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Sulcata Station's Table 1
This was the first Tortoise Table we built for our sulcata tortoises when they were hatchlings. They used the table until they were about 8 inches long and about five pounds in weight.
The solid walls of this table (brown lines in drawing below) were made from 1/2-inch plywood. The transparent walls (the gray lines in the drawing) were made with 1/4-inch plexiglass.
The bottom of the table is made from 3/4-inch plywood. We cut three holes through the bottom so that we could drop in plastic bins. Two of these bins are small kitty litter trays that contain potting soil and grass seed. The remaining bin is a larger plastic kitty litter tray that we partially filled with a mixture of organic topsoil and grass hay so that the tortoises could dig themselves small burrows (or "scrapes") to sleep in.
The area on top of the overhang was their basking spot. It was designed to be close enough to the heat lamps that they got the warmth they needed, but not so close that they could have gotten burned.
The burrow is set beneath the overhang so that it remains cooler, more humid, and darker than the rest of the table. We found that design really helped quiet them down quickly. They weren't bothered by room lights or noise when we came into the room for something after they'd gone to sleep for the night.
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