Outdoor tortoise enclosure

[rpinnell]

Hi all! First time poster here. I had a quick question about an outdoor enclosure. My 1 year old sulcata is right at a little over 5 inches in length and 500g. I am looking to moving him outside at least part time through the day (I live in Phoenix so there is relatively nice weather year around except for hot summers)I am planning on using the space outside of my house with pictures attached below. Right now it is fully concrete or pavers at the bottom. I am planning on stacking some pavers higher around the enclosure to give added height and will build an enclosed area for heating. What I wanted to know is what type of substrate should I put down at the base of this? Orchid bark or cover it with soil and sod? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[theguy67]

Does this area get a decent amount of sun? If so, I would get some top soil (filled with organic matter), and then seed it. Let it grow for a few months and then put the tortoise on it.

 

[Bambam1989]

What kind of tree is that? The area has alot of potential.

 

[rpinnell]

The tree is a lemon tree. Sun exposure is pretty good there. It starts to get sun probably around 10-and has full exposure until maybe 2. The pictures were taken around 4. My initial inclination was to do that with soil and then seed it. I was going to hold off on doing anything with the little pond that is there until he gets a bit bigger. I'll probably block that off from him until he gets big enough to safely get down it without turning over

 

[Gillian M]

A very warm welcome to the forum.