turning a turtle tank into a bts enclosure

[hargidsmomy]

hey guys my mum gave me a huge turtle tank i wanna turn into a BTS enclosure but as its all glass i am unsure if it will be able to hold the heat i am thinking of covering the sun bathing bit with glass so it will act like a glass house keeping him warm i also am going to use alot of reptile sand

i sort of need some more ideas on how i can make this tank look cool i will upload pics tomorrow as camera is on charge any cool enclosure pics or ideas will be greatly appricated

thanks

[Fatal_S]

Reptile sand, especially calcium-sand, are awful; impaction is a regular and often fatal result. If you absolutely must use sand (and why anyone would want to use such a heavy, dirty, dusty, smelly substrate is beyond me) stick with regular play sand and mix it with dirt.

Or better yet, go with a great substrate like aspen chips, cypress mulch, reptile bark, sani chips, etc. The skink can burrow, is less likely to eat the substrate, and it's cheap and easy to clean.

Will reply more when pics are up. Interested to see this.

[Nae]

As long as its dimensions are suitable, I dont see a problem with using a turtle tank? By turtle tank Im assuming you mean a large aquarium with a glass level for 'land'? Thats perfectly fine, but perhaps just dont use the land bit as they tend to be up fairly high. Many people use all glass tanks with mesh lids no problem~

I do agree with Fatal however - There are plenty more suitable and much nicer and safer substrates then repti sand. Also, if NZ is anything like Aus, then the price of repti sand is stupid compared to other substrates, its utterly ridiculous how much places here try to rip us off the moment an exotic animal is put on the bag!! For both Zeke and my ferret, I use recycled cat newspaper - I could buy the exact same product but in a much smaller bag and with a picture of a ferret on it for nearly triple the price, or it will cost me $100+ to furnish a tank Zekes size with anything with a lizard on it. Definitely have a look around rather then going straight for reptile supplies~!

[Linnea]

im a bit worried what you said about turning it into a glass house heater too. normally, especially if not ventilated (thats the difference between most terrariums and aquariums) it can cause the temps to rise incredibly, like holding a lens towards the sun to make stuff burn.

after you post pics, im sure we can help you find a much simpler and safer solution the most normal thing is to simply have a heat lamp in the right place, with the right wattage. a temp gun will tell you exactly how warm the surface is where the bluey will be.

i live in sweden, it super cold, and it works perfectly with a 100W lamp for me (i measured carefully when buying such a powerful lamp). theres loads of people here from Canada with almost identical living conditions

welcome to the forum!

[hargidsmomy]

the turtke tank i am going to use

[hargidsmomy]

here is a pic of his current enclosure

Pic-01021759.jpg

[Fatal_S]

Interesting.

If it were me, I would set up the tank in a 3-tier system. Basically, I'd build another platform/ramp between the one already there and the ground. This would make less of a fall from the top tier. It would need to be removable so you can clean everything. Bottom part would have shavings/wood/etc. Middle part would be for a water and food dish. Top as a basking area. I would also add an under/side-tank heating source on the warm/ramp side so the skink has options.
From the side it would look like:
|______________|
|_________/____| (This would be my hot side)
|___/__________|

You will also need a very sturdy lid regardless of what you do, as that upper ledge/ramp is just an escape in the making. It's an odd shape, but it just means be a bit more creative That would be my tank on this tank remodel.

[Spindown]

I was told by the "famous" vet Adolf Maas that many aquatic turtles carry Crypto. so I personally would NEVER convert a tank used for turtles for any other reptile. However, if you do still decide to do this, clean it with everything you can think of. Quaternary ammonia products like F-10, bleach, ammonia (haha never use bleach and ammonia at the same time and rinse VERY well in between if you choose to do this)...make sure it has been hit with everything you can throw at it. Crypto is just under IBD in snakes as being the most horrible thing to deal with when you have reptiles.

[critterguy]

I dunno about crypto but Entamoeba invadens is a potential disease causing protozoan that turtles can carry asymptomatically.

[hargidsmomy]

not to panic i have turned a old turtle tank into a fish tank lol i have used and mixed alot of products to gether and i have found the perfect soulition to cleaning them

[Spindown]

You are mixing cleaning products together? Also, cleaning a tank for fish and cleaning a tank for other reptiles is a totally different scenario...

[hargidsmomy]

hes happy as in it also had it washed out with extremly hot water etc i have got any germs out he is fine

[hargidsmomy]

here some pics of his new house i am using kaytee aspen bedding as found in the blue tounge skink caresheeet he has his heat pad and light all connected up the substate is deep enough for him to dig and bury himself in
the subatrate was being sorted to go in note the fact the glass divider etc is gone more room for him lol

Pic-01071818.jpg

final setup

Pic-01071903a.jpg

my newest pride and joy he seems to love his house alot
any help on making his house better would be appreciated

[Spindown]

hes happy as in it also had it washed out with extremly hot water etc i have got any germs out he is fine

Unless the water was over 200*F thats probably not true, and some "germs" dont die to heat, and some dont die to cold...but you can do what you want. It looks OK size wise.

[hargidsmomy]

as living on a dairy farm and having 80 degree water avalible i made sure it had a good bath in it and a good wash