Crafting a cozy abode for your tortoise is easier than you think! Whether you build one from fresh materials or re-purpose a second hand item, designing a tortoise enclosure is a super fun way to anticipate the arrival of your new pet, or give them a better home. Here you’ll find five DIY plans for indoor and outdoor enclosures. If you live in a subtropical or tropical climate that regularly has 80-90°F temperatures in the daytime and 60-70°F at night, your tortoise can live outside, at least during the warmer seasons. If the weather is typically colder than 70°F, your tortoise will need to live inside under a heat lamp. Even if they’re indoor dwellers, you can still take them outside on hot, sunny days so they can soak up some good old sunshine.
The Top 5 DIY Tortoise Enclosure Plans
- Tortoise Enclosure from an Old Drawer by Reddit
Check Instructions Here
Materials: old drawer, heat lamp, tiny house plants or succulents, small pot, decorative saucers, bedding for filling the drawer
Tools: None
Difficulty level: Easy
A worn-out dresser drawer can be repurposed into a tortoise paradise in minutes! Place your pet’s new home on a level surface near an electrical outlet and plug in the heat lamp. Fill the drawer with the bedding. Moisten it only slightly with a misting bottle and dig small holes to plant your tiny cactus. Dig a hole half the width of your pot and place the pot halfway under the soil so that your tortoise has a semi-circular “roof” on its house. Place the decorative saucers in the habitat and fill one with food and the other with water. Your pet’s new home awaits!
- Tortoise Table by Flickr
Check Instructions Here
Materials: old train table, heat lamp, houseplant, two saucers, medium-sized pot, bedding
Tools: None
Difficulty level: Easy
An old train table can easily transform into a pre-built tortoise house! All you need is bedding to fill the table and essential tortoise supplies such as saucers for food and water and a pot for shelter. Bury half of the pot width-wise into the bedding to make a semi-circular home for your pet and fill one saucer with water and another with food. You can add a potted houseplant to add some creative interest to your pet’s new abode, and then welcome your tortoise home!
- Storage Tub Tortoise House by The Turtle Room
Check Instructions Here
Materials: Non-toxic plastic storage tub, bedding, houseplants, saucers for food and water, sticks for climbing, medium-size pot or container for shelter, heat lamp
Tools: None
Difficulty level: Easy
This house is easy to build and simple to transport if you have to move. Simply poke some air holes in the lid and snap it shut to take your tortoise to your next house. To create this habitat, you’ll need to fill the plastic tub with some bedding. Add the saucers with some food and water in them and include a half-buried pot or other container for shelter. Include a stick for your scaly friend to climb up and sunbathe in the light of the heat lamp and you’re done!
- Dog Crate Tortoise Enclosure by Pet DIYS
Check Instructions Here
Materials: Large dog crate, plywood or tarp for lining, paving stones, dirt for bedding, shelter, flowers, aquarium hut, saucers for food and water
Tools: None
Difficulty level: Moderate
This creative tortoise abode is easy to make if you can find a used dog crate. Position the crate where the door is on top for easy access to your tortoise and line the bottom with plywood or a tarp. Add the paving stones around the borders and partially fill with bedding. We recommend using sterilized topsoil for the bedding because of the flowers. We like how this plan featured several small outdoor flowers and succulents as colorful decorations and essential shade. They included a store-bought shelter and an aquarium hut instead of a medium pot, though you’re still welcome to do so.
- DIY Wooden Enclosure with Chicken Wire by Amphibian Care
Check Instructions Here
Materials: cedar 1x12s, cedar 4×4 posts, patio bricks, regular sized bricks or rocks of that size, wide chicken wire, garden screen with 1/2 inch holes, peat moss, plastic paint tray
Tools: Edger, saw, hammer, nails, wire-cutter
Difficulty level: Experienced
If you want a more hands on plan, this is the project for you. This habitat is completely made from scratch and will require woodcutting skills and several tools. While this habitat used cedar boards for the side walls, remember to never use cedar as the bedding because it’s toxic to tortoises when ingested.
Things to Consider Tortoises prefer bedding materials like mulch, coconut husks, sphagnum moss, or straw pellets to nest in. Sterilized topsoil is a top choice. Keep in mind that whatever material you choose needs to be soft and digestible since tortoises sometimes eat their bedding. You also want it to cushion their fall if they stumble off the roof of their shelter. Never put your tortoise in sand or cedar bedding; both are indigestible, and cedar contains oils that are toxic to them.
Conclusion No matter what plan you chose for your tortoise’s new home, make sure it includes:
Safe bedding (never use cedar or sand as filler)
A heat lamp if it’s indoors
A pot or something to crawl inside for shelter
Saucers or shallow bowls to hold its food and water
Enough space
Shade
As long as you give them the essentials, your tortoise is sure to enjoy their new home! See Also: 6 DIY Tortoise Table Plans You Can Make Today Sources
Pinterest Pinterest Pinterest Pinterest PetDIYs Pinterest Tortoise Knowledge Tortoise Knowledge
Featured Image Credit: ralphkayden, Unsplash
Crafting a cozy abode for your tortoise is easier than you think! Whether you build one from fresh materials or re-purpose a second hand item, designing a tortoise enclosure is a super fun way to anticipate the arrival of your new pet, or give them a better home.
Here you’ll find five DIY plans for indoor and outdoor enclosures. If you live in a subtropical or tropical climate that regularly has 80-90°F temperatures in the daytime and 60-70°F at night, your tortoise can live outside, at least during the warmer seasons. If the weather is typically colder than 70°F, your tortoise will need to live inside under a heat lamp. Even if they’re indoor dwellers, you can still take them outside on hot, sunny days so they can soak up some good old sunshine.
The Top 5 DIY Tortoise Enclosure Plans
- Tortoise Enclosure from an Old Drawer by Reddit
Check Instructions Here
Materials: old drawer, heat lamp, tiny house plants or succulents, small pot, decorative saucers, bedding for filling the drawer
Tools: None
Difficulty level: Easy
A worn-out dresser drawer can be repurposed into a tortoise paradise in minutes! Place your pet’s new home on a level surface near an electrical outlet and plug in the heat lamp. Fill the drawer with the bedding. Moisten it only slightly with a misting bottle and dig small holes to plant your tiny cactus. Dig a hole half the width of your pot and place the pot halfway under the soil so that your tortoise has a semi-circular “roof” on its house. Place the decorative saucers in the habitat and fill one with food and the other with water. Your pet’s new home awaits!
Check Instructions Here
Materials: old drawer, heat lamp, tiny house plants or succulents, small pot, decorative saucers, bedding for filling the drawer
Tools: None
Difficulty level: Easy
- Tortoise Table by Flickr
Check Instructions Here
Materials: old train table, heat lamp, houseplant, two saucers, medium-sized pot, bedding
Tools: None
Difficulty level: Easy
An old train table can easily transform into a pre-built tortoise house! All you need is bedding to fill the table and essential tortoise supplies such as saucers for food and water and a pot for shelter. Bury half of the pot width-wise into the bedding to make a semi-circular home for your pet and fill one saucer with water and another with food. You can add a potted houseplant to add some creative interest to your pet’s new abode, and then welcome your tortoise home!
Materials: old train table, heat lamp, houseplant, two saucers, medium-sized pot, bedding
Tools: None
Difficulty level: Easy
- Storage Tub Tortoise House by The Turtle Room
Check Instructions Here
Materials: Non-toxic plastic storage tub, bedding, houseplants, saucers for food and water, sticks for climbing, medium-size pot or container for shelter, heat lamp
Tools: None
Difficulty level: Easy
This house is easy to build and simple to transport if you have to move. Simply poke some air holes in the lid and snap it shut to take your tortoise to your next house.
Materials: Non-toxic plastic storage tub, bedding, houseplants, saucers for food and water, sticks for climbing, medium-size pot or container for shelter, heat lamp
Tools: None
Difficulty level: Easy
To create this habitat, you’ll need to fill the plastic tub with some bedding. Add the saucers with some food and water in them and include a half-buried pot or other container for shelter. Include a stick for your scaly friend to climb up and sunbathe in the light of the heat lamp and you’re done!
- Dog Crate Tortoise Enclosure by Pet DIYS
Check Instructions Here
Materials: Large dog crate, plywood or tarp for lining, paving stones, dirt for bedding, shelter, flowers, aquarium hut, saucers for food and water
Tools: None
Difficulty level: Moderate
This creative tortoise abode is easy to make if you can find a used dog crate. Position the crate where the door is on top for easy access to your tortoise and line the bottom with plywood or a tarp. Add the paving stones around the borders and partially fill with bedding. We recommend using sterilized topsoil for the bedding because of the flowers.
Materials: Large dog crate, plywood or tarp for lining, paving stones, dirt for bedding, shelter, flowers, aquarium hut, saucers for food and water
Tools: None
Difficulty level: Moderate
We like how this plan featured several small outdoor flowers and succulents as colorful decorations and essential shade. They included a store-bought shelter and an aquarium hut instead of a medium pot, though you’re still welcome to do so.
- DIY Wooden Enclosure with Chicken Wire by Amphibian Care
Check Instructions Here
Materials: cedar 1x12s, cedar 4×4 posts, patio bricks, regular sized bricks or rocks of that size, wide chicken wire, garden screen with 1/2 inch holes, peat moss, plastic paint tray
Tools: Edger, saw, hammer, nails, wire-cutter
Difficulty level: Experienced
If you want a more hands on plan, this is the project for you. This habitat is completely made from scratch and will require woodcutting skills and several tools. While this habitat used cedar boards for the side walls, remember to never use cedar as the bedding because it’s toxic to tortoises when ingested.
Materials: cedar 1x12s, cedar 4×4 posts, patio bricks, regular sized bricks or rocks of that size, wide chicken wire, garden screen with 1/2 inch holes, peat moss, plastic paint tray
Tools: Edger, saw, hammer, nails, wire-cutter
Difficulty level: Experienced
Things to Consider
Tortoises prefer bedding materials like mulch, coconut husks, sphagnum moss, or straw pellets to nest in. Sterilized topsoil is a top choice. Keep in mind that whatever material you choose needs to be soft and digestible since tortoises sometimes eat their bedding. You also want it to cushion their fall if they stumble off the roof of their shelter. Never put your tortoise in sand or cedar bedding; both are indigestible, and cedar contains oils that are toxic to them.
Conclusion
No matter what plan you chose for your tortoise’s new home, make sure it includes:
Safe bedding (never use cedar or sand as filler)
A heat lamp if it’s indoors
A pot or something to crawl inside for shelter
Saucers or shallow bowls to hold its food and water
Enough space
Shade
As long as you give them the essentials, your tortoise is sure to enjoy their new home!
Safe bedding (never use cedar or sand as filler)
A heat lamp if it’s indoors
A pot or something to crawl inside for shelter
Saucers or shallow bowls to hold its food and water
Enough space
Shade
- Safe bedding (never use cedar or sand as filler)
- A heat lamp if it’s indoors
- A pot or something to crawl inside for shelter
- Saucers or shallow bowls to hold its food and water
- Enough space
- Shade
See Also: 6 DIY Tortoise Table Plans You Can Make Today
Sources
Pinterest Pinterest Pinterest Pinterest PetDIYs Pinterest Tortoise Knowledge Tortoise Knowledge
Featured Image Credit: ralphkayden, Unsplash
- PetDIYs
- Tortoise Knowledge
- Tortoise Knowledge
