Habitat - Indoor :: zip ties and ATBA question

[manderson9808]

I made an ATBA out of the egg crate and zip ties this weekend. I have not put it in the tank yet for good, but it will be by the end of next week. The base of it sits on the lip at the top of the tank. The ramp is also made out of the egg crate and attached to the platform by the plastic zip ties. My daughter's turtle (painted) is about 4 inches right now, don't know the weight. My question is, will the ramp stay put when he climbs on it with only the ties holding it onto the platform, or will his weight pull it down and make it too steep or break the ramp at the point that it is attached?

I have set it on the tank and put some pressure onto the ramp with my hand. Seems to be ok, but wondered if anyone can give an answer based on their experience. I could figure out some way to put a stand/brace at the bottom of the ramp if needed, but would rather not if it is not needed.

[steve]

What does it look like? I would think just zip ties would not create enough of a tight grip. Painted are pretty small, so maybe theres a change it wouldn't be a problem. If the ramp spans the width of the tank, there are also ways to add support, like with suction cups.

Welcome to the forum!

[manderson9808]

Thanks. I have been lurking here for sometime, and just finally decided to sign up. This is one of the main sites I have come to over the past year to learn how to take care of the little guy/gal. It is my daughter's turtle, but I find myself sitting and watching him swim around when she is not home so I guess I feel like he is mine.

I am not very smart when it comes to computers and even less when it comes to posting pictures. I made a photobucket account and put a couple of pictures there. I hope this link works. Excuse my big toe that is in one pic. Didn't notice it until now. You should be able to see where I used the ties on the ramp and I pulled them pretty tight. There is some give in the ramp but it seems minimal to me. I can put it up to where it is level with the dock itself, but when I have it pushed down it does not give very much. I have some egg crate left over so I could build an extension for the ramp to prop up on the two large rocks in the bottom of the tank if it came to that.

http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/mande ... state=copy

[steve]

It looks very nice and if it doesn't work, the turtle should be able to lift himself up to it. I can see a simple fix or two if it does become a problem. Has the turtle tried it yet?

[manderson9808]

I don't have it on the tank yet. I only put it up there to see if everything was going to fit and to take a couple of pictures. My daughter comes home from a trip in a couple days and then she will help me with tank cleaning. I figured it would be easier to clean the tank when it had less water in it for now. After that we put it all together, fill up the tank some more and see how he likes it. I hope to have good news by the end of the week.

[steve]

Good luck! We'll have a few tips if you need it