The freecycle finished shed - Page 2

Pussygalore · 27-02-2008, 04:16 PM

The door at this end was already cut in as the chickens used it, so its very simple with a ramp covered in roofing felt for grip, I put a simple guide down the side so they don't fall of or take short cuts, they can cope with a fairly steep ramp as long as they don't slip. I just put a peice of wood over the opening held in place with a brick at night,the other side has similar, I'm not very clever but it works, the window was a none opening one so all we did was make it double glazed with another peice of perspex screwed inside, just stops any heat loss through drafts, we found that silicon sealant would attatch the polystyrene and seal any gaps but cut the poly slightley big and wedge it in between the shed supports ours allowed exactly 1 inch thick, 4 sheets of 8x4 did the job costing £20 total you need a good sharp knife to cut it so it doesnt break but once the initial cut is made it snaps off easily, my torts have had poly used as insulation before and showed no interest in it so I'm not covering it now but if they change their mind then thin ply would do the job, I've also used old carpet to cover walls before so that could be used instaed of ply the shed itself was free and luckily already dismantled so we put it back up in an afternoon, the roof is covered in poly as well and the light is mounting along the top as its a 5ft strip again lucky enough to have the fittings and only need the bulb, the heat lamp is a standard red heat about £5 and the mount standard household, the heating will only be used on wet cold days as I find a little heat will bring them outside even if its raining

bernards mom · 27-02-2008, 11:41 PM

thankyou i no doubt will have lots of questions for you and others with great enclosures when i finally get round to sorting out mine!

sandy · 28-02-2008, 07:21 AM

Looks like your hard work is paying off, its looking really good.

Pussygalore · 28-02-2008, 08:02 AM

Thanks everyone I love this always striving to get it better, when I look at our first attempts we are now going in a totally different direction, the kennel type houses worked last year but I was going to put perspex roofs on this year as they were to well insulated and didn't warm up I didn't have the money to go out and buy things like a new shed etc so when this small one came along it gave us the chance to I think improve some more, I found it hard to take the big roofs off the small houses so a doorway will be great, the greenhouse would have been nice but its a long way from any electrics and has a base wall around it so couldn't really atach an outside area to it, plus its not ours and its a long way from the house, to far for my peace of mind with our foxy visitor I like them near where I feel they are safe. we'll get there in the end but whether I'll ever be really happy

ME SHELL · 28-02-2008, 10:37 AM

That looks really good, I'm thinking about doing one in my garden, but mine is very small.
I'm hoping to move in September so this year I don't know wether to make one or just make an enclosure and bring him back in during the nights until I have my new house.

Pussygalore · 28-02-2008, 10:46 AM

I just think its nice to see both ends of the market so to speak, for those who have the money to spend and want to but that you can also provide something similar with a bit of work for a very small sum of money, I'd be happy to leave my adults out at night if we didn't have foxy so I need somewhere to shut them up, I wasn't looking to do all this but as the shed came free with the hens it seemed daft not to put it to good use, the hens have the aviary and a run attached so don't miss it, mind you when we had them in the garden with us while we were working on it they went straight over to it I think they knew their old home and I did have a breif pang of consience, not for long though. as I now have 4 torts it an ok size but I wouldn't have bothered for one baby.

ME SHELL · 28-02-2008, 10:54 AM

It gets very cold here during the nights, so I would have to have something ith heating. I've bought one of them coldframes for him, but as I said during the night it would not be adiquate. At the moment in my house I have two bulbs on my enclosure one 160w combi heat and light and one 60w spot. Before when I just had 160w the one side of the enclosure was 10 degrees, and that is with my heating on

. It is never very warm where I live summer or winter. Can't wait to move and then my Tort will have everything

27-02-2008, 11:41 PM	#12
bernards mom Senior Member Sub Adult Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: n.yorkshire Posts: 1,106	thankyou i no doubt will have lots of questions for you and others with great enclosures when i finally get round to sorting out mine! __________________ 1 husband, 3 kids, 1 dog, 3 cats, 1 leopard tortoise, 2 leopard geckos, 1 house gecko, 1 rabbit, 1 guinee pig, i bird, 5 giant african land snails, and lots of fish!!!!!

28-02-2008, 07:21 AM	#13
sandy Senior Member Adult Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Kent UK Posts: 12,146	Looks like your hard work is paying off, its looking really good. __________________ < > 60+, keeping ibera, graeca and box turtles \0/ /_\ http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/tortoisefriends

27-02-2008, 04:16 PM	#11
Pussygalore Senior Member Adult Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Cambridge Posts: 6,479	The door at this end was already cut in as the chickens used it, so its very simple with a ramp covered in roofing felt for grip, I put a simple guide down the side so they don't fall of or take short cuts, they can cope with a fairly steep ramp as long as they don't slip. I just put a peice of wood over the opening held in place with a brick at night,the other side has similar, I'm not very clever but it works, the window was a none opening one so all we did was make it double glazed with another peice of perspex screwed inside, just stops any heat loss through drafts, we found that silicon sealant would attatch the polystyrene and seal any gaps but cut the poly slightley big and wedge it in between the shed supports ours allowed exactly 1 inch thick, 4 sheets of 8x4 did the job costing £20 total you need a good sharp knife to cut it so it doesnt break but once the initial cut is made it snaps off easily, my torts have had poly used as insulation before and showed no interest in it so I'm not covering it now but if they change their mind then thin ply would do the job, I've also used old carpet to cover walls before so that could be used instaed of ply the shed itself was free and luckily already dismantled so we put it back up in an afternoon, the roof is covered in poly as well and the light is mounting along the top as its a 5ft strip again lucky enough to have the fittings and only need the bulb, the heat lamp is a standard red heat about £5 and the mount standard household, the heating will only be used on wet cold days as I find a little heat will bring them outside even if its raining

28-02-2008, 08:02 AM	#14
Pussygalore Senior Member Adult Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Cambridge Posts: 6,479	Thanks everyone I love this always striving to get it better, when I look at our first attempts we are now going in a totally different direction, the kennel type houses worked last year but I was going to put perspex roofs on this year as they were to well insulated and didn't warm up I didn't have the money to go out and buy things like a new shed etc so when this small one came along it gave us the chance to I think improve some more, I found it hard to take the big roofs off the small houses so a doorway will be great, the greenhouse would have been nice but its a long way from any electrics and has a base wall around it so couldn't really atach an outside area to it, plus its not ours and its a long way from the house, to far for my peace of mind with our foxy visitor I like them near where I feel they are safe. we'll get there in the end but whether I'll ever be really happy

28-02-2008, 10:37 AM	#15
ME SHELL Senior Member Adult Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 8,484	That looks really good, I'm thinking about doing one in my garden, but mine is very small. I'm hoping to move in September so this year I don't know wether to make one or just make an enclosure and bring him back in during the nights until I have my new house.

28-02-2008, 10:46 AM	#16
Pussygalore Senior Member Adult Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Cambridge Posts: 6,479	I just think its nice to see both ends of the market so to speak, for those who have the money to spend and want to but that you can also provide something similar with a bit of work for a very small sum of money, I'd be happy to leave my adults out at night if we didn't have foxy so I need somewhere to shut them up, I wasn't looking to do all this but as the shed came free with the hens it seemed daft not to put it to good use, the hens have the aviary and a run attached so don't miss it, mind you when we had them in the garden with us while we were working on it they went straight over to it I think they knew their old home and I did have a breif pang of consience, not for long though. as I now have 4 torts it an ok size but I wouldn't have bothered for one baby.

28-02-2008, 10:54 AM	#17
ME SHELL Senior Member Adult Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 8,484	It gets very cold here during the nights, so I would have to have something ith heating. I've bought one of them coldframes for him, but as I said during the night it would not be adiquate. At the moment in my house I have two bulbs on my enclosure one 160w combi heat and light and one 60w spot. Before when I just had 160w the one side of the enclosure was 10 degrees, and that is with my heating on . It is never very warm where I live summer or winter. Can't wait to move and then my Tort will have everything

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