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Post by jacquisunderland on Aug 28, 2011 22:06:31 GMT
Hiya Morgan' sorry av been missing am havn computer trouble.. your doing amazing, I've seem the original 'Turtle Topper' that you mentioned a while ago but they dont look that pretty. I've got to say your looks fab.. does your hubby take orders!? lol!! x
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Post by morganthomaswintle on Aug 31, 2011 21:11:00 GMT
Thanks turtlegirl & Jacquisunderland, glad you like it & you have made my husbands day.
Firstly its made out of 5mm perspex, which we were lucky cause we already had some here, when we priced it in our local shop (not thinking we had enough to do it all) it was around £60 for a sheet but I'm sure you could get some cheaper, especially online if you looked about, obviously it shouldnt be any thinner as you wouldnt want it to melt with the heat from the lamps.
The floor/bottom of it has to be the same size as the tank width ways, meaning it would sit on top of the tank without falling into the water, so measure the top of your tank to the outside of the glass, then you would have to cut two lines where you want the slide/ramp & use a heat gun to melt & bend it, be careful with this cause you dont want it to snap off.
Then you need the sides/walls, apart from the ones either side of the ramp the other three sides/walls need to come down just over the top of the tank, (you should be able to see in the pic what I mean), this is to stop it from moving when the turtles are in & out of it (the back of ours is against a wall so we dont have to worry about it sliding back & off but if yours isnt you would have to think of something to secure it on).
Then we had to place the floor/bottom on a book at the end of a table so the slide/ramp was hanging over the end so we could silicone the sides/walls on.
When this is done, all you will have to do it fit sides onto the ramp, otherwise if the turtles go through the gaps it probably wouldnt take long to break the ramp off .
Then the blue stuff we have in the middle is just non slip stuff for your kitchen tops, it comes in a roll & then some velcro to fasten it down so they can climb up easy.
Hope this helps, it was tricky at times but I have to say was well worth it cause my two love it & I spend most of my time just watching them bask & swimming about, it lovely.
Anymore questions, give me a shout.
Regards
Karen
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Post by morganthomaswintle on Sept 13, 2011 20:18:36 GMT
Right I have another question, do Turtles need or like Cuttle fish Bones, if so is it safe to get them from my beach or would it be better to get them from a pet shop? If I get them from my beach is there anything I have to do to them?
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Post by turtlegirl on Sept 13, 2011 21:45:46 GMT
Some turtles like to nibble on cuttlebones and it's a useful source of calcium. You can use beach ones or bird ones BUT whatever kind you use it is important to remove the hard backing part found on one side. Otherwise there is a danger that the turtle can choke on the hard bit. You can easily remove the hard backing side by cutting the softer cuttlebone off with a sharp or serrated knife. It is easier to do this if you cut the cuttlebone in half first
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Post by morganthomaswintle on Sept 14, 2011 6:26:01 GMT
Brilliant, thanks Turtlegirl. Trip to the beach for me today then :-)
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Post by turtlegirl on Sept 14, 2011 21:50:28 GMT
I would advise you to soak beach sourced cuttlebones in fresh water for a few days to remove excess salt before feeding to turtles. Soaking will also make them softer so it's much easier to cut off the hard bit at the back
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Post by linzi64uk on Feb 19, 2012 17:25:07 GMT
here here on the turtle toppper, I would also like some more details on building one, as turtlegirl says, more swimming room would be good
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