Brackish water turtle tank design

I love designing with this program, it doesn't include everything, but it makes me think and create differently.

Designed with a softshell and cohabitating fish inside. 

Bench on the side hides equipment!

Features:

• basking ledge, free for swimming underneath
• open top, pendant lighting/ heat
• planters on ledges
• false strangler fig as 3D effect, backdrop could be added as sun shield
• some elements can go beyond glass for an added effect
• equipment hidden in bench
• low front panel is turtle safe and invites the viewer to enjoy a closer feel

"Rabbit the Boa gets a "rabbitat"

 He already had a big habitat, but he needed BIGGER! 😁

The video above is the result of several months of work. Hope you enjoy!

Some of my inspiration:

The shell design

The finished shell by Seventeen seconds Design. you can see his old habitat to the left. Way too small! 

Backdrop printed on cintra and edges sealed with silicone

Early move-in to have some explore time!

Building out the buttress root tree: 

hardware cloth, plaster bandages and then Smooth On sculpting epoxy

Paint time! Maker Pro Paints are AMAZINGLY strong

Test fit

Hi, my name is Leslie and I am Color-phile

All sealed up with epoxy and ready to roll!

Skink-a-tat!

 Building a Solomon Skink Habitat from Scratch:

Welcome to Lulu's palace

Watch how I built it here:

Inspo: 

I think this banyan tree turned out really pretty! 

It's got a crossover tunnel and divider

cap built in, and a secret heat pad.

Short build sequence:

The sculpt tests:

A Redesigned Newt Habitat!

 Newt and Improved

The one I was handed had many problems, including allowing the animals to hide under the fiberglass and not come out. so I redesigned. This one was made by Cemrock (at the cost of around $2,500 in 2015), using my design below.  

Much improved, n'est-ce pas?

Out with the old...

Paludarium Design: Turtles

 A Deamy Indoor Turtle Habitat

This paludarium draft design has not come to fruition..yet! 

At the time of design in 2022 it was estimated at around 36K.

Playing with divider designs- two species needing to inhabit together

The design for the two corner inserts

This is how the build turned out instead  

https://digsforanimals.blogspot.com/2023/08/re-building-turtle-tank.html

Turtles R Us

Rebuilding a turtle tank

Watch as I (together with so many others) rebuild an entire tank that sprung a leak.

Sweet Dudley Basking right on the little tree conk I made for him. 

It's like he read my instruction manual!

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Demolition and Build: 

https://youtu.be/9Zn6BA88QJ4

The "Insert" (The climbey part) Sculpt:

https://youtu.be/ndKm1fqaAIg

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Sweet Beullah, zonked out and probably snoring at the same spot 

Sweet Dudley's Swim

The two large inserts are designed to allow both turtles to be on display while being divided. Water passes through, and the divider can be removed. The top area is for easy sliding into the water, and soil for laying eggs and humidity.

The floor plates (pebbles) are designed to have less rocks to clean and haul during major cleanouts, and make it easier to siphon out detritus for more regular cleanings. 

Watch as I make it!

Demolition and Build: 
https://youtu.be/9Zn6BA88QJ4

The Insert Sculpt:
https://youtu.be/ndKm1fqaAIg

The "look" of the inserts came from another build that did not come to fruition when funding fell through