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  1. I

    safe outside

    Similarly - you'll find recommendations for chickenwire, but again, it might be for different areas. Where I am, chickenwire is fine. We get the odd curious fox and cat. Where you are, I understand that you have somewhat larger animals ;-) Edible weeds and plants are a good idea, but in my...
  2. I

    safe outside

    It's going to depend where you are in the world I think. For example, soil and grass in the UK isn't going to be a problem as the soil never dries up into dust. I suspect in your humid, hot summers, soil is going to bake out and become very dusty indeed, so loads of fine particles about. That...
  3. I

    Extending the tortoise enclosure...

    That's effectively what the cold frame is. The current pen has a chickenwire lid. My challenge is to work out a way to build a removable chicken wire lid that will go around the trunk of the apple tree and around the wisteria trunk. I think I've worked out a plan though. I'm not going to be...
  4. I

    Extending the tortoise enclosure...

    The cover is to stop foxes and cats really. We get a lot of fox visitors. Theres quite a few local cats also that might have a go at a tortoise. They certainly sit on the existing netting.
  5. I

    Extending the tortoise enclosure...

    HI all, I have just finished spring cleaning my tortoise enclosure as Coco and Esio have finished brumating. (Coco and Esio went off to hide whilst the giant was tarting up the enclosure) Anyway, I'm moving to Tom's point of view that Coco and Esio are not sharing nicely. So with that in mind...
  6. I

    Natural hibernation

    Well, despite fortellings of doom and gloom, both Esio and Coco have reappeared of their own accord. The smaller of the two brumated pretty much all the way from the end of October to about a week ago. The larger one only bothered with brumating from January to about a week ago. They are both...
  7. I

    Natural hibernation

    They are just reaching 4 years old I think. Yes, happy to post some pictures when they decide to emerge. In the meantime, here are a few from last August.
  8. I

    Natural hibernation

    I get what you are saying, but the Tortoise that did decide to brumate has no interest in that 35 degree basking spot. She went to a place that she felt was right and dug down about a foot. She only moved in those 4 weeks because I dug her up to check on her (probably shouldn't have done that)...
  9. I

    Natural hibernation

    Actually it isn't. You state what you think people should do, but there isn't much about *why* as far as I can see. Why isn't letting them do what they want to do, a good idea? I didn't ask for help. I asked for opinions - usually those come with some justifications. "you are doing it wong"...
  10. I

    Natural hibernation

    I'm not. I'm opposed to the open hostility I got for posting here. Because you are telling me to do stuff that isn't achievable in a UK back garden and seem to have little knowledge of our climate or wildlife. Your brumation threat is great but you talk about quick sharp changes in weather. We...
  11. I

    Natural hibernation

    The heating element is on a thermostat. If they choose to stand under it, they will get up to around 35c. If they are not pretty much directly under on the basking slab, the ambient temperature drifts downwards quickly. I have a thermostatic sensor on the back wall and on a cold night it will...
  12. I

    Natural hibernation

    Apparently what is best is moving to California so I can have a couple of acres for them to roam in. Not going to happen. My garden is 10m x 6m. So until someone invents a dimensional tardis, their enclosure isn't going to get bigger. We have a pair, because my wife bought a pair. The breeder...
  13. I

    Natural hibernation

    Thanks, I think it's been made clear that I'm not welcome here. I'll leave it to you lot and find a British tortoise discussion board. I saw Mark's link and the study seems to reinforce what I have been doing - they seem quite happy to self hibernate and the UK is fairly temperate with similar...
  14. I

    Natural hibernation

    Clearly you missed the bottom line of my post. Well, it's not going to get any bigger this year although there is room for an extension once I have done some tree clearance. I think it's a bit bigger than I stated. There is 6ft x 6ft section with the cold frame in one corner, then a 5ft x 5ft...
  15. I

    Natural hibernation

    Hi All, Our spur thigh Tortoises (Testudo graeca) have been happily living in an outdoor enclosure I built for them. It's a nice size (I think) being about 8ft x 5ft, and safe from foxes etc with a chickenwire mesh lid that I can remove in panels. They have a cold frame (2ft x 2ft) with a...
  16. I

    I NEED HELP (tortoise flipping)

    If he does flip, don't panic and immediately turn him the right way up. Unless he is really close to the lamp, watch him for 5 to 10 minutes. If he is still struggling to turn, place your fingers or an object near his feet that he can push on. He needs to learn to right himself whilst he is...
  17. I

    Designing an outdoor enclosure

    Hardware cloth (new term to me!) is actually what I have in the shed. I got some quite tight mesh to mouse proof the guinea pig cage when we had guinea pigs. It all tends to get called chicken wire in the UK. I'm planning to create a lip and lid to avoid any mountaineering expeditions.
  18. I

    Designing an outdoor enclosure

    Thanks Tom, I can definitely go further into the bushes, possibly as far as 11x7 but definitely as far as 11x6. An L shape would be problematic in a number of ways The area is actually half dirt / half grass. As you get nearer the wall and the trees, the grass stops growing/.
  19. I

    Designing an outdoor enclosure

    There are 3 of them. The enclosure will be 4.5ft x 11ft ish (I may be able to increase it to 5ft x 11ish. They are all girls (so I am told). It rarely gets very cold in the South East of England. Haven't thought about hibernating them yet. I was thinking that the cold frame would give them...
  20. I

    Designing an outdoor enclosure

    Hi all, Our spur thigh tortoises are now getting a little bigger (about 11-12 cm) and I am working out an outdoor enclosure for them. I am in the UK, Surrey, South East England - we generally get London temperatures. This is an aerial view of the garden. The enclosure is going to be where the...
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