less.than.ash
New Member
Hey guys!!
Long time no see. I posted a thread a while ago with blueprints that I made for an outdoor tortoise enclosure for my russian. Some weeks have gone by of me working morning to night every weekday...I finally had a week off to buy some lumber and get started.
I bought the main lumber for the frame and lid, and my boyfriend from college has been staying over this week so I got him to do the heavy lifting (literally. i genuinely couldn't lift most of the wood) so big thanks to him...I'm sure he didn't expect to be building an enclosure for a random reptile, and we got a lot of weird looks at Home Depot, but it's been fun
We used those little blocks in the corners and cut the corners of the wood so they could slot in nicely to them since it makes disassembling this easier. Then we nailed in the top corners. Not my initial preference as opposed to nailing everything and not cutting anything, but it means if the wood ever rots (it's not SUPPOSED to, it's PT...but you know, things happen) we can take it apart and fix it up.
those little planks on the corners and across the back there are not nailed in and probably won't stay there...we're trying to figure out how to do the roof. Initially I just wanted to stack two of those walls on top of each other (doubling the height) and then making a flat lid with 2 hinged sections out of hardware cloth. But not only is that going to be...super heavy...and my boyfriend won't always be here...but also there's rain to think about.
We get really heavy downpours now and then in Jersey. The weather has been insane here lately with that...sunny days followed by violent showers...and even though I can of course move her back inside anticipating big storms, I'm worried about the wood rotting due to water exposure and since it's positioned right by the gutters, a lot of water will go directly inside and sweep the substrate and such around.
So! My plan is to make a slanted roof out of wood (painted with something waterproof maybe) facing the back towards the house, then have the other side be straight, kind of like a little shed. She will, and I know this to be true as I've gardened in this exact spot before, still get sun this way, because the way the sun rises it points directly inside there and then sinks behind the house. But then water won't go directly inside and can run off the lid. Then we can add a gate-like thing for me to get in and out of there to manage her food and stuff.
But yeah! Progress is moving. I'm. NOT. a handy person. But I'm trying my best for my little boulder
Let me know what you guys think and if I'm doing anything wrong!
Long time no see. I posted a thread a while ago with blueprints that I made for an outdoor tortoise enclosure for my russian. Some weeks have gone by of me working morning to night every weekday...I finally had a week off to buy some lumber and get started.
I bought the main lumber for the frame and lid, and my boyfriend from college has been staying over this week so I got him to do the heavy lifting (literally. i genuinely couldn't lift most of the wood) so big thanks to him...I'm sure he didn't expect to be building an enclosure for a random reptile, and we got a lot of weird looks at Home Depot, but it's been fun
We used those little blocks in the corners and cut the corners of the wood so they could slot in nicely to them since it makes disassembling this easier. Then we nailed in the top corners. Not my initial preference as opposed to nailing everything and not cutting anything, but it means if the wood ever rots (it's not SUPPOSED to, it's PT...but you know, things happen) we can take it apart and fix it up.
those little planks on the corners and across the back there are not nailed in and probably won't stay there...we're trying to figure out how to do the roof. Initially I just wanted to stack two of those walls on top of each other (doubling the height) and then making a flat lid with 2 hinged sections out of hardware cloth. But not only is that going to be...super heavy...and my boyfriend won't always be here...but also there's rain to think about.
We get really heavy downpours now and then in Jersey. The weather has been insane here lately with that...sunny days followed by violent showers...and even though I can of course move her back inside anticipating big storms, I'm worried about the wood rotting due to water exposure and since it's positioned right by the gutters, a lot of water will go directly inside and sweep the substrate and such around.
So! My plan is to make a slanted roof out of wood (painted with something waterproof maybe) facing the back towards the house, then have the other side be straight, kind of like a little shed. She will, and I know this to be true as I've gardened in this exact spot before, still get sun this way, because the way the sun rises it points directly inside there and then sinks behind the house. But then water won't go directly inside and can run off the lid. Then we can add a gate-like thing for me to get in and out of there to manage her food and stuff.
But yeah! Progress is moving. I'm. NOT. a handy person. But I'm trying my best for my little boulder
Let me know what you guys think and if I'm doing anything wrong!
