Tortoise Table
Building your own tortoise table is not as difficult as you may at first think. As long as you have some experience of basic D.I.Y you should be able to build a more than adequate tortoise table that a smaller species of tortoise will happily live in for years.
The best aspect of a tortoise table is the convenience it provides. If you plan your table correctly you can have a fantastic home for your tortoise without too much interruption to your family life. Although it still requires a reasonable amount of space in which to be placed. You will also have to consider where you can plug in your heating and lighting source so that you do not have trailing cable around your house.
Here is a very basic instruction on building a tortoise table that a small Russian or Horsfield tortoise could live very happily.
This table has a 3′x8′ floor and the walls are 18″ high before instillation. The wall height after assembly is 14″ unless you attach wheels which will obviously give it more height.
Use 1/2″ thick plywood and cut:
1 – 3′x8′ (for the floor of the table)
2 – 1′-6″x8′ (for the side walls)
2 – 1′-6″x3′-1″ (for the end walls)
You should use 2×4 wood batons each cut:
4 – 8′ long (for the frame)
8 – 2′-9″ long (for the frame)
4 – 1′-2″ long (corner batons such as 2×2s)
4 – the legs are 18″ tall.
You can attach wheels, for easy movement when cleaning it which makes a finished leg length of 21″).
Using the screws, build the 2 frames with the 8′ long pieces overlapping the 2′-9″ long pieces. You want the frames to be 3′x8′ outside measurement.
Next, screw down the 3′x8′ floor plywood to one of the frames. Make sure you square the frame to the plywood. The plywood should be flush to the outside of the frame all the way around. Make sure there are no jagged edges.
Turn the assembled frame over and attach the legs to the inside of the frame with floor and the second frame assembly. The outside of both frame assemblies should wrap around the outside of the legs.
(If you want your tortoise table to have wheels this is a good time to attach them)
Turn it back over so it is standing on the legs. Attach the plywood walls to the outside of the 2×4 frame. Make sure the bottom edge of the walls is flush to the bottom of the 2×4 frame all the way around. Also make sure the 8′ long side walls are flush to the frame at each end. This will give you a nice, tight corner. The 3′-1″ end walls will overlap the 8′ side walls.
Then finally use the nails and batons to secure the corners of the walls, this will make the whold structure much more stable and prevent it from buckling.
Now all you have to do is place substrate, rocks, vegetation and of course your prize tortoise!
