In November and December of 2007, we designed and built a new enclosure for our two Hermann's tortoises, René and Pascale.

Design

Tortoise table overhead view Our substrate research indicated that we should use a 50/50 mixture of sterile potting soil and sand as substrate in the new enclosure. We wanted to provide a substrate layer deep enough for the torts to dig a little bit. A few inches of soil/sand mix is very heavy, though, and a large enclosure filled with it would be difficult to clean. I was inspired by this table to come up with a design based on four shallow Rubbermaid tubs, which you can see in the photo to the right. We decided that we wanted the sides of the enclosure to be 10" high and that there should be a wooden trim at the top so we could easily clip on UV and heat lamps.

Since the table would be in our house, I wanted to make it look as much like a piece of furniture as possible. This meant taking the time to put a nice finish on the table. We also wanted to make sure it would be easy to clean and to wipe up spills.

Construction

The table tray base is constructed of 3/4" finished plywood. The sides are 1" x 4" pine and are put together with dowels and Gorilla Glue so there are no nail or screw heads showing. I first assembled the long sides of the table, attached them to the base, and added the shorter side rails. I routed out a 1/4" groove in each of the top rails prior to assembly to receive the acrylic side panels, hand-chiseling the corners as needed. Once the tray was assembled and sanded, I applied two coats of stain and three of Varathane, then added the legs. The 1/4" acrylic sides were created by Gary's Plastic Place in Santa Cruz. It took a little persuasion to get the plastic sides to fit into the grooves, but a rubber mallet can work wonders in these sorts of situations. Once the sides were in place, I cut the and routed the railing, assembled it on the acrylic sides, and glued it together in place. Once the glue was dry, I removed the railing assembly, sanded, stained, and applied Varathane. Once everything was dry, I fitted the railing on the top of the acrylic.

Tubs

I started off by filling the tubs with the 50/50 potting soil/play sand mixture, but found that this was much too heavy to comfortably lift out of the table. Adding a 2 - 3" layer of Perlite to the bottom of the tub (covered with a sheet of weed block material to prevent it from migrating upward) significantly lightened each tub.

In one of the tubs, I added a 1" layer of sand and embedded a tray full of rocks. This tub is under the two heat lamps. One tub contains a pot of wheatgrass for grazing, and another has a half-buried flowerpot "cave" for hiding or sleeping.

Pictures

The Desert Rene in the log cave Pascale in the new table

Issues

The most immediate issue we found was that the legs for the table are not rigid enough in the horizontal direction for the amount of mass they are holding up. I'm going to build L-shaped legs that should take care of that problem.

When I inserted the acrylic sides into the grooves in the top of the tray, a bit of wood popped out of one corners. I should have seen that coming, since the acrylic put pressure on a 1/4" piece of wood along the grain. I'm going to chisel it out, sand it down, and restain when I make the new legs.

I've read a bit more about how tortoises should not be allowed to eat Perlite, so I think I'll have to find another material to use on the bottom of the tubs.