Nigel's enclosure is about three-four weeks in the making....I used cinder blocks, for the most part, and some wire fencing just to keep the dogs out (one row of cinder was more than enough to keep Nigel in) and they are small dogs. I do plan on doing some intensive training for Nigel's first week there....both dogs are well trained and respect authority well, and I think that once they know that the entire area is off limits, they will leave it alone. However, he will not be unsupervised either, since as of now, there is no lid on his enclosure, and I don't trust the starlings and crows around here.
The pen in is my mom's backyard, which is also fenced off, so if by some miracle, Nigel does escape his pen, there is another fence around him.
The tree is an apple tree, so lots of good shade. I'm putting up a few pics to show progress, and will update again once my other tortoise food starts sprouting. Right now the green in there is broad leaf mix from Carolina Pet supply. I also planted melscun mix, a heat resistant lettuce mix, and a microgreens mix last week Sunday. All three larger plans are hostas (some variation)......
the start
hosta hole
my little helper, Korrin (who keeps asking when Nigel is coming--she lives across the street from my mom, and is psyched to visit him there)
planted, with peat/sphagnum moss sprinkled over to help with fertilization
Pictures taken this afternoon, (05/28) about 4:00 pm. The bare patches have lettuces planted for the most part....
You can really see how much the rhubarb in the far back corner has grown in this picture too...
Nigel Vision! (we just had three days of rain here, so everything is dirty--I was worried my little baby plants were going to drown!)
Here's a closeup of my sprouts...the seeds all looked different when I planted them, but I'm still waiting for the little baby plants to differentiate themselves!
His enclosure is 4ftx9ft, and the cinder blocks are 12in tall. I am also burying some black fencing down by the back wall, the one that is wooden stockade fence, to make sure that that side is very secure. I do also want to pick up some hardware cloth to make a screen top, and perhaps even 2-3ft tall sides as well, so that I can stop worrying about the dogs, and other predators.
I am also painting a code on his shell in white (non toxic) acrylic paint in two spots, so that I could identify him if I ever needed too.
I'm also adding some hides in there as well...I have a wooden box that will work well, once I cut a side out of it, and I'm thinking of using a buried flower pot/one cut in half in the middle of the two hostas. Any other suggestions of plants to put in there? Not necessarily food plants at this point....
Lemme know what you think!
The pen in is my mom's backyard, which is also fenced off, so if by some miracle, Nigel does escape his pen, there is another fence around him.
The tree is an apple tree, so lots of good shade. I'm putting up a few pics to show progress, and will update again once my other tortoise food starts sprouting. Right now the green in there is broad leaf mix from Carolina Pet supply. I also planted melscun mix, a heat resistant lettuce mix, and a microgreens mix last week Sunday. All three larger plans are hostas (some variation)......
the start
hosta hole
my little helper, Korrin (who keeps asking when Nigel is coming--she lives across the street from my mom, and is psyched to visit him there)
planted, with peat/sphagnum moss sprinkled over to help with fertilization
Pictures taken this afternoon, (05/28) about 4:00 pm. The bare patches have lettuces planted for the most part....
You can really see how much the rhubarb in the far back corner has grown in this picture too...
Nigel Vision! (we just had three days of rain here, so everything is dirty--I was worried my little baby plants were going to drown!)
Here's a closeup of my sprouts...the seeds all looked different when I planted them, but I'm still waiting for the little baby plants to differentiate themselves!
His enclosure is 4ftx9ft, and the cinder blocks are 12in tall. I am also burying some black fencing down by the back wall, the one that is wooden stockade fence, to make sure that that side is very secure. I do also want to pick up some hardware cloth to make a screen top, and perhaps even 2-3ft tall sides as well, so that I can stop worrying about the dogs, and other predators.
I am also painting a code on his shell in white (non toxic) acrylic paint in two spots, so that I could identify him if I ever needed too.
I'm also adding some hides in there as well...I have a wooden box that will work well, once I cut a side out of it, and I'm thinking of using a buried flower pot/one cut in half in the middle of the two hostas. Any other suggestions of plants to put in there? Not necessarily food plants at this point....
Lemme know what you think!