Habitat - Indoor :: Need ideas for a ramp

[MMC32879]

I need some suggestions on how to make a new ramp for my basking area. I have tiles resting on steel brackets. Currently I took a large turtle plexiglass platform and cut the ramp part off it it and the top of it is between the two tiles and the bottom curved part is going down into the water. It seems that latley the ramp is not wide enough for my turtles to climb on. I don't know if I can buy plexiglass that is curved. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to make another ramp.

[Spookster]

Is this an above tank basking area? I just used a piece of plexiglass and used three brackets to bolt it to my basking area and then siliconed shelving liner to it for traction. There are photos of it in my turtle gallery. I think I even posted a thread or two describing things in detail.

[MMC32879]

No, it's inside the tank. My 75 gallong tank is a little more than 3/4 full and the tiles are just above the water level. I saw that you used a piece of plexiglass but how did you get it to curve down?

[MMC32879]

I've been reading that some people use pvc pipes to make a ramp. How is that done. Does anyone have any pictures of a ramp made out of pvc pipes?

[Spookster]

I didn't curve the plexiglass. I took a piece of flat plexiglass drilled some holes in it and used some metal brackets that I bent at an angle and bolted the ramp to that.

yes you can create a basking area in the tank using PVC pipes.
Here is a thread where I posted info about my tank setups. One of them being a basking area created from PVC pipes
http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewt ... hlight=pvc

[MMC32879]

That's wierd, I was just looking at your pictures before I got your response. You're setup is very similar to mine. Only instead of pvc pipes holding up your tiles, I have metal brackets that I bent to rest on the sides of the tank. That's a great suggestion about using similar brackets and bolting a piece of plexiglass to it. I can't believe I haven't thought of that. Thanks!

[missibsu]

What kind of metal are the brackets made out of? You want to watch for signs of rusting, it will do nasty things to your water quality.

[Spookster]

What kind of metal are the brackets made out of? You want to watch for signs of rusting, it will do nasty things to your water quality.

stainless steel. I got mine at the hardware store. They are brackets you use in building a house.

[MMC32879]

They are not really in the water, I leave a small amount of space between the water level and the bottom of the basking ares. I don't like having an area where the turtles are unable to come up for air. They do get some water on them sometimes but I've had that set up for about a year now and no rust.

[Sally]

yeah, I never thought to use brackets to hold my ramp either although I used some stainless steel sheets to hold my basking area up.

my ramp is plexiglass too so I just heated it enough to be able to put a bend in it. Then I attached one half to the basking area leaving the other end dipping into the water.

[MMC32879]

That's kind of what I was planning on doing but I'm not sure how to bend the plexiglass. What did you use to heat the plexiglass. Was it hard to do. I like the idea bending metal brackets and bolting the plexiglass to them, but just getting the plexiglass would be cheeper and probably easier.

[steve]

Here's a post with a pic of my PVC basking area. We were supposed to have a new topic of just basking areas but haven't received any pics...

[Sally]

A topic for just basking areas would be really helpful for anyone thinking of building their own.

MMC: I bent several different pieces because I went through 3 different designs for the basking area before I was happy with the end. They came out progressively better so there was a slight learning curve for me. Initally, I used a hot plate but I had to give that back and by the end, I was just holding it over the stove which worked pretty well. I had to wear mitts because of the heat but in less than 60 sec, the plexiglass should become malleable enough to bend by applying pressure. You don't want overheat so that the plastic deforms. The tricky part is heating only along the line that you want to bend then putting the bend in with one single movement to get a clean curve.

[MMC32879]

Yeah, I don't have a hot plate and my stove is electric. I think I'm going to try bolting a piece of plexiglass to curved brackets. Thanks for the suggestions though.

[steve]

I forgot to add the link to my post above:

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2493

the picture is at the bottom.