Making a tortoise playground!

[ceci3692]

I live near downtown chicago, in an apartment, with no yard but we do have a rooftop deck.
Since tortoises are known to be great at disappearing I thought it would be safer if I made a playground just for him on our roof.

Im using a large storage box, soil, coconut coir, sand, rocks, and a pool from petco. I havent thought of how to make some shade for him yet but I am very excited, I plan to put this together NOW!

any thoughts, tips, or advice?

Ill reply with a photo soon

 

[wellington]

You can put a board across part of the pool. Love to see pics when you are finished. Also plant some hostas. They should be cheap now if they aren't sold out yet. You can also plant seeds in the coir for grazing.

 

[Laurie]

You can add an umbrella or any type of tent like thing you can think of to provide shade. Sometimes when you just lay a board or something across the top for shade, you can cut down the ventilation and it will feel even hotter. Just make sure to check your temperatures.

 

[ceci3692]

here it is so farrr!

i plan to get an umbrella to provide a little shade..
i also plan to move it near by my neighbors flowers and tomato plants
for a little extra greenery.

trying to find a way to build a small hide for him..

 

[Laurie]

Good job putting something together. I would change the water dish, it's too high for him to drink out of, it's also too deep. Should he flip over in it, he can drown.

You can get an inexpensive water dish from Walmart/homedepot etc. I would return that one and pickup a terra cotta saucer, fill it just a bit with water.

You can pretty much use anything for a hide. A cardboard box will work, a shoe box anything, just cut a little door into it

What are you using for substrate? It looks like a lot of white stuff in it. I'm not sure what it is.

 

[ceci3692]

That was the pool they recommended i get for him when I first got him :/

How low does it need to be? N big enough for him to bathe or just drink out of?

The substrate is a mix of soil and coconut coir. Idk exactly what kind of soil but it was some sort of potting mix.

 

[lynnedit]

You are working really hard for your tort, and that is so nice to see.
Potting mixes can have little white pieces, or vermiculite, in them. If a tort eats to many of these, it can cause a blockage.
So generally it is advised to use plain topsoil (no vermiculite added) mixed with the coir. If your tort shows no inclination to eat it, you should be fine.
Any pot base is OK for a water dish. You buy them separately than the pot, and make it a couple of inches bigger than your tort. Shallow is fine.

Another idea: could you get another storage box, and cut the ends off of both of them, and nest them together? Even duct tape could attach them. More room for a couple of hides, plants, etc.
PLants: Grasses like Carex or Fescue. Hostas. Daylillies (dwarf). You can submerge the pots into the substrate. I like the idea of the umbrella on one side.

Keep it up! Believe me, we have all learned from others and are still learning!

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

A few thoughts: If you're tool savvy (or know someone who is), build a wooden box, similar to a child's sand-box, as large as you can, and put a screen lid on it, that can be locked...your roof is "communal" and therefore you can't always know who's up there...and some folks will steal a tortoise! I'd suggest dimesions of 5' X 3' X 18", as that'd be easy enough to move around, yet give your tortoise a lot of space to move around in, and plenty of room to build interesting things for him.

For a water dish, I use a plain bar tray (drink tray)...it's about 3/4" deep and 11" across, so all 4 of my torts can use it at the same time...something smaller could be found for your solitary tort, of course, perhaps a small pie plate or, as previously suggested, a plant-pot saucer.

 

[ChiKat]

This is the water dish I use for my tortoise. It's sold at Home Depot as the base for a potted plant. Less than a dollar! I usually layer two so it's a little more sturdy.

 

[ceci3692]

hey guys thank you for all the advice!

i never leave my tortoise up there alone so i don't think i need to worry about him being stolen.

But what a great idea to put two storage boxes together.. I actually do have an extra laying around. now i just need to figure out how to cut it. I don't have any tools at home other than scissors and a utility knife and stuff like that.

Ill get him a smaller dish definitely..
he doesnt seem at all interested in eating the soil, but maybe it would be safer to just switch out to just plain coconut coir.

There is really only a month or so left of nice weather, so I won't be able to keep this up on the roof too long but maybe this will turn into his permanent home, because he seems to like it a lot so far

troubles says hii to everyone