First off Hi to everyone reading this, My name is Rebecca and I'm a first time tort owner. I've had my Russian Tort Turbo for about 2yrs now which was totally not planned, but I love him and I find he's actually quite cute
. See I've always been a fluffy animal owner so when Turbo came along it was very new territory for the whole family. Thankfully though, little by little I've learned how to care for him and love him just as I have any of my other pets. As time has gone by I have been increasing Turbo's living quarters indoors by buying larger containers as he's grown and adding things to make it more appealing for him, but now I'm ready to venture into creating our first outdoor habitat and that is where you all come in. Well, I stumbled upon this site by searching "outdoor tortoise habitats" to gather some ideas and I've read some really great ones even saw some fantastic pics too. From what I've gathered so far I know I want to build it out of cinder blocks at least 4 to 6 feet wide, 8 to 10 feet long, about a foot deep and about 2ft tall total, sorry if it doesn't make sense this is all in my head still and I'm still sorting it all out. I'm really trying to gauge the cost of this so I've been going online and tallying up what the price for all the materials will be and I have a budget of about $100 maybe $120 so hopefully I can give Turb's at least a decent space. I also know that I need to line the bottom and top for protection. However, what I really need to know is what would be the best material to use for the bottom. I know from what I've read is some people use chicken wire or hardware wire, which scares me I don't want it to rust and fall apart or Turb's to get hurt if he does dig down to it and I know some use sand, rocks, cement pieces, bricks. So which one should I use? my yard isn't landscaped and has a ton of rocks big and small since the land used to be a riverbed. I've also considered using field fencing like the ones the construction workers use to block off areas, but I've read some comments that say it's good and some say it's not. Another alternative was a pond liner, but then what about the drainage. All I really want is for Turb's to have a great outdoor habitat that will be safe for him. So if anyone has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it.[/size]
. See I've always been a fluffy animal owner so when Turbo came along it was very new territory for the whole family. Thankfully though, little by little I've learned how to care for him and love him just as I have any of my other pets. As time has gone by I have been increasing Turbo's living quarters indoors by buying larger containers as he's grown and adding things to make it more appealing for him, but now I'm ready to venture into creating our first outdoor habitat and that is where you all come in. Well, I stumbled upon this site by searching "outdoor tortoise habitats" to gather some ideas and I've read some really great ones even saw some fantastic pics too. From what I've gathered so far I know I want to build it out of cinder blocks at least 4 to 6 feet wide, 8 to 10 feet long, about a foot deep and about 2ft tall total, sorry if it doesn't make sense this is all in my head still and I'm still sorting it all out. I'm really trying to gauge the cost of this so I've been going online and tallying up what the price for all the materials will be and I have a budget of about $100 maybe $120 so hopefully I can give Turb's at least a decent space. I also know that I need to line the bottom and top for protection. However, what I really need to know is what would be the best material to use for the bottom. I know from what I've read is some people use chicken wire or hardware wire, which scares me I don't want it to rust and fall apart or Turb's to get hurt if he does dig down to it and I know some use sand, rocks, cement pieces, bricks. So which one should I use? my yard isn't landscaped and has a ton of rocks big and small since the land used to be a riverbed. I've also considered using field fencing like the ones the construction workers use to block off areas, but I've read some comments that say it's good and some say it's not. Another alternative was a pond liner, but then what about the drainage. All I really want is for Turb's to have a great outdoor habitat that will be safe for him. So if anyone has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it.[/size]
