Questions about indoor enclosure materials

[swatata]

Hello everyone!

I know this is a topic raised quite a few times and I was looking for some answers in other topics. However, I still wanted to get a fresh opinion so here goes.

I have a juvenile eastern Hermann's tortoise for which I will be making an indoor enclosure big enough to accommodate her for the next years (150 cm x 75 cm). I have an old laminated thick table top I will be using as a base. The walls and roof for the shaded part I have some OSB 3 material at hand (moisture resistant). However, I was thinking of doing several layers of cover on the OSB 3 material as well as using bathroom wallpapers that are water resistant on the walls. and top of the enclosure, probably for the base as well. Would this be reasonable or should I switch the material all together? I found very little amount of information about enclosure being built out of OSB material, due to it being very easily deformed when exposed to moisture, but would that be the case with the OSB being moisture resistant and having sealing coats plus waterproof wallpaper on it? Would welcome any other ideas as well. Thanks

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Hello! As far as I know, any kind of OCB degrade from prolonged contact with water. Luckily in the tortoise enclosure it would be the bottom part, which contacts with substrate. You can use shower curtains or pond liners to isolate this part of the enclosure from contact with water.

There are epoxy-based coatings for boats which are durable and safe (when cured) but they come with a price. There were several threads on wood treatment for enclosures, where experienced guys shared that it is really hard to do with a success.

I would pay more attention to the edges of the OCB in my experience they are more prone to moisture and once it gets there the battle is lost.

You can make things a bit easier by using portable green house cover on top of the enclosure, so you won't need to treat wood for walls and ceiling. You'll lose in aesthetics, though.

Wallpaper could work for additional protection, but tortoise might damage it when burrowing, scratching the walls out of boredom, trying to climb and so (mine teared down laminated paper background in a couple of days in her old enclosure).

But since you already have the material, why not to try? Would be great to know, that it worked out. We'll have another option to build big enclosures besides PVC or plywood. As far as it's not tropical species enclosure with RH 80-90% odds are high.