MAKING A TORTIE TABLE

One down, three across. Begins with M and ends in E (mouse). Nope, I just can’t think what it might be. Purrrrr!

cats and crosswords just don't mix

As Bertie grapples with the complexities of this week’s Times crossword, I’m putting the finishing touches to the new tortoise enclosure.

Shelby's new home

And about time too says Shelby who has been living in the narrow confines of her old holiday home since we moved to Chichester almost 6 years ago. She deserves a nice, roomy abode especially now the cold winter months are approaching so using all our leftover DIY materials, here’s how our tortoise acquired a cosy new crib.

Building a tortoise table is not overly difficult since most are just glorified rectangular boxes on legs. The most important considerations are dampness and whether or not the enclosure is escape-proof. Tortoise are break-out masters, somehow finding a way to get out of what you might think is a secure environment. Shelby is no exception.

Start by deciding how big you want your tortoise table to be. Your tortie home should be large enough to accommodate food & drink bowls, a sleeping compartment, a basking spot plus leave sufficient room to roam around. Our enclosure measures 1.15m long x 60 cm wide. Quite sizeable but not so big that we’re tripping over it every 5 minutes. Good that we have a big lounge.

Begin with the base. Grab a sturdy piece of wood such as OSB3 timber and some 20 cm wide pineboard planks for the sides.

Cut your OSB3 sheet into a rectangular shape sized to your finished dimensions. Cut your pineboard planks to fit each side of the rectangle. We found it easiest to screw the longest planks to the OSB from the bottom first then slot in the shorter lengths between them before joining together from the bottom and sides with long woodscrews.

Adding pineboard sides to OSB bottom

Once you have a completed rectangular box add legs to lift the structure off the ground. These lovely round furniture legs scrounged from my son’s new gaff are being repurposed for this. 

Old furniture legs being re-purposed

Screw down into each corner position from the inside of the box. You should now have a box on legs.

Rectangular box on legs

Shelby has always had the freedom to roam round the house by means of a small ramp allowing her to exit her enclosure without having to scale the walls. A gap in one side the width of the ramp has been cut out to enable it to be slotted in. Don’t make your tortoise table too high or you’ll create an almost vertical slope on the ramp which Tortie Tenzing might struggle to climb.

Cut out gap for ramp

Naturally there may be times when you just don’t want a tortie roaming wild so to this end, small plastic channels have been fitted to the gap’s sides to allow a door to slot in. Make the door high enough then it can’t be climbed over.

Make a ramp to slot into gap

Close the drawbridge

A lighting rig is vitally important for keeping reptiles since they need both heat and UV daylight in their enclosures. We fashioned a light holder out of 3 cm wide timber batten by cutting two pieces then joining together to create a tall right angled L shape. The timber pieces have been screwed together at the outside corner angle but also secured in place with a heavy-duty metal bracket on the inside for extra stability. Cut out a notch at the end of the L wide enough to accommodate the cable of your light fitting.

Make your own lighting rig

Decorate your tortoise enclose. I’ve primed then painted the OSB bottom and legs with black furniture paint and done the same with the sides/lighting rig using leftover Milltown furniture paint. For extra durability and waterproofing, everything has been finished with two coats of satin varnish.

Prime all surfaces

Painting the bottom black

Sides painted in Milltown jade green furniture paint

Your tortie table is now starting to slowly take shape but there are still a few things left to sort out before its ready for its new occupant.

Painted and varnished

Screw the lighting rig into position along one of the wooden sides. For safety, metal bolts have been used to prevent any sharp points poking out the other side.

Use metal bolts to secure lighting rig to side

Position your heat lamp holder under the notched end of the lighting rig. Feed the cable through the notch then secure neatly with cable pins down the batten.

Fit lamp holder keeping wires tidy with cable pins

Fit your UV daylight tube on one of the longer sides using a couple of metal spring clips screwed to the plank. Again, keep cables tidy using cable pins to hold into position.

Metal spring clips used to hold UV daylight tube

The UV daylight tube is attached to a black transformer unit which in the past has just been plonked on the ground behind Shelby’s enclosure creating a trip hazard. To keep things tidy, the other half has used black PVC guttering brackets to secure the transformer unit to the back of the tortie table. When screwing into position, ensure you use short screws so they don’t stick through and create danger for your reptile.

Keeping the transformer in place

Using black PVC guttering brackets

As the enclosure is now quite heavy then to make moving it easier, we’ve fitted a couple of black metal D handles to each end to facilitate lifting. I got these from Robert Dyas as they worked out cheaper than Ebay plus I could try them out for size in store to make sure fingers could fit through the D gap.

D metal handles to aid lifting

Now for the fun part, adding all the bits and bobs. First cover the bottom with beech chippings suitable for tortoises then add accessories. I find using chippings makes it easier to pick out dried poop and sweep when the table needs cleaning out. Less damp than sandy substrates which I wouldn’t recommend for several reasons: Sand gets everywhere, is a bugger to hoover out of carpets and dampness can lead to tortie health issues. Beech chippings are practical, easy to sweep and lighter than sand which means you don’t need to ring Arnie every time you want to lift the enclosure out of the way.

Add bowls and other accessories

Lastly, add tortoise. As you can see, there’s plenty of space for Shelby to mooch about.

Shelby's tour of inspection

Having given her new abode the royal seal of approval, she’s off for forty winks in her hay filled wooden bedroom where she’ll probably remain for the next few months. Tortoises are champion sleepers. If only I could crawl into my bed and stay there all winter!

See you next spring