TheTattooedTortoise
Active Member
Good'ay folks, hope everyone is happy and healthy!!
So we've had little Sheldon since April now, he's doing really well and seems quite content with us, is growing nicely and in general is a pretty happy tort!
Obviously I know the benefits of outdoor time and natural sunlight for tortoises are extensive so inbetween the crap weather here, I've been chipping away at an 8ft x 4 ft outdoor enclosure for the little guy to start spending small amounts of time in on nice days, supervised of course. As I said he's only just coming up to a year old (67g) so it will only be an hour at a time as I don't want him 'over exposed' to the elements.
I've been growing pansies, violas, mallow, geraniums, carex grasses etc organically since before we got sheldon as I knew I'd need them safe, established and ready for the outdoor build,
Ive also included an area that has been heavily 'tortoise seeded' so he will have a nice selection of healthy munchies on tap when he's out there.
Ive added several hide areas, and plenty of shady spots for him to hide inbetween as well as lots of sunny space to explore with visual barriers and decor to stop him being "bored".
He hasn't been introduced just yet as the good weather is only just arriving and I also want the seed area to become more established before I sentence them to death via greedy tortoise!
Because we don't get a lot of intense sun here in Wales, I've introduced some slate and basking rocks in areas throughout so they absorb and hold heat from the sun and stay nice and warm for Sheldon to bask on.
We're currently overhauling a lot of the back garden and turning it into a tranquil 'zen garden' type deal so I wanted Sheldon's enclosure to look and feel like part of the whole design.
Anyway here are some shots of the project, I hope he likes it.
I should also add that a netted cover will be added once the enclosure is in use.
So we've had little Sheldon since April now, he's doing really well and seems quite content with us, is growing nicely and in general is a pretty happy tort!
Obviously I know the benefits of outdoor time and natural sunlight for tortoises are extensive so inbetween the crap weather here, I've been chipping away at an 8ft x 4 ft outdoor enclosure for the little guy to start spending small amounts of time in on nice days, supervised of course. As I said he's only just coming up to a year old (67g) so it will only be an hour at a time as I don't want him 'over exposed' to the elements.
I've been growing pansies, violas, mallow, geraniums, carex grasses etc organically since before we got sheldon as I knew I'd need them safe, established and ready for the outdoor build,
Ive also included an area that has been heavily 'tortoise seeded' so he will have a nice selection of healthy munchies on tap when he's out there.
Ive added several hide areas, and plenty of shady spots for him to hide inbetween as well as lots of sunny space to explore with visual barriers and decor to stop him being "bored".
He hasn't been introduced just yet as the good weather is only just arriving and I also want the seed area to become more established before I sentence them to death via greedy tortoise!
Because we don't get a lot of intense sun here in Wales, I've introduced some slate and basking rocks in areas throughout so they absorb and hold heat from the sun and stay nice and warm for Sheldon to bask on.
We're currently overhauling a lot of the back garden and turning it into a tranquil 'zen garden' type deal so I wanted Sheldon's enclosure to look and feel like part of the whole design.
Anyway here are some shots of the project, I hope he likes it.
I should also add that a netted cover will be added once the enclosure is in use.