Outdoor Enclosure In AZ - Ideas?

[angelak]

Hi. I have one small Hermann's Tortoise (almost a year old) and planning to get a second one this summer. This is the area I have to work with (dirt area behind the garden):



It's on the East side of the house. Summers are really hot here, so I don't know if this is going to work. Any ideas? Thanks!

 

[Yvonne G]

It should be ok there. More shade cloth over that area, or a couple of market umbrellas???

 

[TigsMom]

I agree with Yvonne, your Tort will need some shade to help stay cool. If it gets seriously windy where you are, I'd go with shade cloth. And plant some plants that your tortoise can eat, plus help with shady spots. Umbrellas tend to get damaged quick in high winds and intense sun and heat. Red Hibiscus grow really well here in Arizona even in the intense heat and my torts love to eat the flowers and occassionally the leaves. I haven't had much luck with the other hybrid hibiscus, although I do love the other colors too.

I'm not at all well versed in Hermanns, but there are a ton of other folks here that should be able to help with ideas for your habitat area. I'm trying Sod over the tops of burrows in my Desert Tortoise enclosures to help keep the burrow cooler and insulated, so far it's working great, but I only planted the Sod one week ago. And my Desert Torts were just placed in their new enclosures today. I checked temps an hour ago (sunset), it was 80 degs outside (air temp) and the burrows were 64 and 63 degs. The ground in the enclosures read 74 and 71 Degrees. (2 different enclosures).

I'd highly recommend making it as escape proof as possible too!

Here's the post about my enclosures: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-89446.html

Hope this helps a little. Best wishes for great successes on your new habitat area.

 

[angelak]

Thanks for the suggestions! Do you think I should cover the entire area with shade cloth, or leave some of it open? I want him to still be able to get UV, but keep the heat down also. Do you have any ideas on what to do with all the dirt? I'm not sure what will grow there. TigsMom - I love your idea with the burrow! I might try that. Yours looks great. Do you think cinder blocks along the gate (we never open it) would be enough to keep him in? Thanks guys!

 

[Arnold_rules]

Thanks for the suggestions! Do you think I should cover the entire area with shade cloth, or leave some of it open? I want him to still be able to get UV, but keep the heat down also. Do you have any ideas on what to do with all the dirt? I'm not sure what will grow there. TigsMom - I love your idea with the burrow! I might try that. Yours looks great. Do you think cinder blocks along the gate (we never open it) would be enough to keep him in? Thanks guys!

Definitely looks like a good spot. I would give them some area to get out into the sun to get some rays and capture that ole UV. Remember, even though it is sunny AZ, it isn't always untolerable, early mornings during the summer is when they will propably venture out into the more sunny areas, when it is cooler. The sod over the hides is a great idea, the back half of my DT hide has sod. You can also set up a little mister, like you would use in a flower bed to sprinkle across a wide area, to give them a little cool and fun.

As already said, try to make it as escape proof as possible. With Hermans, probably means armed guards patrolling the perimeter . And, since they are young, try to find a way to keep unwanted visitors out of the enclosure.

 

[TigsMom]

Angelak; My body still is in pain from all the digging and block work, so I guess that's why my creative thinking is not working as well as it used to. hahaha Cinder blocks should work to block your torts view and escape of the yard under the fence. And they are not expensive. I've also seen Railroad ties, landscape logs, and boards similar to those on your raised bed gardens used to create enclosures and barriers for escape. The trick is making it tall enough so that when your tortoise is full grown, it won't be able to climb up and out of the enclosure nor burrow under. Putting an interior lip/cap on the top of the enclosure helps to keep them in as well. Hoping I won't have to build my walls higher anytime in the next couple of years. They can also dig under the wall, so you may want to sink some blocks, boards or chicken wire under the frame of the enclosure a foot or two.

Your tort is only a year old? How long is it's carapace? You could build a temporary sunning spot, just for morning or late afternoon sunning, but I think your tort is still considered a hatchling (for another year) and if I'm right, he should not be living outside full time just yet. We have hawks and other predators around so for my smaller Adult turtles and tortoises their enclosures are completely covered in Chicken Wire or Hardware wire. My boxies have had shade cloth completely covering their enclosure for many many years and they have not had any issues with getting enough uv for their shells or digestion, but they are completely different from Desert tortoises. I used a section of rod iron fencing the size of the entire enclosure as a lid and attached the chicken wire and then wove the shade cloth through the bars of the fencing to keep wind from tearing it up. Desert torts need more sun and heat than the Box Turtles who's natural habitat are typically forest like with alot more shade and humidity than we get here. My desert torts (15+ years old, and 12" Long carapace) sun in the mornings and the evenings, and usually hide out in their burrows in the intense summer heat. The last two days they've been in and out of their burrows and enjoying basking in full sun for a little over an hour at a time before they seek out shady cooler spots or their burrows. They are still new to their new enclosures, but this is how the behaved in their old enclosures during the spring as well. Their old enclosures were functional, but not very eye appealing. This year I wanted the enclosures to be even more functional and eye appealing as well. So far it's working great for me and for them, only time will tell just how well it works for all of us. I am very excited about the sod working as insulation. I'm checking temps at all hours of the day and night (using temp gun and battery operated digital thermometers) and those burrows are amazingly holding steady temps, even I don't believe it! LOL I think we need sod on our Roofs!!!! Think of the a/c not running as much!

If your tort is only a few inches long, that brick flower bed (longer would be even better) might be perfect (so long as there are no chemicals, perlite or vermiculite in the soil). Just build a chicken wire lid with a small piece of ply wood (or something solid) for a foot or two (for shade) and add a nice little hide is should be a perfect for some daytime sunning for the next year or even two. If Hermanns like to burrow, then I definitely recommend building a below ground burrow with cinderblocks, but that isn't needed if they are only spending an hour or two for sunning and such. Tom has an amazing underground burrow build, with a hatch so you can easily checkin on them or get to them without digging up the burrow. I soo wanted to build one, but we just had the house termited and I wanted to really limit the use of wood in the ground. The pressure treated lumber I used on the old burrows, held up so well and wasn't infested by termites, I decided to use pressure treated 2x16's again for the roofs of the burrows.

And start planning, saving money, growing large shade plants and edibles as a long range goal for that big area too. In a few years, you could have the ultimate dream tortoise enclosure. If I were you, I'd make good friends with someone with a Bobcat to help dig up that dirt. I soooo wish I had easy access like that to my enclosures!

Again, hope all this ramble helps!

 

[angelak]

Thanks for the suggestions! Do you think I should cover the entire area with shade cloth, or leave some of it open? I want him to still be able to get UV, but keep the heat down also. Do you have any ideas on what to do with all the dirt? I'm not sure what will grow there. TigsMom - I love your idea with the burrow! I might try that. Yours looks great. Do you think cinder blocks along the gate (we never open it) would be enough to keep him in? Thanks guys!

Definitely looks like a good spot. I would give them some area to get out into the sun to get some rays and capture that ole UV. Remember, even though it is sunny AZ, it isn't always untolerable, early mornings during the summer is when they will propably venture out into the more sunny areas, when it is cooler. The sod over the hides is a great idea, the back half of my DT hide has sod. You can also set up a little mister, like you would use in a flower bed to sprinkle across a wide area, to give them a little cool and fun.

As already said, try to make it as escape proof as possible. With Hermans, probably means armed guards patrolling the perimeter . And, since they are young, try to find a way to keep unwanted visitors out of the enclosure.

Thanks for the suggestions!

---

Angelak; My body still is in pain from all the digging and block work, so I guess that's why my creative thinking is not working as well as it used to. hahaha Cinder blocks should work to block your torts view and escape of the yard under the fence. And they are not expensive. I've also seen Railroad ties, landscape logs, and boards similar to those on your raised bed gardens used to create enclosures and barriers for escape. The trick is making it tall enough so that when your tortoise is full grown, it won't be able to climb up and out of the enclosure nor burrow under. Putting an interior lip/cap on the top of the enclosure helps to keep them in as well. Hoping I won't have to build my walls higher anytime in the next couple of years. They can also dig under the wall, so you may want to sink some blocks, boards or chicken wire under the frame of the enclosure a foot or two.

Your tort is only a year old? How long is it's carapace? You could build a temporary sunning spot, just for morning or late afternoon sunning, but I think your tort is still considered a hatchling (for another year) and if I'm right, he should not be living outside full time just yet. We have hawks and other predators around so for my smaller Adult turtles and tortoises their enclosures are completely covered in Chicken Wire or Hardware wire. My boxies have had shade cloth completely covering their enclosure for many many years and they have not had any issues with getting enough uv for their shells or digestion, but they are completely different from Desert tortoises. I used a section of rod iron fencing the size of the entire enclosure as a lid and attached the chicken wire and then wove the shade cloth through the bars of the fencing to keep wind from tearing it up. Desert torts need more sun and heat than the Box Turtles who's natural habitat are typically forest like with alot more shade and humidity than we get here. My desert torts (15+ years old, and 12" Long carapace) sun in the mornings and the evenings, and usually hide out in their burrows in the intense summer heat. The last two days they've been in and out of their burrows and enjoying basking in full sun for a little over an hour at a time before they seek out shady cooler spots or their burrows. They are still new to their new enclosures, but this is how the behaved in their old enclosures during the spring as well. Their old enclosures were functional, but not very eye appealing. This year I wanted the enclosures to be even more functional and eye appealing as well. So far it's working great for me and for them, only time will tell just how well it works for all of us. I am very excited about the sod working as insulation. I'm checking temps at all hours of the day and night (using temp gun and battery operated digital thermometers) and those burrows are amazingly holding steady temps, even I don't believe it! LOL I think we need sod on our Roofs!!!! Think of the a/c not running as much!

If your tort is only a few inches long, that brick flower bed (longer would be even better) might be perfect (so long as there are no chemicals, perlite or vermiculite in the soil). Just build a chicken wire lid with a small piece of ply wood (or something solid) for a foot or two (for shade) and add a nice little hide is should be a perfect for some daytime sunning for the next year or even two. If Hermanns like to burrow, then I definitely recommend building a below ground burrow with cinderblocks, but that isn't needed if they are only spending an hour or two for sunning and such. Tom has an amazing underground burrow build, with a hatch so you can easily checkin on them or get to them without digging up the burrow. I soo wanted to build one, but we just had the house termited and I wanted to really limit the use of wood in the ground. The pressure treated lumber I used on the old burrows, held up so well and wasn't infested by termites, I decided to use pressure treated 2x16's again for the roofs of the burrows.

And start planning, saving money, growing large shade plants and edibles as a long range goal for that big area too. In a few years, you could have the ultimate dream tortoise enclosure. If I were you, I'd make good friends with someone with a Bobcat to help dig up that dirt. I soooo wish I had easy access like that to my enclosures!

Again, hope all this ramble helps!

Hello. Thank you for the response! My tortoise will be a year old in July. I would guess he is about 5" long. I would like to get started on his enclosure, just keeping him out there during the day, but I would still bring him inside at night. I originally was going to put him in the brick area. It is filled with organic soil and the Testudo Seed mix from Tortoise Supply. I let him run around in there while I'm watering, but I feel like it's kind of boring in there and he would like more room. Anyway, thanks for all of the ideas! I'm printing this out and will try to come up with something good!