Ok, I thought this was crazy at first but please give it a chance
Ponce, our mee (brown mountain tortoise) is almost two years old. His carapace measure about 7in. by 5in. and he's big enough to live permanently outdoors here in South Florida. However, he's not yet big enough to roam the entire yard freely. I did not want to spend a lot of time building an enclosure he will outgrow in a year when, if he continues to grow at this rate, he could be a good foot long and big enough to roam and graze in the yard unsupervised.
I discovered a medium strength vinyl three level inflatable swimming pool made by INTEX. I assumed it would not be adequate, but decided to invest $25 or so to experiment. The pool is 10ft. by about 5ft. And once I'd inflated all three levels I found it stands nearly 2ft. in height. The air closure on each level is heavy duty and after inflation I left it outside for a few days to see if any of the levels lost air or shrank substantially during cool evenings after hot days. Size and inflation remained constant, though I still check them daily. I also figure that if one level goes down there are two that will maintain enough height to keep Ponce in.
I opened the drain on the bottom and spread 8 cubic feet of cypress mulch that gave a depth of an average of 3-5 inches. I may need to punch more holes in the floor if it gets too soggy, though mee's according to Vic Morgan have been known to live in mud.
Since mee's need lots of shade I placed the habitat under spreading palm and hibiscus trees. Add water dishes, food dish a hide and A
locasia plants (mee's and mep's love to eat them and they also give great shade) and voila--an outdoor habitat in less than an hour. Just add Ponce (did that yesterday). He dug down and hid in the mulch overnight but today I found him surveying his new digs. Here's a photo. Comments positive or critical are very much appreciated. BTW, his claws do not gain traction on the vinyl sides so he should not be able to climb out.
Ponce, our mee (brown mountain tortoise) is almost two years old. His carapace measure about 7in. by 5in. and he's big enough to live permanently outdoors here in South Florida. However, he's not yet big enough to roam the entire yard freely. I did not want to spend a lot of time building an enclosure he will outgrow in a year when, if he continues to grow at this rate, he could be a good foot long and big enough to roam and graze in the yard unsupervised.
I discovered a medium strength vinyl three level inflatable swimming pool made by INTEX. I assumed it would not be adequate, but decided to invest $25 or so to experiment. The pool is 10ft. by about 5ft. And once I'd inflated all three levels I found it stands nearly 2ft. in height. The air closure on each level is heavy duty and after inflation I left it outside for a few days to see if any of the levels lost air or shrank substantially during cool evenings after hot days. Size and inflation remained constant, though I still check them daily. I also figure that if one level goes down there are two that will maintain enough height to keep Ponce in.
I opened the drain on the bottom and spread 8 cubic feet of cypress mulch that gave a depth of an average of 3-5 inches. I may need to punch more holes in the floor if it gets too soggy, though mee's according to Vic Morgan have been known to live in mud.
Since mee's need lots of shade I placed the habitat under spreading palm and hibiscus trees. Add water dishes, food dish a hide and A
locasia plants (mee's and mep's love to eat them and they also give great shade) and voila--an outdoor habitat in less than an hour. Just add Ponce (did that yesterday). He dug down and hid in the mulch overnight but today I found him surveying his new digs. Here's a photo. Comments positive or critical are very much appreciated. BTW, his claws do not gain traction on the vinyl sides so he should not be able to climb out.
