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Well this is my new basking area that I made for my Terrapins, Next project will be for my RES and my Sawback. Thanks Spookster for the tips on how to build it, i guess i kind of built off of yours. However I have no clue how you bent your metal brackets because when i did it, two of us had to do it because it was so hard.

So let me know what you guys think and i hope you guys enjoy Here is the link, I thought the pictures were way too big to be posted.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/millonida ... EBkyhwm22l

Looks pretty good. I bet your turtles love it. You must have gotten thicker brackets than I did. I marked the spot I needed to bend on all three and put that on the edge of a brick step and I stepped on the other side to bend it at the mark.

It's fun to be able to get creative and build stuff like this.

darn, i wish i could have thought of that because now it looks like its too much of an angle, i mean they can get up it but sometimes they fall, that is if they stay on top oon the ledge for too long, one more thing, i must have gone through a bunch of the plexi glass or whatever and it kept cracking, so i just gave up and siliconed it on.

You siliconed the ramp to the brackets? I hadn't thought of doing that. Working with plexiglass/acrylic takes some getting used to. The first time I created a ramp out of it I cracked it and chipped it and it was far from perfect looking.

Hey, great basking area. I was wondering what material did you use for the ramp? I was also thinking about plexiglass but it doesn't seem very reliable as it can crack easily with a thin piece. I was looking at aluminum metal but not too sure about that. Let me know. Thanks.

I would think the metal would rust with the moisture, and could get hot with a basking light on it. Depends on how you were going to use it.

BROOKLYN wrote:Hey, great basking area. I was wondering what material did you use for the ramp? I was also thinking about plexiglass but it doesn't seem very reliable as it can crack easily with a thin piece. I was looking at aluminum metal but not too sure about that. Let me know. Thanks.

Plexiglass or acrylic works fine. It doesn't crack easily as long as it is supported. I use 3/16 inch thick plexiglass and it works just fine. I have it supported by three metal brackets bolted to it and to my basking area.

the cracking part was tough for me i might change it up a little bit ill try out the 3/16 inch thick ones and as for drilling the holes through the plexiglass it was a pain i went through alot of it so i just gave up and siliconed it together, another thing when youre making it make sure the angle is perfect, i though my angle was fine and then i put it in the water and it looked way too steep.

That's odd. When I used my drill to drill the holes it went through it quite easy. This may sound like stupid question but did you have your drill spinning clockwise or counterclockwise when you were drilling? Sometimes when I am drilling stuff I lay my drill down and it accidentally pushes the directional switch and changes it to counterclockwise rotation.

The structure looks really nice, but doesn't whatever is on the bottom (sand?) get into the water? If so, you might consider siliconing some flat rocks to the bottom of the basking area.

its crushed coral, its the same substrate i use for the tank bottom