable!"

Gorilla tape is like the Arnold Schwarzenegger of duct tape!

If you like Gorilla tape, try Gorilla Glue, just be careful what you glue together because it does not come apart!

---

Yeah BUT, does it come in the pretty colors like the duct tape??....Huh?

 

[goodsmeagol]

Before I upgraded to a Wood box i used 2 bins

I put them side by side.
Used a torch to heat the plastic, then cut them with a bread knife.
I cut 6" ``|__|`` down into the center all the way to the ridge that runs around most bins. I did this on both of the bins, and folded one of the flaps down in between the 2 bins, and the other flap I folded into the second bin.
With ^yup^ duct tape, I closed the small gap between the 2 bins on the cut sides in the top of the bins.
One bin I used substrate to make the ramp up. and on the second bin with the flap folding into it, I attached some plexiglass and stone pebble tiles to expand the flap to about 12". I used this as a bridge to increase the areas the tort could walk. At the bottom of the 'bridge' I had a pile of substrate as a landing, and made that bin a bit of a G with the - part being the ramp coming down.
Confused? Probably, Here is the picture, It was VERY simple to do and worked well.
its 2 pictures I hope you get the idea of what I did, created a lot of exploring space.