BurtTheTortoise

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Hi everyone,
I’m new to tortoise forum and just wanted to take this time to post my 6 month old redfoots enclosure. I built it myself. Dimensions are 2.5x3.5 feet. It is covered with plexiglass which maintains great humidity for my little guy.

Any comments on how to enhance it even further are appreciated
 

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BurtTheTortoise

New Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2018
Messages
10
Location (City and/or State)
Wisconsin
Can you talk about how you made it, and how you waterproof it?

Thanks,

J

Absolutely!
It is made with cedar from a local hardware store. After nailing the pieces together, I sanded it so that the wood would be nice and smooth and the edges wouldn’t be sharp. Then I used a clear poly to seal the entire thing inside and out. I also used a clear caulk in the corners and edges to ensure that no water would leak through. The bottom and about 2 inches up the sides is painted on truck bed liner. This waterproofed the bottom and makes it extremely durable. This had a very potent smell but luckily I did this weeks before we received our tortoise so it had plenty of time to dry and air out before he arrived.

If you have any other questions let me know!
 

ZEROPILOT

REDFOOT WRANGLER
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The only negative I see aside from the smallish size is that UV light can't pass through glass or plastic.
Your RF will need UV.
Most closed chambers hang a strip florescent UV tube lamp assembly to the underside of the lid. In your case, plexiglass.
Doing that in this case would require a whole redesign. So maybe cutting off a section and fitting the light in that space?
Nice looking work BTW!
 

BurtTheTortoise

New Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2018
Messages
10
Location (City and/or State)
Wisconsin
The only negative I see aside from the smallish size is that UV light can't pass through glass or plastic.
Your RF will need UV.
Most closed chambers hang a strip florescent UV tube lamp assembly to the underside of the lid. In your case, plexiglass.
Doing that in this case would require a whole redesign. So maybe cutting off a section and fitting the light in that space?
Nice looking work BTW!

Thank you!
The end that the heat/UV light is on is not covered for that reason. There is about a foot uncovered on that end so that the UV rays can get to him.

When he gets bigger I will redesign so that the light can hang on the interior. Thanks for your input!
 

ZEROPILOT

REDFOOT WRANGLER
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Two other minor things.
You may need to make sure that that moss doesn't get nibbled and also that plastic plant.
These may or may not get eaten by a young animal.
I'd use Orchid bark and some potting soil as a substrate. However, the moss may also be ok.
I've used it in the past.
And not every baby will eat plastic plants. Look for nibble Mark's on the leaves.
 

BurtTheTortoise

New Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2018
Messages
10
Location (City and/or State)
Wisconsin
Two other minor things.
You may need to make sure that that moss doesn't get nibbled and also that plastic plant.
These may or may not get eaten by a young animal.
I'd use Orchid bark and some potting soil as a substrate. However, the moss may also be ok.
I've used it in the past.
And not every baby will eat plastic plants. Look for nibble Mark's on the leaves.

I haven’t seen him nibble on the moss or the plastic plants but I will keep an eye out for it. Thanks again!
 

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