Large Mobile Red Foot Enclosure

[ztgbrawler3]

Hey All,

I've already had some smaller posts about certain aspects of this project, but I started work on this large enclosure about 15 months ago, and wanted to share what I came up with.

The need came about because I was keeping two young adult Red Foots in an 8x4 foot enclosure that was about a foot and a half tall. While it was big enough to meet their needs for the most part, I wasn't able to put any plants in there that they wouldn't destroy in a couple of hours, and because the enclosure wasn't insulated, it took a lot of wattage to keep it heated in the winter.

Another issue I had with the old pen was that it sat on my garage floor, pretty much taking up a third of my garage and being immobile. Because I am constantly working on other projects around the house, this wouldn't work for me in the long term. The new one had to be mobile so that I could roll it around the garage as needed to use other garage equipment.

Below I've included pictures of my original pen, built a few years ago, and the new one, which they've inhabited for a few months now. It took me a year, off and on, to complete the new enclosure, and I'll include pictures and the steps I've taken in subsequent posts. Feel free to offer advice if you think I need to make a change to something. Thanks for taking a look.

 

[ztgbrawler3]

The first thing I had to figure out with the new pen was the size of the foot print. I wanted it to be large, but I also have to park a couple of vehicles in the garage (3 car garage) and my kids are always adding to their toy collection out there. In the end, I went with a 12 foot long by 5 foot wide base. I figured that was large enough for two tortoises, and they are also kept outside in a larger pen daily from April through most of October.

As you can see from the pictures, I probably went a little overboard on the sub-frame, but when completed, this thing was going to be heavy. Just the sub-frame weighs over 100 pounds, but I wanted it to be sturdy when I roll it around the garage. Also, I wanted to support my weight when I climb in there to feed the Torts, and clean it. If the sub-frame ever breaks, there's a good chance I would have to scrap the whole thing.

Every cross member is attached with a lag bolt and a wood screw at each end to keep them from twisting and torquing. I counter-sunk all of the exterior lags and screws so that I could cover them with the exterior panels later.

 

[ztgbrawler3]

The next step was to make it mobile. I found some caster wheels that support about 300 pounds each. I mounted 4 with brakes at each corner, and 2 without breaks under the middle to keep the enclosure from sagging. I had to attach little pieces of 2x4 blocks to the frame to fully attach the wheel base.

 

[ZippyButter]

Congrat! the new enclosure looks impressive and beautiful. You could post some pics from the inside.

 

[ztgbrawler3]

After having the sub-frame done and mobile, I started building up the rest of the frame. The key for me was that to maximize the space inside the enclosure, and to make the 1.5" foam insulation panels fit neatly, I had to make the frame 1.5" wide on all sides. This presented a unique problem at the corners, but I was able to cut the side heights to different lengths in order to "notch" them all together with lag bolts. Another tricky part was framing out the door openings. I decided on two doors on one side with plexiglass panels, and I framed out two hatches on the top to make clean outs easier, and for extra venting during warmer months, if necessary. Again, I counter-sunk the lags to be covered later by the exterior panels.

One thing you'll see in the pictures is the metal plates holding together some of the 2x4 posts. I actually ended up removing those in the end because they would not let the exterior panels sit flush with the enclosure frame, and it didn't look good. So I used a kreg jig to drill pocket holes on the exterior side of the frame, and that worked pretty good. Once everything was bolted together, it was very solid.

I settled on a 4 foot height in the end. This allowed me to sit comfortably inside when visiting the Red Foots, as well as hang some plants out of their reach that would help keep the air fresh.

 

[ztgbrawler3]

Congrat! the new enclosure looks impressive and beautiful. You could post some pics from the inside.

Thanks! I'll get there, I promise!

 

[ztgbrawler3]

After finishing the frame, I had to do the interior walls before I could add the braces across the top. I ended up using regular 17/32" plywood since I knew I would be "water-proofing" it anyway. I fit all the pieces together to make the tightest seams possible, and ended up adding a few extra 2x4s into the frame to back some of the longer pieces and keep from sagging. I also added pieces of 2x4 across the bottom on the outside of the panels to help lock them into place.

 

[ztgbrawler3]

Once the interior walls were done on the bottom and sides, I added the cross braces to the top of the enclosure. I then finished the interior boundaries by doing the ceiling. Two big openings in the top for the top hatches. I used small strips of pine along the insides of the openings on top, and for the regular door openings, to create a door frame for the hatches and doors to sit on.

 

[ztgbrawler3]

While I was working on the frame, I built the doors separately. I used a DIY website for building cabinet doors to make the main doors. I bought a large sheet of acrylic Plexiglas at the local hardware store and cut it to size for both doors. You can also order the exact size sheets you need from several online websites, but they do tend to get pricey. I did make one mistake with the doors and I am currently in the process of redoing them as a result. I assumed that the weather-stripping between them and the enclosure would hold back the moisture. It did not! Instead, moisture seeped into all of the seams between the pieces of wood that I had attached together, swelling the doors and distorting their shape. In redoing them, I am using the same epoxy paint that I painted the inside of the enclosure with to seal them tightly together and waterproof them. I'll still stain the outside of the door frame for appearance.

I built 2 large hatches that rest on top of the enclosure so that when I clean the cage out I can stand up, or maneuver a shovel in the confined space. I can also crack them open for venting in the warmer months. Those were framed with a square 2x4 skeleton, filled with 1.5" foam board, slapped with plywood on the enclosure side, and with the decorative paneling on the outside.

 

[ztgbrawler3]

Once all of the framing was done it was time to add the insulation. I bought these big 8x4 foot sheets from the local hardware store, at about $15 per sheet. I filled every side, top and bottom with them. I will say that because I bought the cheaper Styrofoam style, it was quite messy cutting them to size. But they worked pretty well, and this was the reason why I worked so hard to make sure that the depth of the frame was 1.5" on all sides.

 

[ztgbrawler3]

Next up was to "waterproof" the interior of the pen, since it would be humid for Red Foots. I had debated on several ways to do this. Previously I had used a large piece of Oatey shower pan vinyl to just cover the bottom of the old pen. The problem I saw with this was that moisture could still run behind it and cause problems. I thought maybe Flex-Seal would work, but was concerned about out-gassing, and whether or not the material would be too soft against the Torts' claws.
My internet research brought me to something called Pond Shield, aka Pond Armor. It's a 2-part epoxy paint that you can line concrete or even wooden-framed man-made ponds with outside. It's impermeable once it's cured, very durable, and more importantly, non-toxic. The only downside is that it's pretty expensive. At nearly $300 for a 1.5 gallon kit, it was the most expensive piece of this project. I ended up picking a tan color for the bottom and sides, and a sky blue color for the ceiling.
Before I put on the Pond Shield, I decided to seal all of the seams with 4" wide fiberglass cloth and resin. I figured that would keep some of my very expensive Pond Shield from escaping, and make the box tougher as well. I also coated the entire bottom of the interior with fiberglass resin, and about 6" up the side walls. Several coats were done with that. I then covered with the epoxy paint. I had debated on the need to cover the bottom with the paint at all, since it would be hidden by the substrate, and since I had put down several coats of fiberglass resin. In the end, I elected to cover every wood and fiberglass surface inside the enclosure, figuring the uniform coating would give it an extra strength to repel the moisture. It was pretty tedious, as you could only mix a small amount of the paint at a time, and you really only had a good 20 minutes of working time with the amount mixed. If you use this paint, make sure you follow the directions carefully, or you will have a very expensive mistake to clean up!
I know it was expensive, but after a few months of use, I am extremely happy that I went with the epoxy paint. It has proven to be very durable thus far, and wipes clean as well.

 

[Alex Z]

Most impressive.

 

[Bambam1989]

I really love this concept!

 

[ztgbrawler3]

After I finished the inside, time to finish the exterior. I really wanted to cover the frame and insulation and make a nice-looking "vision cage". I found 8x4 sheets of a 5 mm plywood at the local hardware store. It claimed to be made from a sustainable source and had a nice wood grain pattern that would look good with a stain. I used the same as the outside cover of the top hatches earlier in the project, and it worked well for them.

 

[ztgbrawler3]

After that, it was stain, and hang the doors. I used Minwax Gunstock to stain it, and Minwax Water Based Oil-Modified Polyurethane (3 coats) to cover and protect that. It's definitely not weather-proof to the extent that I could leave it outside. But if I spill some water on it or set stuff on top of it, I wouldn't worry too much. I used stainless steel hinges and fasteners to hang the doors. Slide bolts top and bottom, because Tortoises are strong! I later went back and added trim strips at each corner, because my cuts weren't as square as I would've liked. I thought those turned out pretty sharp-looking.

 

[Alex Z]

How many reds live in there?

 

[ztgbrawler3]

How many reds live in there?

I have a young adult male northern variety, about 8-9" SCL, and a young adult Brazilian, about 6-7" SCL. I've always heard that an adult Redfoot needs an 8x4 ft pen, 32 square feet. Mine is 60 square feet, so I figure that's enough. If I ever have to upsize, I'll probably have to convert a shed or something.

 

[ztgbrawler3]

I added plants and cypress mulch, and popped the Red Foots in there. I have hanging Pothos and Spider plants. I also have Pothos and Tradescantia zebrina in the corner boxes. I found a nice all-purpose tray at the hardware store, back near the concrete and building materials, that makes an excellent hide.

 

[ztgbrawler3]

Since I've had the enclosure in operation, there's a few changes I have made, most of them due to unnecessary heat loss through the top of the pen:

1. I moved the wiring access from the top of the cage to the back wall of the cage. IMO, this also improved the overall look of the enclosure. So that I didn't have moisture seeping between my wood layers and into the insulation, I drilled a 2.5" hole with a hole saw, and then glued a 2.5" piece of PVC pipe into it, sealing each end around the edges. I did the same thing with my vent holes.

2. I had previously placed my fan-driven vent into the ceiling of the cage, through one of the hatches. That let out way too much heat, so I have since put it through the back sidewall at the opposite end from the other main vent. It's a computer fan that does an excellent job of vent the stale air out, replacing it with clean air, and also controlling the humidity. Because I have such large plexiglas doors that 'sweat', keeping the humidity up in the cooler garage is no problem at all, hence the need to draw out some of the moisture from time to time.

3. I added a few more lights. I previously had used some of those LED adhesive strip lights, but they failed after a few months. I took a couple old aquarium fluorescent strips, bypassed the ballast, and stuck some cheap LED tubes in those. They're also doing a better job keeping the plants healthy. Problem solved. IMO, there is plenty of available cover in the enclosure if my Torts want to avoid light. It doesn't seem to bother them.

4. I am in the process of redoing the plexiglas doors, as previously mentioned due to the moisture damage. They will be coated with the Pond Shield for extra durability.

5. I added a few bags of garden soil to the cypress mulch. It allowed me to add some earthworms in there to help clean up the waste, and I like the earthy smell better. Also less dusty under the CHEs where the mulch would dry out.

 

[ztgbrawler3]

The tortoises have been in here a few months now and seems to be very happy. They're little piggies.