First 'house' for Sulcata

[wildlifewarrior]

cheers.

this is the equpment that u will need.

1 inch screws
MDF wood cut to size
yacht varnish/craddel varnish
outdoor animal friendly wood finsh paint( normally it's the fence panel paint)
fish tank sealent.


thats it. u will creat ur box as such and then screw ur wood in. have 4 screws on each four sides 1/4 away along each time so that u get extra strength.
but before u place and 2 peices of wood together, use the sealent as a glue and just go up and down with it as this will give it extra strength. then at the end go over the inside sides with sealent just to help stop water damage. then paint it and wait for it to dry then varnish it.

if u tell them where ever u go this equipment then they will go and get it u.

anymore help just ask. if u need the excalt measure ments then i can draw u a plan and a cutting list so u only have to take the list in and they will cut the wood for u.

[Jason1]

Hi, the size of table you have suggested seems to me to be a lot of hard work for a very short time. my sulcata is 6" long (18 months) and he hates his current accomidation its far to small and he consantly paces round the perimiter in no time at all. he is currently in a viv 30" by 12". i haven't got round to building his new enclosure yet but he's much more at home out in the garden for a couple of hours or just wandering around in the house. i am keeping him in over winter but he will be outside in heated accomidation from next spring. Here's what i have ordered from argos to use for a few months until i put him outside.

http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/st...8943&x=12&y=12

Its bigger than he currently has with dimensions of 117cm/46"(L) x 45cm/18"(D) x 58cm/23"(H) with the possibilty of setting it up on its side so the height becomes the depth and vice versa. I will let you know how I get on its suppose to be delivered on Monday.

It you want something that looks a bit nicer this might do the trick. You could always use pond liner to line the base if you dont want the substrate to come in contact with the wood.

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...%3ESTORAGE.htm

These still wont last you long with a sulcata and to be honest if I was planning to keep mine inside for any length of time I would have bought or made something much bigger. Obviously you'd use both of these without the lids.

Jason

[Tara]

Hi, thanks, good ideas.

I am planning to keep him in over the winter and I figure he's not going to grow out of a 600 mm x 600 mm house before spring. He's lived his life so far in small viv's so hopefully he'll enjoy the space and at the first sign of stress, i'll move him to something bigger. I found out this morning he was hatched September 2006, so just over a year old.

I have decided to keep the box cheap and (gulp !!!) am going to knock it up myself, to keep costs down knowing he wont be in it long.

Thanks though. i like the ottoman, had already considered that. but after making the inside base a little higher and taking off the lid it's probably cheaper to make it.

We have plenty of 'safe' space in the house for him to roam while we watch him and failing that, we do have a room set aside to make a massive pen for colder / wetter days and nights.

Thanks for the advice

Tara

[Jason1]

Is it possible to see some pics of him? where abouts in the world are you? Make sure you stick some pics of your enclosure up when it's complete. I will do the same when I finish mine.

Jason

[Tara]

Hey Jason ...

I dont have any photos of him yet. He's still with Viper and Vine until I have everything ready to bring him home, but as soona s he's here I'll get some photos up, and I'll put up pics of his enclosure too

I plan to get the info on his website too
As a new tort owner, even though I have beed after one for the last 20 years ... I knoew the things I wanted and that started with a shopping list and house ideas, so after getting some more approval on that thread, i'll include it for other new owners.

Cheers

Tara

BTW .... Im in staffs.

[Jason1]

Ok good luck with it but i bet you spend £30 plus on the wood, screws, tools and varnish needed to make it. to me for £30, it isn't worth the hassle for a short term enclosure. and plus the area in your proposed enclosure is 3600 cm squared where as the box i have bought is 5265cm sqaured and possibily 6786 cm squared if i can rig up a way to use it on its side. that almost twice as big as what you are suggesting and for £30 I think its worth it. you'll be amazed how bored they can look in an enclosure that size. and beware there front legs are very strong he will when digging throw the hemp everywhere including outside the box so if you want to keep your carpets clean you will need to make the sides very high. Just letting you know what i have observed in my first week or so of owning one of these magnificent animals.

Jason

[Tara]

Again thanks.

I want to give him the best and as I mentioned before, I do have other places he can go and have a bigged pen for this winter.

Are you planning on keeping your sulcata outside from the sprin time then?
Do you have photos?

We have a brick building outside, which is about half the size of a standard garage. It already has electrics / windows etc and with a little modification that will be his home when he's ready and big enough.

The garden is all grass and massive, and once I throw down some weed seed, that should be good too.
We've kept the dogs off it for almost a year now in preperation ... just need a little gardener to come tidy it up better.

Do you have photos of your enclosure now? Id really love to see them.

Tara

[Jason1]

No the outdoor enclosure isn't ready yet and I'm still waiting for the indoor one to be delivered. When outside he is going to be housed in a 4 x 2ft cold frame with five course of bricks rasing the coldframe and providing a deeper substrate. this will be heated and he will them have perminant access to the garden. I realise this will probably only do for a couple of yerars but my garden in 70% laid to concrete so i have the massive job of having to lift all the concrete and bring in top soil and then lay to lawn. there are some picture of him in the pictures section under "meet oscar" Theres some pics of him when he first arrived and if you scroll down the post theres some of him in the garden. just so you know they only require 25% weeds and flowers the rest of the diet is grass and hay so dont go overboard on sowing the weeds.

Jason

http://forums.shelledwarriors.co.uk/...ic.php?t=10641

[Larrah]

Hi Scoop,

Have already posted this link somewhere else but in case you missed it-this lady will build you one starting at £25 going up £10 a time for size....if your condfident to do it youreself good luck! xxx

http://www.preloved.co.uk/fuseaction.../de553487.html

[wildlifewarrior]

ewwwwwwwwww it's made from plywood yak.....that stuff is nasty....i made my first viv out of ply wood lasted 5 months.