How to make a terrarium for a land turtle with your own hands (drawings and photos of handmade products at home from improvised means and materials)

Land turtles should not be allowed to roam freely around the apartment, this can lead to injuries and diseases. To keep pets, you will need a properly equipped terrarium. If it is not possible to purchase a device that is suitable in size, it is better to make a terrarium for a land turtle with your own hands.

Design options

On the Internet, you can find drawings of products of various shapes, but their design cannot always be repeated at home. For self-production, simple options are suitable – horizontal rectangular containers with low walls. The area of ​​the terrarium is preliminarily calculated, which should be 5-6 times the size of the turtle itself. So for a pet with a shell diameter of 10-15 cm, the minimum size of the terrarium is 60x50x50cm. If several individuals are kept together, the area must be increased accordingly.

IMPORTANT: Turtles look deceptively clumsy, in fact they are distinguished by strength and sufficient dexterity. If the pet, standing on its hind legs, can catch on the edge of the side with its front legs, it will be able to roll over it and escape. Therefore, the height of the walls is laid from a simple calculation – it should be 5-10 cm larger than the diameter of the pet’s shell.

It is better to take into account in advance that the turtle will grow over time, as well as the ground level of a few centimeters. It is also not recommended to make walls that are too high – air flow is worse in high containers and moisture accumulates.

If the conditions in the apartment allow, it is recommended to build a large outdoor terrarium-pen, with an area of ​​​​several square meters. In nature, tortoises love to explore their surroundings and travel long distances, so they feel more comfortable in a large dwelling.

If there is not enough space, you can build a terrarium for a pet on a cabinet shelf – for this you will have to install a plastic or glass tray there.

If fish used to live in the house, from which equipment remained, you can make a terrarium from an aquarium.

Materials and Tools

When building a terrarium for a turtle with your own hands, it is important to carefully consider the choice of materials. The product is often made from improvised means, but old boxes or plastic containers that were used to store toxic compounds should not be used. The material itself should also not contain substances harmful to animals – food grade plastic, glass, wood, thick plywood are best suited. The facade is best made of transparent material, so it will be more convenient to observe the activities of the pet.

When working with wood, you will need to purchase the following tools:

• hammer, hacksaw;
• drill and drill for wood;
• steel nails, couplers;
• measuring instruments – tape measure, square.

You will also need special impregnations to treat the surface from moisture and fungus. If you decide to work with plastic or glass, you can make an aquarium for a land tortoise with your own hands. To do this, you need to buy a glass cutter and silicone adhesive-sealant.

wood model

To make a terrarium of a simple design yourself, you do not need much building experience, just follow the step-by-step instructions. For a wood product, the workflow is as follows:

1. In accordance with the drawing, parts of the structure are cut out – the bottom, side and rear walls, the facade.
2. The surface of the bottom part and the lower part of the walls are treated with water-repellent impregnation.
3. The side walls are attached to the bottom with ties and nails (it is better not to use metal corners that will rust from regular wet cleaning).
4. The back wall is attached to the sides and to the bottom of the terrarium – if the terrarium will be closed from above, the back wall is sometimes made of fine, strong mesh for ventilation.
5. A facade made of wood or transparent plastic is installed – if it is decided to make it sliding, the upper bar and guides are pre-attached (it is better to take plastic gutters).
6. The facade is installed in the grooves, the handle is glued or screwed.
7. For a closed terrarium, a cover detail is made, which is attached to the upper crossbar of the back wall using furniture hinges.

In a home-made device, if desired, you can build a shelf for the second floor, where the turtle will get out to bask under the lamp. If the pet needs a constantly high level of humidity and temperature, you need to make a cover and drill small holes in the walls for ventilation.

Video: several options for wooden homemade terrariums

Terrarium made of glass or plastic

To work with glass, you first need to additionally prepare the material – cut it in accordance with the drawing into the necessary parts in the workshop or on your own using a glass cutter. The edges of the parts must be smoothed and sanded with sandpaper. Plastic can be evenly cut with a construction knife, a thin hacksaw or a heated blade. Then the following steps are performed:

1. The bottom of the future terrarium is laid on a flat surface, a part of the side wall is placed next to it and the joint is glued with masking tape, then the wall rises up.
2. The rest of the walls are attached in the same way and the frame of the product is assembled – all the adhesive tape should be inside, the finished frame is turned upside down, the parallelism of the walls is checked.
3. The joints on the outside are degreased and coated with glue-sealant (it is recommended to choose a simple composition based on silicone, specialized products designed for working with aquariums are suitable).
4. The glue is leveled, the excess is carefully removed, then the final second layer is applied.
5. The terrarium is left to dry for several hours, then turned over, freed from adhesive tape and the joints are smeared from the inside.
6. The finished product should dry for 2-3 days.

To increase the stability of a large terrarium, you can fasten it outside with plastic corners. It is better to cover a glass aquarium with a mesh from above so that the turtle has an influx of fresh air, a plastic one can be made closed and holes for ventilation can be carefully drilled in the side walls.

If necessary, a shelf made of plastic or glass is attached to the inner surface of the walls – it is better to make a support under it so that the shelf does not break under the weight of the turtle. To make it convenient for the pet to climb up, a ladder with a relief surface is glued.