3 Toeds- Photos from the pen

Eric Phillips

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So glad I've accidentally discovered this thread!!!! Beautiful natural looking enclosure, gorgeous turtles and enviable water feature!!!! Oh how I wish I could get one of those. Anyway, welcome from Texas! It's hot over here too

I agree Pearly, one of the best natural looking enclosure on here:)
 

pclare

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Outstanding! It depresses me that my outdoor structures look more like cages for security reasons. Your open-top setup is my dream, but my yard is a playground for bears, hawks, owls, black rat snakes, and an occasional raccoon, muskrat, or whatever. I'm afraid too many predators could bypass an electric wire, so my main set up is in a 10 x 20 chain-link dog pen. They probably don't care, but I do. :-(
The bears could still break in if they wanted to, so I have to be very careful with food so they never have a reason to. They break my fence all the time.
 

MichaelaW

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Thanks guys!

The only turtle out and about at noon today. It's sweltering out... she must be crazy
TKQUyyr.jpg
I feel your pain. It was 96 degrees and 87% humidity in the evening today here in Peoria.
 

AJK Aquaria

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Jun 24, 2016
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I agree Pearly, one of the best natural looking enclosure on here:)

Thank you Pearly and Eric. It's very cool to see someone like this setup as much as we do. It's great to read comments like these! I certainly wanted to do a natural looking enclosure. It comes with its own problems, though. Rounding up animals buried deep in mud under a rotted log is not fun nor easy. I generally leave them be, but on night crawler day I want to make sure everyone gets their due worms.

Growing up, I kept quite a few reptiles and amphibians. My room was a zoo. Back then there was no Internet or care guides. My Dad introduced me to making a naturalistic layout. It was fun and possible to do with small, insectivorous lizards. Almost impossible with larger snakes and turtles. Bringing a small piece of nature into your home is well worth the effort. Trying this outside on a grand scale is awesome. Wish I had more room, and will likely change things next season. And the water feature was done at minimal cost. A trip to Home Depot, my local landscaping place and a shovel is pretty much it.

Aquariums are much easier. Replicating the bottom of a lake or stream is more manageable to pull off and maintain. Here's a video of one of our 6' aquariums housing Lake Malawi African cichlids. And followed by a quick vid of our Mexico tank. The latter is an older one, but probably my favorite out of all the videos of this particular tank. They're filmed in HD and should be watched as such. Hope you enjoy...


 

AJK Aquaria

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300
Outstanding! It depresses me that my outdoor structures look more like cages for security reasons. Your open-top setup is my dream, but my yard is a playground for bears, hawks, owls, black rat snakes, and an occasional raccoon, muskrat, or whatever. I'm afraid too many predators could bypass an electric wire, so my main set up is in a 10 x 20 chain-link dog pen. They probably don't care, but I do. :-(
The bears could still break in if they wanted to, so I have to be very careful with food so they never have a reason to. They break my fence all the time.

Thank you!

I kinda wish I had bears around. And rat snakes. We have Fox snakes, which is a rat snake, but it's a rarity to find one. I have the luxury of a fenced in back yard. It won't stop a opossum or coon, but the wire will give them 2nd thoughts. We have deer and critters all over the place. Never had a problem with coons raiding the garbage, which is very easily accessible for them.

Sometimes practical setups make more sense than creating something elaborate that's difficult to maintain. I would say this applies to most 'pets.' In your circumstance, keeping your animals off the menu comes first and is certainly most important.
 

pclare

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Thank you!

I kinda wish I had bears around. And rat snakes. We have Fox snakes, which is a rat snake, but it's a rarity to find one. I have the luxury of a fenced in back yard. It won't stop a opossum or coon, but the wire will give them 2nd thoughts. We have deer and critters all over the place. Never had a problem with coons raiding the garbage, which is very easily accessible for them.

Sometimes practical setups make more sense than creating something elaborate that's difficult to maintain. I would say this applies to most 'pets.' In your circumstance, keeping your animals off the menu comes first and is certainly most important.
Mine is fenced too - it was the first thing I did when I moved in to keep two beagles safe -- but fences can't stop everybody. The bears just plow right through the chain link part, or break the cedar part climbing over. If I see one in the yard I open all the gates and try to direct it toward one. I don't mind the bears, except they're the reason I can't have a compost pile with a million worms. My property borders on a state park where they dump all the "bad" bears they catch in the rest of the state, so we're just used to them. You can have the snakes, though - all of them!
 

Banjos n Boxies

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Outstanding enclosure and fantastic pictures! Are you in a climate where they hibernate? If so, do you let them go down for the winter in that amazing enclosure? I'm going to guess you're somewhere around Indiana based on the Zombie Dust (jealous you can get a hold of that). I'll just be over here in Iowa with my indoor enclosures and bottle of pseudoSue... being envious.
 

PJay

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Snapped some pics today. Brutally warm here in Illinois currently. Some of the turtles are still out, as the enclosure receives a lot of shade late in the afternoon. The pen is 16x10' and equipped with an electric wire to keep out unwanted critters. All photos taken today...

06SVq4P.jpg


fEoSTKH.jpg


The lillies are popping up everyday. Hoping for some flowers soon...
4mlO4lb.jpg


Some of the residents. We had a lot of rain recently, so lots of muddy shells...

Male (Pup)
ucStunE.jpg


Male (no name yet)
YyGeA9Z.jpg


Colorful female (Providence)
OKdm6oA.jpg


Begging for some crawlers...
RfKOovG.jpg


Inquisitive female (no name yet, and the smallest of the group. Approx 4.5" SCL)
qrvJXxx.jpg


Lovers in the summer heat...
kbfHt7G.jpg


Beating the heat with my buddy Sam...
rXNPZOD.jpg


Have a great weekend!
Do you have raccoons in the area? I'm curious if the hot wire works on them or can they just circumvent it. They are so crafty! I have a pair that crosses my yard nightly along with a pair of foxes. Spring mating season is a regular cocaphony in my back yard! It's fun to watch them all raising their young in the yard but I would like a large open enclosure for the turtles.
 

AJK Aquaria

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Jun 24, 2016
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300
Outstanding enclosure and fantastic pictures! Are you in a climate where they hibernate? If so, do you let them go down for the winter in that amazing enclosure? I'm going to guess you're somewhere around Indiana based on the Zombie Dust (jealous you can get a hold of that). I'll just be over here in Iowa with my indoor enclosures and bottle of pseudoSue... being envious.


Thank you and sorry for the ridiculously late reply. The enclosure and the majority of the residents are new just this past spring. I will be hibernating in a fridge. Certainly a first for me. And I am west of Chicago about 50 miles. My wife was in Indiana for some work meeting. Her area director is a nut for that brewery so they made a stop. She bought a case. But due to work and a busy schedule my drinking time was non existent for that 2 week period. I had only 2 out of 24. Unfortunately she brought a lot of it to a party... bad move.
 

AJK Aquaria

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Jun 24, 2016
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300
Do you have raccoons in the area? I'm curious if the hot wire works on them or can they just circumvent it. They are so crafty! I have a pair that crosses my yard nightly along with a pair of foxes. Spring mating season is a regular cocaphony in my back yard! It's fun to watch them all raising their young in the yard but I would like a large open enclosure for the turtles.

Sorry for replying 2 months after your question. There are raccoons all over the place. The backyard is fenced in and we don't see them out there. They could certainly get in, but I'd hope the wire keeps them from coming back. It gives a brutal zap.
 

Eric Phillips

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I said it once and I will say it again, "one of the best natural box turtle enclosure on here!" Absolutely love it and I love Japanese maple trees within any enclosure. Those little trees always give an appealing look to any landscape!
 

AJK Aquaria

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Jun 24, 2016
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I said it once and I will say it again, "one of the best natural box turtle enclosure on here!" Absolutely love it and I love Japanese maple trees within any enclosure. Those little trees always give an appealing look to any landscape!

Wow. Thanks a lot Eric!
 
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