Habitat - Indoor :: Nikos new temporary home...

[MoreBloodWine]

Ok, so right now Niko's in a 10g setup and since he/she is growing I wanted to get something a tad bigger since I wont have the money to buy Nikos permanent tank for about another yr or so since I just shelled out $700 on a custom made stand & canopy. So I checked out cragslist and saw a lady who wanted to buy a 55g and had two other tanks to trade. Well, being the curious person I am I wrote her and asked if she'd sell one of the smaller tanks she had and she said sure. So literally as of about 20 mins ago I got home with Nikos new temp tank which measures at 30" long by 12.25" deep by 12.5" high which works out to about a 20g tank. So basically it's like haveing two 10g side by side. Now while I know it's not to much better than the 10g Nikos currently in it is def alot better for the next yr compared to that of leaving Niko in the 10g for the next yr. Anyway, the nice thing is I paid $20 for it so I got away with that oh so sweet buck a gallon deal. Anyway, just wanted to share what I thought was a bit of good news with you guys

Since I do have a new stand coming for Nikos perma tank which will measure at about 60x18x24 I figured I'd just use that for his new 20g temp tank since I dont really have anywhere else to put it (the new temp tank). Anyway, once I get the stand here and stained and setup with Nikos new 20'g temp tank I'll share a few pics of my custom design stand

[BullDog]

Well that's good. I'm sure you can easily sell it for that too, when you've saved up enough for your eventual monster tank

[MoreBloodWine]

Aye, that I can if I dont wana just keep it... the good thing though is that I'm atleast trying to give Niko good care instead of leaving him in a 10g for the next yr or so ;-p

[CB]

Aye, that I can if I dont wana just keep it... the good thing though is that I'm atleast trying to give Niko good care instead of leaving him in a 10g for the next yr or so ;-p

my buddy spent the first 4 years of his life in a 10 gallon tank without any basking area or way to dry off. not the best of conditions yet he is healthy and very happy. sometimes all we can do is our best and in time our best gets better. it's taken me a year to get him where he's at with a new tank that was a gift (62x20x20) and a ton of supplies i've found real cheap or gotten for free. just keep on loving your turtle and do what you can when you can. yahoo groups has a "freecycle" where people give things away, i missed out on a 210 gallon tank by minutes. that's pretty rare yet it does happen. i'm just babbleing but i don't like seeing people feel bad because they don't have the means to put together a super tank with all the latest gagets and gizmos. have a good day,
cb

[MoreBloodWine]

Oh, I wouldnt say I feel bad but ya I guess I could say I feel a bit guilty but ya I am def trying. The first step was me getting Nikos perma tank stand. Need that before anything else, oh and I do use freeecycle but nothing every reall posts for the aquatic lifestyle ;-p

[MoreBloodWine]

Ok, so since I have a new temp tank for Niko thats 20g and 30" long which is pretty much two 10g side by side I can get rid of Nikos current 10g temp tank. Well right now his current temp tank has about 7-8g of water in it. Yes I know turtles like to swim so what I wanted to do was fill his new 20g temp tank all the way minus a few inches which is an increase of about 12-13g of water. Well, with that said I will need to devise some sort of ATBA that will work nicely with this tank. The thing is since this will be a temp tank I dont wana really get to involved with it (expensive) so I figured I'd come to you guys to see what ideas you have that I could use to make a quick n dirty (easy) ATBA for this 20g tank. I'm looking over the thread about peoples ATBA's but would still like some input here since I doubt everyones posted their ideas / seyups in that thread... Thx.

[BullDog]

I think egg crate is going to be your cheapest option. It's only about $12 for a large sheet. You can use hot glue or aquarium silicone to stick it together. And you'd probably have enough left over for the next tank

[MoreBloodWine]

I think egg crate is going to be your cheapest option. It's only about $12 for a large sheet. You can use hot glue or aquarium silicone to stick it together. And you'd probably have enough left over for the next tank

I do have some eggcrate layin around I plan on usin for the basking platform itself. But for the actual enclosure I was thinking of maybe goin with some cheap plywood and adding in a windowed door or something. Not sure what I wana do yet, I cant get this tank setup til the stand gets here in about a week so I got that much time to figure this out but ya I'm def working eggcrate into it.

[BullDog]

I did an eggcrate cage all around Ralph's basking area. Works pretty well, though you can't take nice pictures of him basking. I've seen lots of plywood/plexiglass combos. Hopefully someone who built one can help you

[MoreBloodWine]

I just did a test fit with a piece of eggcrate I cut and I'm thinking it wont be such a hot idea for the basking platform. I know Nikos small and doesnt weigh alot but even when you put a minimal ammount of pressure on the eggcrate it kinda bends inward (down) and I'm not a big fan of that. I might just end up looking for some alternaive and just buying a bit of extra cheap plywood and just make a platform out of that or just go with something else thats a bit more sturdier.

[pickerbp22]

try cork. not cork bark. cork board.

[MoreBloodWine]

try cork. not cork bark. cork board.

That could work to, I actually got to thinking about the eggcrate again. Maybe I was pushing down to hard on it with my hand or somethin. Anyway, I got the digi scale out that I use to weigh my critters and weighed random things and stacked them ontop of the eggcrate thats situated in the tank for its test fit. It (the eggcrate) seemed to hold up ok but now I'm perplexed with this question.

What is the average weight of a full grown male / female RES ?

The reason I ask for the fullgrown weight is because if my "tests" seem to workout ok then the eggcrate could also be used as a platform on Nikos permanent tank when I get it within the next yr or so. Anyway, this is what it looks like as of right now assuming I do indeed stick with an eggcrate platform which I may just do since afterall it is a temp solution for the next yr. Assuming I do indeed use the eggcrate the only thing left to do would be to work out a ramp idea, any of you got any ideas about that one ?



Also, just since I'm posting and because it will be used to hold Nikos new temp tank heres a quick diagram of the custom stand I'm having built for Nikos permanent tank that will measure 60x18x24, the stand is about the same size but padded with half an inch in length and width for wiggle room and stands 30" high.

[MoreBloodWine]

Heres what I call the kitty test, I took my smallest adult cat (female) and put her ontop of the eggcrate and aside from a few creeks when she moved it seemd to hold up pretty nice and she weighs about, actually I dont know it's been a while since shes been to the vet ;-p

[pickerbp22]

i think that you should stick with the egg crate. im using it now. they aren't full grown. but its actually pretty sturdy. im using egg crate for the ramps too. i siliconed this acrylic with gripping on it to the egg crate. i got it at home depot it works great. i dont know if they'll have it in your home depot. but i don't even think you really need it. i think that you could just zip tie the ramps to the basking area. and add 2 suction cups to the ramp and stick on the side of the tank. thats pretty much what i did. and it works fine.

[MoreBloodWine]

I was actually just thinking of zip ties to hold the ramp to the platform. The only thing is how wide to make the ramp. I have a piece of scrap eggcrate thats 4" wide that could work just nicely but I dont know if that wide enough. I just dont wana cut into more eggcrate that can be used for something else if I dont have to.