Red Footed Tortoise Indoor Enclosure

[Stinky_Rifter]

Hi Guys,

This is my first post on here and I am pretty excited about this one. I am a CAD drafter by trade so doing this was fun for me to get started from design to well... the point I am at now. Unfortunately my progress is slow as building things in an apartment is frowned upon.

I will admit that the structure is probably over engineered, but figured too much was better than not enough.

And since there has been some help from my friend back home, as I am a 3 hour drive from where this is being constructed.

Now there has been conduit and wiring included in the design. Wiring has been run to hook up heat lamps, and UVAB florescent bulbs to a plug. There has also been a conduit run to contain the rain systems hoses. There has also been a vent included in the side that will contain fans to blow in and out of the tank in case the temperature becomes too great. I am still looking for a controller so I would love some input on that.


Of course some pictures of the lucky girl that I am doing this all for. Her name is Franny, and she is a curious one.

C&C are welcome.
Thanks for reading and I'll post updates.
Stinky

 

[cristal redfoot]

Welcome! And your enclosure looks great!

 

[Madkins007]

It looks great!

The thing to keep in mind when designing indoor enclosures is the adult size needs- for a red-footed tortoise, we would like to see about 8'x4'. A 4'x2' habitat will hold up for a few years until it hits about 6" or a bit more.

 

[Stinky_Rifter]

Hi Guys,

Not to much to update on. Got the stain done and the tile laid in the interior. Also got the glass slides in for the doors. All that is left to finish is the grout, paint, lacquer, mount the lights, order glass, and the biggest part of all... move it into my apartment. But here is a picture for you all to drool over.

I have addressed the size issue. This one is actually only part 1 of 3. There is a cabinet going to be built for the left side of this unit, and then another tank is going to be built for the top that covers this tank and the cabinet. This is due to the fact that my friend is going to be moving in the future here and needs to give his greek tortoise to a good home. But i do appreciate the point out of the flaw.

Thanks,
Stinky

 

[RosieRedfoot]

I'm building a redfoot enclosure as well. I like the clear fronted enclosure design but I know my Rosie and she'd always be at the front trying to get out and our room has too small of a doorway to build a bigger version much like yours, so we're building the enclosure in 2 parts; solid walled base and then lid with windows. My boyfriend is an electrical engineer so he's creating a control system from scratch. If you need or want advice on a control system let me know!

 

[Stinky_Rifter]

I would actually love to hear how your going to do your control system. I really do like your design though. Im actually going to tackle that problem with privacy cover for glass, so light can get through but its not able to be seen through. Actually get to move this thing in this weekend... well I hope i can move it in, it weights probably 200-300 pounds.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

NICE!

 

[fluffypanda17]

Looking great. Keep us posted!

 

[Stinky_Rifter]

\o/ Its moved in, alot bigger than I remember it being. Today is going to be full of running for little things, of course, but will post some pictures once i get a chance.

 

[Stinky_Rifter]

So here is the finished product thus far. First one is just after finishing the grout last week. But now Franny is moved into here new home, just waiting for the grass to sprout and the plants to grow some more. It is deffinetly alot bigger than I thought and had to improvise with the availability of 48" UVB bulbs being non existant here.

---

I forgot to mention, the only thing left to do is put the doors on, which I was given a surprise with, I'll let you guys wait with excitement until I get some good pictures.

 

[Stinky_Rifter]

So here is the finished product. The doors have a glazed green glass in them which looks amazing. I am still waiting on the glass doors and am using plexiglass for the time being. I am currently looking into a greenhouse fan controller to help maintain temperature. On the plus side the humidity is no problem for the enclosure and she seems to love it. i haven't seen her move around so much in a long time. Funny thing was, and i wish I had gotten a picture, she dug herself under the substrate and was hiding, my girlfriend thought she escaped.

 

[1208jen]

Very nice!! All your hard work has paid off. It's really impressive.

So here is the finished product. The doors have a glazed green glass in them which looks amazing. I am still waiting on the glass doors and am using plexiglass for the time being. I am currently looking into a greenhouse fan controller to help maintain temperature. On the plus side the humidity is no problem for the enclosure and she seems to love it. i haven't seen her move around so much in a long time. Funny thing was, and i wish I had gotten a picture, she dug herself under the substrate and was hiding, my girlfriend thought she escaped.

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[lynnedit]

How about a computer fan controller?

That looks fabulous. We fully expect pics of your tort once she appears again.

 

[knives2886]

Wow that is very impressive!! Can u come build me an aquarium stand and canopy? Lol i attempted to build myself a stand and hood and faild. But your enclosure looks amazing!

 

[Nerdling]

This looks phenomenal! I have a Cherryhead tort and have been wondering how I'm going to maintain the humidity properly here in dry, dry Alberta. I know you tiled it and used a sealant for the wood, are you worried at all about the wood rotting in the high humidity?

Your tort is a lucky girl!!

 

[Stinky_Rifter]

Well I used exterior paint, and also caulked every joing, twice. Also a silicone sealant for the grout on the tile to keep it sealed. One option I also looked at was grinding off the glaze on the tile and using a driveway sealer. The driveway sealer would be a for sure water sealant... but i don't plan on having any standing water so I shouldn't have a problem. Thus far there hasn't been any water accumulating on the paint so I'm not too worried about it rotting but time will tell. Thanks for all the comments and I'll get some more pictures up soon.

 

[Stinky_Rifter]

So fun update as to some additions. First and foremost being the rain/mist system. Probably looking to add some sprayers to it but at this time it works good.

And the conduit works perfectly to run the hose up. The only thing i'm lacking at this point is a gromit to keep the hose from getting cut into.

And of course some shots of the star.

 

[dannel]

Wow! That is one pampered tort!

 

[ajpena]

That's so cool! I want to build something similar for my bearded dragon.