My Best Night Box Design Yet

[Jtort]

Do you guys treat the bottom with anything special (primer, etc)?

And do you sit it directly on the dirt or do you lift it a bit with something?

Thanks in advance!

Oops nevermind. I just re-read the post and my questions were answered

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Do you guys treat the bottom with anything special (primer, etc)?

And do you sit it directly on the dirt or do you lift it a bit with something?

Thanks in advance!

Tom leaves his bottom bare, so I did too. I used hay substrate which kept it dry and easy to clean. Urine did soak into the wood but no problems came from it..

Now, when I decided to create more humid conditions inside the box, I switched to coco coir substrate. I didn't want constantly damp coir on the wood. I was afraid it would mold. So, I bought a few vinyl floor tiles, covered the bottom and lined the bottom 6" of each wall, too.
I caulked the tiles and corners and am glad I did! The coir sits on the vinyl and I've had no issues. My humidity inside the box averages 70%. It goes as low as 60% when the heater clicks on and as high as 80% when water is freshly added.

If you want a damp substrate in the box, I'd protect the wood

My box sits on 2x4s as "legs". The 2x4 runs down the middle and along the side edges. I've had the box sit on concrete and on dirt. When I moved it from the dirt I discovered a massive ant colony under it. I had no clue it was there. I prefer it on the concrete.
You could sit the box on your beautiful patio under the covering and they'd still have access to the yard

 

[Jtort]

If you want a damp substrate in the box, I'd protect the wood

My box sits on 2x4s as "legs". The 2x4 runs down the middle and along the side edges. I've had the box sit on concrete and on dirt. When I moved it from the dirt I discovered a massive ant colony under it. I had no clue it was there. I prefer it on the concrete.
You could sit the box on your beautiful patio under the covering and they'd still have access to the yard

Thanks Heather! I think placing it under the patio might be the best option since there's an electrical outlet there too. I'm scared to run an extension cord to the side and don't want to have to pay an electrician to add an outlet over there.

As for the bottom, I looked on craigslist and found some vinyl tiles about 5 miles away for $5! I was so excited lol. It's way more than I'll need but for $5 I figure I can keep them in the garage for whenever I need more. <- my face when I got the vinyl tiles

 

[Levi the Leopard]

@Jtort Hey, if you like the pattern, go for it! $5 is a great price for a large batch of it.

Just FYI for anyone curious, I bought the vinyl tiles new at Home Depot for less than $1 each. It's fairly cheap if you don't need many

 

[tortdad]

Tom.

Can you post a few more pics of the inside? I'm trying to see how you've framed up the oil heater space. Specifically of you have lumber between the the heater and the tort. If not how do you keep it from burning your tort?

I also love the idea of the shade table that doubles as an plant tray. I'm not very creative at all but I can build just about anything.

Another thing, do you close the door to the night box every day or just the winter months. I live in Houston and just adopted a adult from Kelly and want to make sure I'm doing his house correctly.

 

[Robertchrisroph]

This is from toms plans. Lo. Mygrandson Avery is checking it out

 

[poshpoodle]

Tom, you are certainly the Tortoise king, whisperer...whatever you want to call it! I am trying to do right by my tortoises. We are currently building a cinder block heated tortoise house for our sulcatas. However, I need to build something for my red foots. I have 15 ranging in size from about 4" to adults. I would like to build a box under my deck for them but have no idea what size I should have it. Also, with that many should I have cubby holes or something of the sort so that they can have barriers to get away from one another if need be? Since I am new to the tortoise world and very much learning, do you keep the door open in the winter or lock it up? I am in GA. Also, I have been wondering where you buy large bails of hay that have not been fertilized. Everything around here has been fertilized but I am not sure where I would buy a lot of hay that has not been. Any info or help is very much appreciated. My husband will build me the house. Also, for the sulcatas her was going to put lights in it. I suppose that is not necessary but I like the idea of building a shorter house so there is not as much to heat. So excited! Also, when it is winter do you still feed every day? Do you just leave lots of hay for them to eat? Any recommendations on books for me to buy to help me with more info on sulcatas and red foots? several of my red foots have pyramiding I am assuming humidity was not right where they were. I would like to get it right! Thank you again for sharing all of your knowledge!

 

[Tom]

Tom.

Can you post a few more pics of the inside? I'm trying to see how you've framed up the oil heater space. Specifically of you have lumber between the the heater and the tort. If not how do you keep it from burning your tort?

I also love the idea of the shade table that doubles as an plant tray. I'm not very creative at all but I can build just about anything.

Another thing, do you close the door to the night box every day or just the winter months. I live in Houston and just adopted a adult from Kelly and want to make sure I'm doing his house correctly.

I make a wall of 2x12 around the heater with about 3" of clearance all around. Then I drill a bunch of hole in the wall for ventilation.

I make sure all my tortoises are in every night and close their doors. I then open their door every morning. We have wild temperature swings here. Last night it got down to 54, but the high will be mid 90's today. Closing the doors protects them both from cold night temps and any nocturnal predators.

 

[Tom]

Tom, you are certainly the Tortoise king, whisperer...whatever you want to call it! I am trying to do right by my tortoises. We are currently building a cinder block heated tortoise house for our sulcatas. However, I need to build something for my red foots. I have 15 ranging in size from about 4" to adults. I would like to build a box under my deck for them but have no idea what size I should have it. Also, with that many should I have cubby holes or something of the sort so that they can have barriers to get away from one another if need be? Since I am new to the tortoise world and very much learning, do you keep the door open in the winter or lock it up? I am in GA. Also, I have been wondering where you buy large bails of hay that have not been fertilized. Everything around here has been fertilized but I am not sure where I would buy a lot of hay that has not been. Any info or help is very much appreciated. My husband will build me the house. Also, for the sulcatas her was going to put lights in it. I suppose that is not necessary but I like the idea of building a shorter house so there is not as much to heat. So excited! Also, when it is winter do you still feed every day? Do you just leave lots of hay for them to eat? Any recommendations on books for me to buy to help me with more info on sulcatas and red foots? several of my red foots have pyramiding I am assuming humidity was not right where they were. I would like to get it right! Thank you again for sharing all of your knowledge!

Make sure you line the inside of the cinder blocks with plywood or something. Its much too abrasive on their shells and legs over time. Cinderblocks don't insulate as well as plywood and rigid foam, so watch your winter temps closely and expect to burn some electricity.

I don't know red foots all that well and I've never housed large numbers like you. It might be better to build several 4x4 boxes, or maybe one long 4x16' box. The problem with going over 8' long is the seam in the ceiling. If your husband has the building skills to close and waterproof a seam, then you could make it work. Maybe two 4x8' boxes under the deck?

Fertilized hay is fine. Plants cannot grow without fertilizer. Some just get it from the soil they are in, but if the soil is too nutrient poor to support the growth, then fertilizer must be added from one source or another. This is not a bad thing necessarily. The plants assimilate the nutrients, be they man made chemicals or natural composted nutrients, into their tissues and all is good. You don't want your tortoise eating raw fertilizer, but every plant they eat is fertilized in some way or other. So I wouldn't worry about buying regular hay from the feed store. That's what I've been using for many years, and so has every tortoise keeper I know, with no issues.

 

[carlos b]

Well this is awesome.. I want to come up with something for outside as well.. It's a little late in the season but this is impressive

 

[candace]

After much thought about what worked and what I wanted to improve over previous attempts, here is the latest version with a step by step pictorial on how I did it. It is time for my 2010 South African herd to move outside. They are moving into a 16x20' completely closed in enclosure. The enclosure is a wooden frame enclosed top to bottom with welded wire. It has a wire roof and the wire extends 18" down into the ground. The actual night box is 4x8x2'. I found a mini oil-filled heater to heat it with. The heater is on a thermostat and will be set to 80 for about half of the year and 70 over the warmer months.

Here is the lid. You can see the insulation in place.

Here is the plywood cover going over the insulation in the lid. The lid fits on top of the box and is hinged. There will be weatherstripping all around the top and the lip on the lid keeps the rain out of the box. You can see a finished lid for a second box in the background.

Here is the bottom. Notice the door notch and how that will fit in later.

Insulation in the bottom. All the insulation is 1.5" thick and has the shiny mylar foil side pointing to the outside. Don't know if that matters much, but thats how I did it.

Insulation on the floor all covered up.

Here the front and back are attached. Notice the door taking shape. Since 9 animals will initially share this, and as they get older they will get bigger, I went kinda big with the door at 26x16". This way one of them won't be able to sit in the doorway and block all the others in or out, and later, when they reach adult size, they will easily fit in and out of this door.

Another view of the front with the sides going up.

Here the side wall insulation is in place and about to be covered up. This box is also double caulked to keep out any cold drafts on those below freezing winter nights. The only air movement will be from the door, or when I open the lid.

All buttoned up.

Here goes the front insulation.

The front insulation is all covered up here. The 2x4 blocks there will support a 2x10" water tub holding shelf. Having containers of water inside will keep the humidity up in the night box, and act as a bit of a heat sink. This technique has been working very well in my underground sulcata night box.

Here's a top view showing the area where the heater will live, the weather stripping in place, the door flaps, and the 2x4 in the back that the lid hinges attach to.

Here is the front with paint and door flaps and water shelves in place.

Here is the door. I will carve out the dirt where the door/ramp hits the ground so it sits flush. One "weak" spot of previous designs was the simple plywood door. I went to great time and trouble to super insulate my night boxes, but then just used thin plywood to cover the door holes. This time the door shares the same 1.5" insulation as the rest of the box. Door open:

Door Closed:

Here you can see the heater installed, the metal heat shield above it, the water tubs for humidity on the shelves, and my purple shoe box that holds all my electrical stuff.

Here are some of the babies enjoying their bermuda grass bedding.

Here is a wide view showing some of the enclosure. The empty wooden box in the lower right foreground of the pic is their 4x8' shade table/planter box. I will be filling it and planting leopard tortoise food in their in the next few days.

One more view of the same thing from the other side.

Well that's it. Tell me what you think.

I am wanting to build one of these I am having a hard time understanding how you attached the walls to the bottom. Please help me to understand.

 

[Tom]

Its all 2x4s and plywood. I attach a 2x4 to the bottom and I attach the sides to the 2x4. Its all tied in together at the end and very sturdy. Looks at these and see if you can see it better here:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/another-effective-night-box.86632/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/another-night-box-thread.88966/

Please come back and ask for more help if you need it. No one is born knowing this stuff, and I'm happy to help you figure it out. If need be we can talk on the phone.

 

[stojanovski92113]

After much thought about what worked and what I wanted to improve over previous attempts, here is the latest version with a step by step pictorial on how I did it. It is time for my 2010 South African herd to move outside. They are moving into a 16x20' completely closed in enclosure. The enclosure is a wooden frame enclosed top to bottom with welded wire. It has a wire roof and the wire extends 18" down into the ground. The actual night box is 4x8x2'. I found a mini oil-filled heater to heat it with. The heater is on a thermostat and will be set to 80 for about half of the year and 70 over the warmer months.

Here is the lid. You can see the insulation in place.

Here is the plywood cover going over the insulation in the lid. The lid fits on top of the box and is hinged. There will be weatherstripping all around the top and the lip on the lid keeps the rain out of the box. You can see a finished lid for a second box in the background.

Here is the bottom. Notice the door notch and how that will fit in later.

Insulation in the bottom. All the insulation is 1.5" thick and has the shiny mylar foil side pointing to the outside. Don't know if that matters much, but thats how I did it.

Insulation on the floor all covered up.

Here the front and back are attached. Notice the door taking shape. Since 9 animals will initially share this, and as they get older they will get bigger, I went kinda big with the door at 26x16". This way one of them won't be able to sit in the doorway and block all the others in or out, and later, when they reach adult size, they will easily fit in and out of this door.

Another view of the front with the sides going up.

Here the side wall insulation is in place and about to be covered up. This box is also double caulked to keep out any cold drafts on those below freezing winter nights. The only air movement will be from the door, or when I open the lid.

All buttoned up.

Here goes the front insulation.

The front insulation is all covered up here. The 2x4 blocks there will support a 2x10" water tub holding shelf. Having containers of water inside will keep the humidity up in the night box, and act as a bit of a heat sink. This technique has been working very well in my underground sulcata night box.

Here's a top view showing the area where the heater will live, the weather stripping in place, the door flaps, and the 2x4 in the back that the lid hinges attach to.

Here is the front with paint and door flaps and water shelves in place.

Here is the door. I will carve out the dirt where the door/ramp hits the ground so it sits flush. One "weak" spot of previous designs was the simple plywood door. I went to great time and trouble to super insulate my night boxes, but then just used thin plywood to cover the door holes. This time the door shares the same 1.5" insulation as the rest of the box. Door open:

Door Closed:

Here you can see the heater installed, the metal heat shield above it, the water tubs for humidity on the shelves, and my purple shoe box that holds all my electrical stuff.

Here are some of the babies enjoying their bermuda grass bedding.

Here is a wide view showing some of the enclosure. The empty wooden box in the lower right foreground of the pic is their 4x8' shade table/planter box. I will be filling it and planting leopard tortoise food in their in the next few days.

One more view of the same thing from the other side.

Well that's it. Tell me what you think.

Can I send you money & you build one for me LOL!! That's perfect!! Insulation, can't beat that! You can see it very well thought out! Great job!

 

[Tom]

Can I send you money & you build one for me LOL!! That's perfect!! Insulation, can't beat that! You can see it very well thought out! Great job!

If I thought I could earn a living at it, I would love to build tortoise boxes all day long every day.

Unfortunately, I gotta work...

But at least my "work" is fun.

 

[Jtort]

I am wanting to build one of these I am having a hard time understanding how you attached the walls to the bottom. Please help me to understand.

My husband and I just built a 4x4 box like this. It's pretty much done except for the inside compartment to place the heater (waiting on the heater to get the dimensions).

It was our first time building anything and we made a few mistakes but made it work. I will try to post a thread tonight with pictures and point out our mistakes so first timers like us can avoid them.

 

[aztortoisegal]

That's very impressive, I'll show this to my husband, see if he can put together a box like this for my little guy before the cool winter sets in.

 

[Robertchrisroph]

this is the heater i bought for Toms night box. its 6 inches wide 18 inches long and 15 inches high, could not find the ones tom was talking about. this is from Amazon. it has low using 500 watts or med 700 and high at 12 or 1500 watts. like 65.00 dollars

 

[Tom]

That looks like it will work. Make sure to run it on your own separate thermostat and don't rely on the one built in to the unit. Only use it on low. Watch your temps closely.

 

[Robertchrisroph]

Thank you for watching over me and king.

 

[thegame2388]

Sorry to revive this thread...I really love the hide box, but how do you attach the overhead light/CHE when/if you open the roof to remove poop and all that?

In this case, wouldn't attaching them to the side be better? I want to follow your steps!