New house design..

[janinejv]

I Have decided to move to move my tort's into a new house. They currently reside in a large glass viv, which the 'kind' lady at pets at home sold me..( note the hint of sarcasm!)

I have a very curious cat which rules out some of the traditional tortoise tables I have seen posted on here.
I want to create a stylish new home for my baby's, I have seen a black bookcase in ikea which match's my living room furniture.. I can rearrange the shelves to make a sheltered area, leaving a huge floor space. Can I simply put some mesh over the top to keep the cat out? What solution have other cat owners come up with?
My husband owns an engineering company, so I have plenty of resourse availiable to help with my new creation..

Also at the moment, my viv has a lighting built into the canopy, and a seperate basking lamp.. It all came as part of the kit, so I will need to buy a new strip light to attatch to the new house.. Any advice please

Many Thanks
Janine
xxxxx

[lillieflower]

hi there im new to tortoise keeping as well and dont actually bring my tortoise home until thurs. i have a combi light. my tortes house is set up now and its a giant indoor rabbit cage. i also couldnt do the torte table as i have a cat and dog and a young niece and nephew so would not want to risk an open enclosure. what you described sounds ace with the boookcase as long as the temps are right and humidity not too high. as long as you meet all your tortes need s i cant see it being a problem, in dact it sounds awesome

[Frase]

Hi janine welcome to forums and all that =)

Yes, using bookcase, good idea, using mesh over top...better idea.....skinning the cat and selling to your local chinese take away has got to be the way to go though!

In all seriousness though, You can use the mesh. You could use a peice of perspex but then you have issues with humidity and the like. You need to make sure your bookcase is deep enuogh. In fact, it may even be beneficial to get a pair of hinges, and use some timber or something to make a door like thing just so it looks nice. Failing that...kill the cat

When using mesh, its upto you whether u have combi lighting or seperate, seperate means you can have a nice long uv strip on the inside of the table. Then just use a clip on basking lamp. Combi lamps need to be 100% facing down or as damned close as. This is to ensure maximum output from your light. It is really down to you.

[janinejv]

Thanks.. Sorry to disappoint you, but THE CAT STAYS.. I also have kids who need to stay out of the table..my youngest (10 months) can't stay away from the viv at the moment.. She talks to them all day, but when I get them out at bathtime she tries to smack them!!

I have a clip-on basking lamp, so will buy a striplight to attatch the the table wall..how high should the light be placed?

[Frase]

the UV, id have half way from bottom substrate to top of table. there or there abouts

Basking lamp, so that when the heat on torties back reaches 32 degrees or so, thats good tempo to keep.

and yeah i know the kid thing, mines 18 months old now, she goes NUTTY every morning, standing at the table which i keep my Tort T on, and samps her feet and puts her arms up to b picked up to say good morning, same thing when we turn the combi light off at night, exactly the same to say bye and wave.

I get victor out to bath each evening and i hold her hand and stroke her finger across the shell, she gets so excited she screams mam...mam...mam just for my OH to come look at the fact she has touched the tortie lol.

Saying that, shes same with my fish tank, stands at the chest of drawers it sits on and BABBLES away to the fishes, kises the side of the tank when she is standing on our sofa (tank is to the side so she gets full face view lol. She is proper animal lover.

[janinejv]

I am in ikea.. Is 85x30cm too small? Found a perfect 'little' chest but fear it's too small,

[Frase]

my baby horsfield and soon to be two after Xmas woop woop is in a 4ft x 2ft table with an 8inche depth on it. Hope this helps,. He should be sound in this for a couple of years. So that gives a better idea i hope (they arent bigger than 50p peices at the mo)

PS: which ikea u at? plz say wednesbusy and ur coming to birmingham?!?!? hahaha i need shelves for my wardrobe but such a long way to go for them

[janinejv]

Sorry...Milton Keynes!

Back to the drawing board then..the original plan was to build something and put in in my livingroom where my viv lives now.. However the stand is only 40cm deep. And 190cm long.. But I think that 40cm is not deep enough..

[Frase]

hmmm id have said it would've been fine.thats a good 10 inches+.

Mines 8 inches deep and theres more than enough depth for my baby horsfields mate.

dont forget if you use mesh, and have kiddies, try and do something to the cut edge to ensure no cuts on their hands etc

[den_bish]

Originally Posted by janinejv

Thanks.. Sorry to disappoint you, but THE CAT STAYS.. I also have kids who need to stay out of the table..my youngest (10 months) can't stay away from the viv at the moment.. She talks to them all day, but when I get them out at bathtime she tries to smack them!!

I have a clip-on basking lamp, so will buy a striplight to attatch the the table wall..how high should the light be placed?

It should be 12 inches above the top of the tort which may mean that you have to build the sides of the book case up or another idea would be to splash out on a combi lamp and stand then you could suspend the lamp above the meshed area at a hight to provide the correct temps.