Need advice for Shelly's big girl yard

[tmbarta]

Hi All!

So after tax season I would like to get Shelly in her big girl yard , but need some advice from you great people here! At the rate she's growing she'll be about 10" long and weigh almost 7 lbs. She's been outside in a secure enclosure for a while now and in December we built her a replica of Tom's heated house.


A couple things to know:
1) We live in a suburb of Los Angeles, the San Gabriel Valley
2) There are a lot of stray cats in the neighborhood
3) Not sure about raccoons, but I did see a possum on the wall the other night

This is a pic of the part of the yard we would like to set-up for Shelly


Right now we have approx. a 20' x 20' section fenced off that we were using as a garden at one point. I would like to move the fence back a ways to give Shelly a bigger area. Originally I was just going to put up a better fence and move Shelly's heated house into this area. At night I would make sure she was locked up safe and sound in her house.

We are worried about predators getting her during the day, i.e. cats, birds, possums..???? Should we be? We've been trying to think of a way to put a cover over the whole area, i.e chicken wire, hard wire mesh, but not sure if we're just being paranoid. I'm trying not to spend a ton of money, since I've already spent quite a bit on her other enclosures, but of course I'll do whatever is best. Also, we're just renting this house, so I can't attach anything to the house or the walls.

I would appreciate any advice.

Thanks!!!

Tammie

 

[ascott]

http://tortoiseyard.com/images/Pred...link_dog_kennel_and_a_heavy_gage_wire_top.jpg

You can also use full height kennels so you can easily walk about...

 

[N2TORTS]

Other ideas for you to ponder .....

Walk in set up with multi "pens" each having their own Heated hides that can be locked up at night.


Larger heated hide....with large yard space and "tree stump" fence line (to keep natural looking) to keep larger Torts contained.


The Redfoot kingdom ...two different heated large huts , each having their own hides within the huts and multi stacked in places.

....mist lines too...



of course the "guard keeper"


Half the fun of working with torts ....building their enclosures ..
" Have fun and Happy Building! "

JD~:shy:

 

[tmbarta]

Thanks you two.

Ascott the link you provided didn't work :-(

N2TORTS thanks for all the pictures and examples.

To you both and anybody else wanting to give their thoughts

I am good at building things and can definitely build an enclosure if need be, but that's really my question. During the day, at her size, should she be in a closed in enclosure while she's roaming the yard. It will be fenced in, but does it need a top? At night she will be locked in her house.

Thanks bunches!!

Tammie

 

[Tom]

Hi Tammie. The number of things that could possibly go wrong is enormous. The number of things that are likely to go wrong is much smaller. I can't make any guarantees or promises about what might or might not happen at your place, but I can share my philosophy and what I have experienced at my place.

I am out in the country. My backyard literally borders the national forest. We have bears, mountain lions, raccoons, bobcats, coyotes, hawks, ravens, owls, road runners, ground squirrels, and all sorts of other critters in abundance. Its just part of life out here. I have an outdoor 30'x30' pen for my juveniles sulcatas, and another pen that is very oddly shaped and meandering that I would estimate at about 3000 square feet for my juvenile leopards. There is no way to cover these pens, and the tortoises live in them full time. Here is the sulcata enclosure to give you an idea of what I'm talking about: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-28662.html
The tortoises living in there now went outside full time at right around 7-8", and have been living out there since last spring.

A 10" tortoise locked up in a box every night, should be totally safe from local wildlife. Is it physically possible that something could happen? Yes. But its very unlikely. I have tortoises outside and uncovered from about the time they are 3-4 inches. They all come in at night at that size, but nothing bothers them during the day. I'm talking about many dozens of tortoises over a couple of decades of doing it this way. Nothing bad has ever happened. Now tomorrow a coyote could hop the fence and try to ravage a tortoise, but if it hasn't happened after all these years, I don't expect it ever will. I think if you make that area tort safe, and make sure he's locked in his box every night, you won't have any issues.

 

[tmbarta]

Tom,

Thank you so, so much for your response. That is exactly the kind of information I wanted.

I appreciate your time.

Have a great night!

Tammie