Fencing options

[JennBell0725]

Im really wanting to adopt a larger sulcata. Im going to go ahead and begin an outdoor enclosure and im trying to figure out the best option for fencing. Im in louisiana if that matters. Very hot and humid with soft dirt.

☆Jenn☆ and The Sulcata Hatchies, Cera, Ducky, and Spike!

 

[Tom]

Get some 8' pressure treated two by fours. Cut them in thirds and put 20" feet in the ground and 16" feet sticking up, 8' apart on center. Then get plywood sheets and cut them into three 8'x16" strips. Prime and paint your plywood and screw the ends to the 2x4 posts.

If its not too big a sulcata, or too pushy, you can also contain them with offset stacked cinderblocks or slumpstone blocks, three blocks high.

Or you can stack some railroad ties and lay them out.

Do not use anything see through, like fencing or welded wire of any sort. If you use chain link or anything like that, just line the bottom with plywood strips like the ones mentioned above. They need a visual barrier.

 

[JennBell0725]

Thanks Tom. What is a good size enclosure. Space really isnt a problem since we have plenty of land.

☆Jenn☆ and The Sulcata Hatchies, Cera, Ducky, and Spike!

 

[Jacqui]

Wood rots here pretty fast so I try not to use it often and I wanted something that would last, but be easy enough I (who am not strong or handy with tools) could put up. I went with the metal roofing sheets and t-posts. The next one I want to try cementing in wooden posts for more stability. So far however, this works well for me.

I did have them in an enclosure with a security fence along one side. It worked well, but they did once try digging along it's bottom. Put in a concrete chunk and that stopped.

 

[JennBell0725]

Jaque is the metal tough enough to withstand an adult sulcata? Im worried the t post/metal combo wouldnt be strong enough. I could probably do the landscape timbers and galvanized metal.

☆Jenn☆ and The Sulcata Hatchies, Cera, Ducky, and Spike!

---

Totally screwed up your name. Lol. Sorry Jacqui

☆Jenn☆ and The Sulcata Hatchies, Cera, Ducky, and Spike!

 

[Jacqui]

*knocking on my wooden head* So far and with two males, who were weighing in the 50s a couple of years ago, I have had no problem.

 

[Yvonne G]

I got Dudley when he weighed 35lbs. Since then he has always lived in the same pen. He learned his boundaries when he was smaller/weaker, and the boundaries are imprinted. He never tries to escape/dig/climb out. Across the front of his pen the fence is slightly less than 3' tall. I laid flat masonry caps all along inside the fence to keep him from digging, but he never has tried.

I used to have his yard divided into three parts. He was allowed on one section while I watered the other two sections, then after a week, I'd open one gate and close the first gate. However, once a sulcata tortoise is allowed to know that there is something beyond his fence, he won't leave it alone until he has broken the fence to get in there. So now, I still have the dividing fence up, but the gates are all open and he has access to the whole yard.

What you see in this picture is one third of the whole yard (and just ONE bowell movement).

 

[JennBell0725]

Lmao. I like your fencing it works and its attractive. I dont think ill need to cross fence we get so much rain here the grass and weeds grow like crazy

☆Jenn☆ and The Sulcata Hatchies, Cera, Ducky, and Spike!

 

[HamletsMom]

Wow....for now I have ply wood strips, 12" high,with 6x6 pressure treated posts(because I figured I'd need them later, and had access to them free-recycle where possible! )The plywood has nylon quarter inch mesh attached and sunk into the ground-although our ground is very hard and digging hasn't been an issue I assume it will be . But I was planning on digging a foot and a half down, laying a concrete foundation around exterior and concrete block all the way up to make a three foot wall above ground.......I'm wondering after seeing your enclosures if I was perhaps planning on going overboard? *blush* I figured its gotta last a very long time, be very strong........plus I know a stone mason who comes across leftover block from various jobs. Doesn't the wood just get plowed thru, or rot aft a few years? But I forget......are yours enclosures exposed to extreme temps? (Well below freezing)?

 

[Yvonne G]

The fencing in my pictures has been there for about 15 years. The bottom board that has contact with the ground/grass is rotten along the contact edge, but still serviceable. In the front where I have the cement masonry caps, the caps were put down first, then the bottom board on top of the cap. So there is no contact with the ground and they have stayed in good condition for a longer period of time.

The 4x4 posts rot out sooner than the boards on the fence.

 

[N2TORTS]

Yet another idea ….I wanted to keep my fence as natural looking as possible. With that in mind , I came up with this idea:
These are Coral tree stumps …. buried down in the ground . Also were “strap and lagged” behind, to make a very STRONG heavy fence. Appeasing to the eye and will last a long time , the more it weathers the more natural it becomes.






Even around the pond section…..





JD~

 

[HamletsMom]

Thanx guys! Both are lovely enclosures.....I love the natural tree stumps, but am also drawn to the fencing that makes it look like a little paddock (being a horsewoman) Either way both look better, more homey, than block! I worry that Canada may not be as kind to boards at ground level though.....and I would have to invest in treated fence posts or I'd b replacing every three years,lol. Do neither of u guys have a problem with burrowing under? Maybe I just need to sink down wire-local co-op sells quarter inch mesh hats only a foot high.......I have NO idea what for if not for torts. It wouldn't keep anything else in, even a chicken could jump it