Things have changed, need some advice on making new enclosure

Reptilian Feline

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Joined
May 17, 2017
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Sweden
Last night my African sideneck turtle passed away. He'd been losing energy for a few days... a week... and I knew his time had come. Today I buried him in the garden under a small rock. His tank was back to back with Embers' tank. Embers is my happy growing red foot. She needs more space, and now, with Medusa gone, I have room to make that happen.
I know the size of the tank has to be based in part of the size of materials I can get my hand on. I don't want any seems running down the bottom of the tank for instance.

I need to be able to pick her up with both hands, because she is growing and growing and it's already hard to pick her up safely with one hand. Open top would make that easy, but I don't think it's a good idea. I'd like the humidity to stay inside even if I put in a large water area for her to "swim" in... really plonking down and soaking of course.

I know she likes to be able to look out... she will let us know she wants something, and she likes to see what we are up to, so I don't want solid sides. I guess glass is the only alternative, because acrylic will be scratched, right? I could make two sides of glass, and two solid wood or something.

Wood... easy to use but for humidity? Would a pond liner be strong enough for the nails of a big redfoot? I'm not a fan of resins and varnish, because they stink up the house, and I can't build it outdoors.

As she is getting older, will she need an egg box to dig in? She has no male friend, but I know some tortoises might lay eggs anyway. If she needs one, I might as well put that in the plans already.
 

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