Nightbox finally completed!

Subersibo

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Based off Tom's excellent design. Size is like Team Gomberg's (2'x4'x2') Had my friend's dad construct this.
1.5" insulation all around. Only modification is the door is 4 inches higher so I can put 4 inches of dirt in there to increase humidity. The roof closes well, I just didn't put it on properly yet.

Caulked (badly!) by me lol!

Put the vinyl for the door. Still thinking what I can put there so he can climb on. I found some artificial grass at home depot but they don't sell it that small. I need only 1 sq ft. Not shown is the vinyl tiles I put on the floor and sides (4 inches high) to protect the wood from the damp substrate.

This silly looking thing is where I screwed the heat mat on and an 80 watt heat panel on top. I made it using whatever wood I could find at home. It is elevated a few inches so the substrate won't get on top of it too much.

The wires all go into a box (stole that idea from Tom) so it wouldn't be so messy in there. The box goes on top of my silly stage and roof! View from top:

Here is the inside view. I used orchid bark from his indoor enclosure. Holds humidity pretty well.

With the additional ramp with dirt:


And finally, a shot of his whole area. It's 20'x14'. There are tall grasses and weeds all over. I bought a green privacy fence from ebay to keep anyone from getting any funny ideas. We live next to the greenback where there is a jogging path so people go back and forth all day.
(The enclosure with the wire tops is for my Russian tortoise).


I'm still trying out the heating elements. Hopefully they keep the box warm enough in cold weather. I use a reptitherm 500r. Both heating mat and panel are connected to it. I also have a thermometer/ humidity gauge in there.
Hope you guys enjoyed this little tour!
 

wellington

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Looks nice. Good job on both your parts. The dirt on the ramp may wash away with rain. You can screw strips of wood a inch or less apart on the ramp and that will help him get up it easier if needed. I had also tried roofing shingles on the ramp, works, but doesn't seem to last more then a year or so.
 

Subersibo

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I thought that also( the dirt would wash away) but I left that ramp outside during the week when it rained everyday and the soil became more firm and stuck to the wood even more.
Ill look into doing that thing with the wood you mentioned. Thanks!
 

Levi the Leopard

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Looks good. I'm in a hurry right now but I plan to go over your interior details again later..

For the door traction. Either add roofing shingles (that's on my tort door) or you can buy outdoor step traction tape.. I put that on another tort house. It's sold in a roll like duct tape but it's gritty like sandpaper. I use it on my kids bunk bed ladder, too.
 

sibi

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That's great! I'll get a roll soon as I can. Thanks!
http://m.homedepot.com/p/3M-2-in-x-15-ft-Safety-Walk-Step-and-Ladder-Tread-Tape-7635NA/100132176

I checked the temp a while ago it was 86 so i turned the thermostat down. Now temp is at 82.
Coldest tomorrow morning is gonna be 46.
I'm gonna check every now and then.
If you're interested, my hubby put together a remote monitoring system for under $100 using a Raspberry Pi that will alert you, via text messages, when the temp and humidity levels go out of the range you set for it. He simplified the original code which was more complex than it needed to be, and created a code that did the job in a very clean and easy way. This is especially useful when you can't monitor temps in the middle of the night and temps become dangerously low due to a power failure. That did happen to us once, and my torts nearly froze to death. How could we have known that the power failed when we were asleep? Never again! Now we get notices every 15 minutes if temps and/or humidity fall out of range. It's really neat if you can get that. Check out the thread under his user name, Michigan Frog. It's called REMOTE MONITORING SYSTEM or something like that.
 

Levi the Leopard

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Ok, I'm a huge fan of your stage and separate dirt area so far. I'll be curious to see how this works so keep us updated!
 

Subersibo

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If you're interested, my hubby put together a remote monitoring system for under $100 using a Raspberry Pi that will alert you, via text messages, when the temp and humidity levels go out of the range you set for it. He simplified the original code which was more complex than it needed to be, and created a code that did the job in a very clean and easy way. This is especially useful when you can't monitor temps in the middle of the night and temps become dangerously low due to a power failure. That did happen to us once, and my torts nearly froze to death. How could we have known that the power failed when we were asleep? Never again! Now we get notices every 15 minutes if temps and/or humidity fall out of range. It's really neat if you can get that. Check out the thread under his user name, Michigan Frog. It's called REMOTE MONITORING SYSTEM or something like that.
I'll check out the thread. maybe for the future. I already spent so much lol!
Ok, I'm a huge fan of your stage and separate dirt area so far. I'll be curious to see how this works so keep us updated!
Haha thanks! Yeah I really wanted to keep the dirt off the mat if possible also not to have the mat sit directly on the moist substrate. Hope it all works out. I'll observe temps for a few weeks before putting my beloved Yoshi outside 24/7.
 

Subersibo

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Here he is inside the box this afternoon. Temp was 86-88. He will continue to sleep in his indoor enclosure til I get the temps right.
Early this morning it was 77-79 so I'm not sure if the heating combo of panel and mat are sufficient.

 

Subersibo

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77-79 are completely fine for morning temps.

As long as that's the lowest, no worries.
That might've been because I left the door open all night. I tried it with the door closed last night and the temp has been consistent at 86 day and night in between the heating equipment. Might be too hot so he prefers to stay off the mat but very close to it. I'll lower the thermostat to keep it at 80-82 then see how well it handles the 41 degree night coming up
( with the door closed).
I had an extra 1.5" insulation board and i put that on top the roof of the house and covered the whole thing with a cover for an old grill I had lying around to further protect the house from rain and add another layer of insulation.
 
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Based off Tom's excellent design. Size is like Team Gomberg's (2'x4'x2') Had my friend's dad construct this.
1.5" insulation all around. Only modification is the door is 4 inches higher so I can put 4 inches of dirt in there to increase humidity. The roof closes well, I just didn't put it on properly yet.

Caulked (badly!) by me lol!

Put the vinyl for the door. Still thinking what I can put there so he can climb on. I found some artificial grass at home depot but they don't sell it that small. I need only 1 sq ft. Not shown is the vinyl tiles I put on the floor and sides (4 inches high) to protect the wood from the damp substrate.

This silly looking thing is where I screwed the heat mat on and an 80 watt heat panel on top. I made it using whatever wood I could find at home. It is elevated a few inches so the substrate won't get on top of it too much.

The wires all go into a box (stole that idea from Tom) so it wouldn't be so messy in there. The box goes on top of my silly stage and roof! View from top:

Here is the inside view. I used orchid bark from his indoor enclosure. Holds humidity pretty well.

With the additional ramp with dirt:


And finally, a shot of his whole area. It's 20'x14'. There are tall grasses and weeds all over. I bought a green privacy fence from ebay to keep anyone from getting any funny ideas. We live next to the greenback where there is a jogging path so people go back and forth all day.
(The enclosure with the wire tops is for my Russian tortoise).


I'm still trying out the heating elements. Hopefully they keep the box warm enough in cold weather. I use a reptitherm 500r. Both heating mat and panel are connected to it. I also have a thermometer/ humidity gauge in there.
Hope you guys enjoyed this little tour!
I love the way you framed the door. Everything looks so well made! Well done!
 
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