Turtle Pen Ideas?

[aweb25]

Hi all, First post here.
I recently acquired a 12 year old female western box turtle. She has spent her entire life in a 20 gallon aquarium and I'm looking to build a proper sized enclosure for her. I'm looking at building a 36" x 36" corner tortoise table, I have a pretty good idea of what I want to build, but I'm wondering if anyone has pictures of their set ups for inspirational purposes. Also are there any guidelines to follow regarding heating and lighting power? Also I'm looking at building a water feature into the table with a small canister filter and in-line heater to try and get away from having to change the water everyday, would this be feasible or has anyone done this before? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers
Adam

 

[leigti]

Welcome to the forum. I'm glad you will be able to give your Boxturtle a better home than she has had. Outdoors of course is always the best for any turtle or tortoise. But if you cannot do that, or can't do it all year round, indoors does work. Check out the box turtle species specific section and also the enclosures section for some ideas.

 

[aweb25]

Thanks, yeah outdoors isn't really an option as I would be worried about predators and such, I do plan on taking her outside while I'm out doing the chores. Also what is the minimum temperatures for them, most the research I've done says anywhere from 65-75 f

 

[leigti]

Get a temperature gun and then you can measure the temperature on the ground or where the turtle would be. I would say a sunny 65° day would be okay. They really love to be outdoors and there are ways to make it predator proof. You can also bring them in every night if you're worried about that. Read through the box turtle section and you'll find all sorts of ideas.

 

[lismar79]

Here's a thread on my boxie enclosure
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/new-boxie-enclosure-my-first-boxie-enclosure.103965/
My heat and lights are on there too.

 

[aweb25]

Thanks Lismar, that's a nice looking pen. I have a vegetable garden I might fence off with some chicken wire and she can go out there during the day. I've yet to get pictures up as I think she's still settling in, but I noticed she only has three claws on her back feet, would that make her a 3 toed box? And is there any rules on watts per square foot? Like watts per gallon in a planted fish aquarium?

 

[leigti]

They can climb chicken wire. My outdoor pen was 2 x 12's with hardware cloth over the top. But you don't need to cover it if you bring them in at night. My enclosure was 4 x 5' and I felt like it was too small. I'm not sure what the official recommendations are, but bigger is always better

 

[Nanchantress]

My Ornate box turtles live outside 24/7 in pens I made from cinder blocks and filled with peat moss. I made them predator-proof with hardware cloth lids that I open during nice days but close and weigh down with flagstone at night. I used to have the pens open on top but had a raccoon attack 2 years ago and lost one of my foster turtles. Haven't had any trouble with raccoons since adding the lids. I would encourage you to have your turtle outside if at all possible, at least for part of the year. As long as you have both sunny and shady areas they can decide how hot or cold they want to be. Our temps here in Albuquerque, New Mexico, range from freezing in the winter to the 90's in the summer and I never bring my box turtles inside.

 

[johnsonnboswell]

I would not hibernate a new turtle, especially not the first year. But I would give it every chance to be outdoors all summer. They love to be active at dawn, so letting them stay out is so good for them.

My rule of thumb is 60 low at night in the spring for staying out all night, because that's the night time house temperature they're used to. In the fall, they can stay out to 50 at night if the day time temps rise, the sun comes out, & they are active.

Predator proof a pen, or bring her in at night, but give her every possible moment outdoors, not just when you can supervise. Let her hunt and bask.

A heated filtered water feature is overkill. Heat not needed. The depth necessary to support a filter is unsafe for the turtle. You'd have to put in a false bottom & a ramp, and it would take up a lot of space. Use a plant saucer. You don't have to scrub it every day, just dump the dirty water back into the substrate & refill with fresh water. Clean it when necessary.

An outdoor water feature would be great.

I'm another who uses cinderblocks for the outdoor habitat.

 

[Jill and Erica]

Nanchantress that is a awesome pic on the habitat I think I might use the cinderblock idea. I see you have live plants in the habitat what would you recommend I am going to build a more suitable home this weekend. I worry with my outdoor temp here in SC the summers are hot humid and dry

 

[johnsonnboswell]

Box turtles are native to sc. If you provide a water dish, shade, and a place to burrow, and hose it down when necessary, they'll do fine.

 

[aweb25]

Thanks everyone for the replies, Ive been busy trying to get the yard in shape for summer. Im not going to leave her outside at night as the weather up here has been spotty at best, But I've been giving her the run of the garden for most of the day. I mounted 2" x 8" boards around the inside of my fence so she cant climb the walls and Its built up off the ground, with double garden ties, so unless she can dig down 12", she isn't getting out. But Im ready to build the table for inside. I'm still going to do the water feature. I wont be heating it, but I have rigged up a filter that should take atleast the solids out. Im going to run the water feature with a small aquarium pump I have I think its 10 or 20 gph so it wont pump to fast but atleast it wont be standing water.

Here is a quick sketch on paint of what I plan on doing (not anywhere near to scale). I've lettered the main points to illustrate the picture a little better.

A) Is the water feature, It will be sunk down 2 1/2" with stones and gravel to make the depth around 1 1/2" give or take in the deepest end by the filter. I think I will add stones along the deep end and maybe add a piece of slate I have as a basking spot in the water.

B) This is going to be the main basking area.

C) House

D) Water Filter/Water Fall, I Built it out of 6" Abs with an end cap and a drain fitting on the bottom for changing the water. The pipe is going to be drilled through the table so the bottom is 4"or 6" below the table. The pump and everything else will go inside the pipe to hide it.

Im putting a glass front on the 45. As she isn't bothered by movement or noises. Im painting the entire inside of the box with liquid rubber (It is potable water safe so it should be safe for water) and it will have a glass top with pieces I can move around for lights and what not.

 

[Yvonne G]

Welcome to the Forum, Adam!!

In my opinion, because your little turtle is compromised and probably not as agile as it would be if it didn't have the shell deformities, that waterer with its steep sides is a real hazard. Please change it out for a terra cotta plant saucer. Find one a little bigger than the turtle. The saucers have sloping sides and are much easier to climb out of. With the straight up and down sides you run the risk of your turtle over-balancing and toppling over backwards into the water.

At the bottom of this page you'll find several links that will probably give you some enclosure ideas.