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I built this basking area for Boog a while back, and only used it once, because of a couple reasons.
-it is hard for him to get up there
-he can easily escape becasue the sides are not long enough

I was wondering if anyone could give me some suggestions of how to improve on this basking area, i really like it, and Boog needs more room and water in his tank. i also think the ramp is a bit to long. Also, all there is on the ramp is mesh, so can get up on the ramp, but when he goes down he like slides down the ramp pretty fast, so i stopped using it.





sorry about the picutes, my camera is a little screwy

It definitely looks like a great start. I'd be a bit worried about the wood ramp though, since it will warp, get mouldy, or even leach chemicals into the water. I would suggest switching the ramp to plexiglass, or plastic of some sort.
RES are great climbers, so with the mesh I don't think he'd have any trouble climbing up. And as for sliding down fast: I was concerned about the same thing when I first built my atba for Frankie, she would go shooting down the ramp! Then I was watching her, and I realized she's perfectly capable of gently lowering herself into the water, and she just slides off sometimes if she's startled.

To improve escape-proofedness, you can extend the sides with another piece of wood, or plexi, or just about anything! So where the ramp goes into the water, the sides continue along the top of the aquarium.

i never thought about the woody ramp, thanks so much! another concern would be the how to attach the ramp to the basking area. Oh, i was also wondering if the basking area should go over the tank or be out to the side not covering the top. Thanks again BullDog! =)

You could use the same "zip tie" idea with a plexiglass ramp, you'd just have to drill some holes in it.
I would do an over the tank basking area because I would be afraid if it were out to the side something could knock it down. But that's just my opinion.
I have most of the supplies to make Sisqo an atba I just haven't been creative enough to do it as of late. heh...

I agree with Sway. If you do it directly above the tank then you take up less space, but it's really a personal choice. If you can stabilize it to the side, and you have the room, you can go that way too.

The zip ties are a really good idea, and I think it could work the same way with the plexi

okay i was wondering what i could use or where i could buy plexi for the ramp? and how would i attach it to the basking area?

you can also use wonderful magical egg crate!! i constructed an above the tank basking area for bobbers using that and a sterlite storage container. the egg crate is awesome, sturdy and real cheap too! you can get a 2x4 at home depot for like $12. and i just tied my whole thing together using lanyard. but i heard that people have had a lot of luck using plexiglass as well. i say just use what works best for your turtle and tank and go with that.