STEP 1

Garden sheds are ideal for converting into tortoise enclosures as they are very accessible and easy to modify to your requirements. As it happens, we already had a 9ft x 5ft shed in our garden so decided to utilize some of its space to form the new tortoise accommodation. As such, our plan was to separate off some of the internal space in such a way where we could also continue using the rest of the shed in it's normal capacity. Our shed is a solid structure which has been well maintained over the years. Here we had a good starting point as we had already pre-installed full electrics into the shed and alarmed it to the house when it was first erected.

The first job to do before starting anything else was to get the shed insulated as much as we possibly could.

STEP 2

If tortoises are going to spend most of the year in their accommodation, insulation should be one of your main priorities as it will not take much for your tortoise to feel the cold. Most conventional shed floors are constructed with a series of cross timbers that raise the shed off the ground. This leaves a number of voids underneath the shed of which draft can travel through. It is also a common place for rats to reside. We visited a DIY merchants and purchased some insulation boards and cut them to fit the full width of the shed. The boards were tightly slid into each of the voids leaving no gaps.

STEP 3

After sliding the insulation boards into place, we silicone sealed and screwed a timber lath along the full length of the shed base so that the exposed ends of the insulation boards were covered. This also prevents any unwanted guests from getting underneath the shed. The lath was painted with pet friendly wood preserver paint to match the same colour of the shed.

STEP 4

The next step was to carefully cut out an opening in the side of the shed to form a doorway for the tortoises to come and go. To get the doorway opening the correct size, we measured our adult tortoises and then added some allowance for further growth. As you can see from the picture on the left, we constructed the door from the same pieces of timber that we cut out. Heavy duty hinges and a padlock bolt were then fixed to the door using security bolts.

A weather lath was fitted above the door opening to help deflect rainfall.

STEP 5

The inner door frame was next to be fitted ensuring any sharp edges and splinters were sanded down to prevent our torts from cutting themselves. All new timber was treated with a pet friendly wood preserver paint to match the colour of the shed.

As shown on the photo, we attached an alarm contact switch to the inside of the door so that we could wire it up to the existing alarm system.

STEP 6

The next step was to see how well the new doorway was protected from the outside weather elements. Using a watering can, we poured water down the outside of the shed to see if any leaked in.

We now started to prepare for work inside the shed. Once again, insulating the shed was one of our main priorities as it would not only benefit our tortoises but would also help us save on heating costs.

STEP 7

On the inside of the shed, we started by placing a sheet of exterior grade plywood board across the doorway so that we could mark it up and cut out for the door recess. It was also at this point where we fitted and wired in the other half of the alarm contact switch. The alarm was tested before concealing all wires behind the boarding.

As you can see from the photo, we ended up replacing the outside door hinge bolts with longer ones so that we could fasten them from the inside. All surplus bolt threads were ground down smooth so that there were no sharp edges that the tortoises could harm themselves on.

STEP 8

We continued to ply line the internal walls of the shed. Before each plywood board was fixed into place, each cavity was layered top to bottom with rolls of insulation. We purchased insulation that had a foil outer lining as this would help to retain the heat. We used a staple gun to fix each length into place until we got each board cut and screwed into place.

We white washed the interior walls with a pet friendly moisture resistant paint. We done this to prolong the life of the boards as plywood is prone to swelling and warping in cold weather conditions.

Full consideration MUST be taken into account when using various paints on your tortoise enclosure as any toxins or chemicals can seriously make your tortoise ill.

STEP 9

The next step was to start constructing the inner frame that was to form the main accommodation area. Using 2" x 2" softwood timber, we carefully tailor made a frame to fit down the right hand side of the shed. This would give plenty of room for our family of tortoises. The enclosure frame was made 2 foot in height so that the space above could still be utilized for storage.

As such we installed some ELFA adjustable shelving upright supports to the wall above the enclosure to accommodate some shelving. Another factor to take into account is that your tortoises would not benefit from any additional height space. It would only result in your heater having to work harder to heat all that unused space as well as adding to your energy bill. By keeping your square footage down, it means that you won't have to buy such a big heater for your enclosure.

STEP 10

Once the outer frame had been constructed and fixed into place, we then started to fill the frame cavities with rolls of insulation. Exterior plywood boarding was then used to conceal the insulation inside the frame.

We now had to give thought as to what floor surface we were going to use inside the enclosure. See below.

STEP 11

After much thought and deliberation, we decided to go for 5mm thick black Perspex Acrylic sheeting. As tortoises defecate a lot, it was important to use a material that was going to be wipe clean and hygienic. This was cut to size and adhered to the internal side walls and floor of the enclosure. On the internal walls, we only applied the acrylic sheeting to the first foot in height as our tortoises would barely if at all get above that point. This also helped to keep the costs down. A substrate of our choice would then be added to the inside of the enclosure once all work was complete.

Leaving the timber floor exposed would have been less hygienic for the tortoises as regular defecation would eventually soak into the wood resulting in bad smells, spores, mould and increased risk of infection.

STEP 12

The next step was to fit some lids to the top of the enclosure so that we could gain access to our tortoises. Open top access is also useful for carrying out general maintenance and substrate changes. We visited our local DIY store where we found some bargain pieces of kitchen worktop. We used them to form two hinged access lids.

Remaining plywood boards were fitted to the outside of the insulated frame and the overhead shelving was fixed in place using the adjustable bracket system.

STEP 13

Electrical installation work was the next job on the list (If you don't feel confident, you'll need to seek an electrically qualified person to do the work).

We needed to install enough socket outlets to power all of our heat and lighting equipment in the enclosure. This also needed to be close enough to the enclosure to minimize any lengthy cable runs. As we already had an electricity feed into the shed, we were able to spur off from a fused spur to a six way bank of sockets. The correct circuit breaker fuse was then fitted to coincide with the amount of power that was going to be drawn.

STEP 14

Once the core of the electrical work was complete, the next stage was to start connecting and installing all of the heating and lighting equipment. To the left of the picture, is a 600W Habistat Pulse Proportional Thermostat of which controls the power to a tubular heater. The second from left socket has an electronic timer plugged in that controls the day and night facility on the Habistat. The far right hand socket has a low powered night light plugged in via a moon light switch. The remaining sockets provide space for items such as a UVB basking bulb. Once erected, the basking bulb would be hung inside the greenhouse. See Step 18 and onwards for further details on the greenhouse.

STEP 15

To the right, you can see a two foot tubular heater that we purchased from Two Wests & Elliott. We installed it in the centre of the enclosure ensuring that heat resistant cabling was used throughout. It was also very important to fix the heater at a height where the tortoises would not come in contact with it. We mounted the tubular heater onto a stainless steel backing plate so that the surrounding wall area would not get to hot. This would also prove to be a good heat deflector. The heater was then plugged into the Habistat Pulse Proportional Thermostat to control the day and night time temperatures.

STEP 16

As shown in the picture on the left, we installed a Habistat Moon Switch above the door entrance. As the night draws in and the outside light levels drop, the Moon Switch senses the drop in light and switches on a low powered light that we fitted inside the corner of the enclosure. This was merely aimed at providing just enough background light for the tortoises to see late at night. The light is only 1W so is not even bright enough to disturb them or keep them awake at night

STEP 17

As mentioned above, the picture on the right shows the Moon light that we installed and connected via a Habistat Moon Switch. It is quite effective as it is only ever meant to give off a small amount of light. This was just to ensure our tortoises were not in total darkness as it can be pitch black inside the enclosure on a night time. As sun rises in the morning, the light automatically switches back off.

STEP 18

It was now time to return back outside to commence work on erecting the greenhouse. We chose to go with a 6ft x 2ft lean to greenhouse which was to attach to the side of the shed. Our first task was to lay a concrete foundation using pin kerbs for the greenhouse frame to sit on. Secondly we had to try and work out how the tortoises were going to be able to come and go from the greenhouse as the aluminum frame was going to be difficult to modify without compromising the integrity of the frame. Our only option was to custom make our own timber frame for the base of the greenhouse to sit on. This way, we were able to cut out an exit / entry point. See the photo below.

STEP 19

The timber base was then bolted down onto the concrete foundation using stainless steel hex bolts before attaching the aluminum greenhouse frame onto it. From here, we then began constructing a concrete recess inside the greenhouse.

As shown in the photo, we dug out a hole and lined the recess with a strong UPVC membrane. We then constructed a timber frame shutter using exterior plywood and softwood laths. This was temporarily fixed into place ready for the pour of concrete. Using a cement mixer, we mixed each batch of concrete with the addition of a waterproofing agent. This would give the concrete extra resilience against water ingress.

STEP 20

We gave the concrete 7 days to fully set before stripping back the timber frame shuttering. What we were left with was a perfect concrete recess ready to be backfilled with topsoil.

Why a concrete recess?

There are a couple of reasons behind why we decided to construct a concrete recess in the ground. Firstly, with the ever presence of rats, we didn't want to chance any of these rodents burrowing their way in from underneath. We wanted this enclosure to be totally secure from predators. Secondly, we wanted to provide our tortoises with a better quality soil mix as the original earth removed from the ground was very hard and mostly full of clay. Thirdly, our aim was to provide an additional nesting site for our female tortoises. This way, they would still have access to good soil depth along with basking facilities. And last but not least, creating this watertight recess would ensure that the soil doesn't get too wet or damp from ground water and it would also make soil exchanges a lot easier for us.

STEP 21

We utilized some shelving that came supplied with the greenhouse to provide a fixing / hanging point for our basking lamp. The lamp was suspended using a galvanized chain. The three items that we used to form our basking lamp are as follows;

• 250W Komodo Ceramic Bulb Holder.

• 12" Aluminum Dome Reflector.

• 160W Powersun UVB Bulb.

The basking lamp was then connected to an electronic timer inside the shed as shown earlier.

STEP 22

With the recess now backfilled with soil, we went out and sourced some quarry stone to use as a feeding area for the tortoises. The quarry stone was then cut to size using a Stihl saw and bedded into place at one end of the greenhouse.  We then used some smaller pieces of stone to form an access ramp for our tortoises to get in and out of the shed.

Once the bulk of the work was complete inside the greenhouse, we started to fit the last of the glass panels.

STEP 23

Back inside the shed enclosure we proceeded to cover the floor with a soil substrate ensuring a depth of at least one inch. We then switched on the tubular heater and set the thermostat to operate at a background temperature of 18 - 20 degrees centigrade. Our aim was to merely provide an area that would keep our tortoises warm and protected from frost at night. Through the day, basking facilities in the greenhouse would provide temperatures of up to 28 - 32 degrees centigrade.

Once we were satisfied all temperatures were stable, it was time to introduce the tortoises to their enclosure.

STEP 24

Our adults and juveniles were introduced to their new accommodation. The adults took straight to the basking facilities where as the the juveniles were more interested in seeing if they could get in and out of the shed.

Access to the shed proved not a problem for any of the tortoises. They were able to come and go with ease.

STEP 25

As shown in the photo, the garden exit / entry opening was made big enough for a full size adult to use. We attached a separate canopy to the opening of the timber frame to prevent any rainfall from entering the greenhouse.

The turf was also raised just outside the opening so that the torts didn't have too much of a climb to get in and out of the greenhouse.

STEP 26

Finally, the new outdoor tortoise accommodation was complete. A lot of time and effort was taken to try and get things done just right in order to meet our tortoises needs. The costs incurred were high but worth it.

It didn't take long for our tortoises to get used to their new accommodation. They soaked up their basking facilities from day one and adjusted to a new routine of retiring to the shed on their own every night.

We decided to use the shelving included with the greenhouse to place some seed trays onto so that we could start growing our own weeds.