basic 2X4 frame.
panels are put in place.
My Redfoots are outside from May to September, but the remainder of the year they reside in my frog room in the basement. I try to give them as much room as possible in the limited space I have. Consequently, I have used a number of different pen designs, including concrete block, which makes great rectangular pens but is a major pain to take apart and put back together.
I wanted my indoor tortoise pens to be off the floor, and I thought it would be great if I could put wheels under them and roll them around if necessary; it's hard work retrieving errant frogs and lizards from the narrow spaces between pen and wall. I'm always interesting in building for cheap, and for reusing materials, so when some large plastic panels at work were earmarked for the trash bin, I took them home instead. Unused side panels for large supercomputers were now going to be used as side panels for my rolling turtle boxes!
The first two pictures show the 2X4 frame construction. At this point the five caster wheels are in place (one in the center). The top is designed to hold a narrow metal shelf.
The plastic panels are added; the narrow end panels are cut from one panel.
The panels are screwed into the frame with short drywall screws. Below, a panel is added to the outside, for decoration rather than function.
Metal shelving material is attached to the tops of the units, making room for small frog cages and turtle pens to be placed alongside plants. The shelves are important, since I don't have a lot of room! The electrical hookups and lights are added. Eight inches of a topsoil-sand-coco fiber mixture are placed in the adult redfoot pen, topped with an inch or so of cypress mulch. The juveniles get the same mix, but not quite so much (eight inches gives the adult females enough room to dig a nest to lay eggs).
The adults were then placed in their new winter pens, along with their hide box, water pan, out-of-reach plants, and a ceramic infrared heat emitter. At 70 inches by 30 inches, there is ample room in each pen for several adults to spend the winter.
(Left) The juveniles inspect their new quarters. There is plenty of room for small Redfoots! Below, a philodendron adorns the juvie's hide house, an upside-down green dish pan with a door cut into it.
Hopefully, I can get a couple years of use out of these pens before I have to do any 'remodeling'.