Thanks, I really like these suggestions! I'll have to plan more fun things for him!
Photos of Our Outdoor Russian Tortoise Enclosure and Garden
- Thread starter Oxalis
- Start date
Love it!! Just beautiful and you can feel the love!
Love it! I am also impatiently waiting for the plants to grow, but with the miserable rainy week we are having I imagine next weekend it will look like a jungle!And now to try to be patient as the plants grow!
We are really waiting for a great rainstorm too! There should be some rain headed for us in the next couple days.
When it comes to the plants growing, I keep telling myself, "a watched pot never boils"!
Plants are really growing after all the rain and now some sun.
Finally got my baby cactuses! They are from the western counties of the state, right off Lake Michigan, where the soil is much sandier. Ours here is mostly clay. Haven't decided whether/how to plant them. Any ideas? ...
Finally got my baby cactuses!
They are from the western counties of the state, right off Lake Michigan, where the soil is much sandier. Ours here is mostly clay. Haven't decided whether/how to plant them. Any ideas? ...I would just plant them in a pot outside. Any small plant that goes into a Russian tortoises enclosure usually doesn't get to be a big plant.
Great enclosure. He's so plump had happy-looking. The only concern I have is the these little guys are great climbers at corners. I wonder if you'll just place him in the enclosure when you can watch him, or is this his 24/7 enclosure? If it's his 24/7 enclosure , what about predators at night?
No worries, he comes indoors when it rains and at night as well as when we're not home for hours at a time. He has a great indoor enclosure in his own bedroom! ;D
The corners are capped too now, although he has not been able to reach up to the top of the fence yet.
Your flamingo looks very concerned about the cactus....LOL!!!
The garden has really exploded, and I went away last weekend so I was unable to pull out a bunch of the Testudo Mix plants until Sunday. They were taking over the garden and I worried about my baby native plants getting out-competed. So Sunday I pulled a bunch of them out (which had huge taproots), and planted a bunch of new stuff (since I don't know where my seeds went...). Anyway, the two yellow flowers are Coreopsis plants.
Despite our nasty storm last night that woke us up at 1 in the morning, all the plants survived and the hollyhock still bloomed! It's the big one in the middle with the pink and white flowers. To the right is a small plant with yellow flowers, which is yet another Coreopsis plant. Behind that is the purple coneflower, which is native to Michigan.
The big plant in the front is my Hibiscus moscheutos, which is one of the two native Michigan Hibiscus species. I was so happy to finally find it but I didn't get a chance to put it in the ground until this past Sunday.
Despite our nasty storm last night that woke us up at 1 in the morning, all the plants survived and the hollyhock still bloomed! It's the big one in the middle with the pink and white flowers. To the right is a small plant with yellow flowers, which is yet another Coreopsis plant. Behind that is the purple coneflower, which is native to Michigan.
The big plant in the front is my Hibiscus moscheutos, which is one of the two native Michigan Hibiscus species.
I was so happy to finally find it but I didn't get a chance to put it in the ground until this past Sunday.
I like how everything is taking off growing.
My garden patch had the same "problem" with the seed mix. Had to go in and pull some weeds to make room for my little tort to walk around.
My garden patch had the same "problem" with the seed mix. Had to go in and pull some weeds to make room for my little tort to walk around.
Yeah, it really exploded! Steve really likes the plants in the seed mix, so that's good. This year I'm just trying to monitor how many seed pods spread. If the weather is nice this weekend, I'll have a chance to clean up more.
Yeah, it really exploded! Steve really likes the plants in the seed mix, so that's good. This year I'm just trying to monitor how many seed pods spread. If the weather is nice this weekend, I'll have a chance to clean up more.
Tortle resort, it's beautiful!
The tortoise enclosure now has a solar-powered lantern, yey!
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And here's the little dude emerging from his cave, ready to go inside for the night.
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Happy little baby - so happy for you/him for the outdoor time!
ALL DONE! It is completely finished! Today I finished "stitching" together all the sheets of chicken wire and added a few extra staples for good measure. The little dude is completely secure now. As you can see, we found some extra 1'' x 2'' boards to keep between the chicken wire holes that will help cap off the corners -- just in case.
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Here's Stevie walking along the wall... again. You can see I have staples every so often in the top of the wooden board so it's all super secure!
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And there's Steve enjoying the late afternoon sun before his mommy takes him inside for the night.
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All finished!!Now for a celebratory drinkie: Cactus Juice!
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And now to try to be patient as the plants grow!
You are doing an amazing job keeping the little guy! I love seeing people that throw themselves into providing a healthy, good lifestyle for their torties- kudos to you and thank you for posting these wonderful pics of Steve's garden and enclosure. It gives me ideas for my upcoming landscaping, of course taking my two into consideration even while building a sitting garden in the afternoon shade. :>)
Thanks so much! Steve is like our child since we don't want kids, so he gets all of our attention! And we're glad to give it too because we love animals a ton. We also feed the birds and are hoping to bring in some butterflies, hummingbirds, and bats into our yard someday. The landscaping is slow-going but lots of fun -- and includes a lot of native Michigan species. There were some poor choices made in the types of trees around our house, so some of them we'll have to replace, so now the backyard feels a little bare until the pine trees can really grow in.
Anyway, I always feel like I can do more for Steve. He came from what I assume was a nice nuclear family that had a lot of other priorities so perhaps he didn't get all the attention that he needed. He certainly didn't get the best nutrition before, as evident in his shell. But now he has a varied diet in his garden and can pick and choose what all he wants. Maybe someday his enclosure will have a bigger tree for more shade. I'm thinking a "rose tree" bush for next summer. Maybe I'll add more pebbles, alter the terrain a little, and maybe even add a wooden bench so I can sit with him; who knows?
I'll always be trying to improve!
Thanks so much! Steve is like our child since we don't want kids, so he gets all of our attention! And we're glad to give it too because we love animals a ton. We also feed the birds and are hoping to bring in some butterflies, hummingbirds, and bats into our yard someday. The landscaping is slow-going but lots of fun -- and includes a lot of native Michigan species. There were some poor choices made in the types of trees around our house, so some of them we'll have to replace, so now the backyard feels a little bare until the pine trees can really grow in.
Anyway, I always feel like I can do more for Steve. He came from what I assume was a nice nuclear family that had a lot of other priorities so perhaps he didn't get all the attention that he needed. He certainly didn't get the best nutrition before, as evident in his shell. But now he has a varied diet in his garden and can pick and choose what all he wants. Maybe someday his enclosure will have a bigger tree for more shade. I'm thinking a "rose tree" bush for next summer. Maybe I'll add more pebbles, alter the terrain a little, and maybe even add a wooden bench so I can sit with him; who knows?
I think this is one of my favorite pastimes! Tweaking the tort garden!! I get SO many wonderful ideas at 2am!!
