Winter addition

[Bobbyott]

Larry checking out his new addition for the winter. I cut a bin down and drilled holes for drainage and planted some grass and aloe plant and I order some sulcata mix that I'll plant. I'll see how this works out.

 

[wellington]

Looks nice, but it should be covered in order to keep the humidity up and also temps at his level.

 

[Bobbyott]

It does have a top , don't get good pic with the condensation on the cover so I removed the cover for the picture

 

[Tom]

See those little white bits in the soil? That is perlite. Your tortoise will eat it and it will cause a slow painful death. Get that tray out of there ASAP. You'll need to find some soil with no perlite, vermiculite, or any other "water retention" device added. You can cut the food grown in that tray and feed it to him, but you can't let him have access to that soil.

Also, I would never use OSB for something in a damp area or any sort of animal housing. Plywood holds up much better over the long haul.

 

[Bobbyott]

Better? Organic all natural soil. That wasn't the white foam balls it was some kind of crystal looking thing that showed up white in the picture. But I changed it anyway

 

[Tom]

That one looks good to me.

 

[Bobbyott]

Also this winter I have plans to build a bigger enclosure out of plywood. Any recommendations on what to treat the wood with or paint it ????

 

[Speedy-1]

Also this winter I have plans to build a bigger enclosure out of plywood. Any recommendations on what to treat the wood with or paint it ????

You can paint it , or you can buy marine , or exterior grade plywood and use it the way it is . I painted mine with an exterior latex enamel !

 

[Tom]

Also this winter I have plans to build a bigger enclosure out of plywood. Any recommendations on what to treat the wood with or paint it ????

Will it be a closed chamber? If yes, I would not paint the inside with anything. Line it with heavy duty painters plastic instead.

Last year, I tried Dry-Lok and that is working okay so far, I think…

Regular primer and paint will not hold up to the constant moisture and I worry about fumes in a closed environment.

A few years ago I used some non-toxic boat primer and paint and that seemed to work well, but it was expensive.

 

[Waffles_mom]

Keeping humidity in areas where you rely on central heat can be a real pain during the winter. Even with a covered pen and a humidifier running, I was lucky to get it over 30%. What helped my guy is having a nice water dish like you have so they can walk in but I also gave him a soak every day. A warm bath first thing in the morning was quite enjoyable for him. Helped hydrate and warm him up at the same time.