ethan508
Member
Hi forum peoples. My name is Ethan I live in Northern Utah and I'm looking into getting a pet tortoise or two for my family. I haven't ironed out all the details. I want to have 2-3 tortoise (Russians, Hermann's or Greeks) if possible but I don't want them fighting/territorial.
I have a nice 8'x12' garden against my house in the backyard (south and a little east facing) that I believe would make a nice Tortoise run. The perimeter would be fenced with stacked pavers or landscaping timbers 18-24" tall.
The plan is to build the habitat with a cold frame, a nice dug in hide, a shallow water feature, some perennial shrubs and maybe a couple of 4'x4' pastures of clover/dandelions/greens that I would barricade with pavers so I can allow the plants to recover between grazing. I would also need to irrigate (micro sprinklers or drip lines) the pastures and shrubs as we don't get enough rain to keep plants alive without supplemental water. I'd also add a few drip emitters to the water feature to do part of the job of keeping the water fresh.
I want to hibernate my tortoises from late Oct to early May using a fridge I have in the garage, but would be willing to keep them in a large Rubbermaid tub with proper lights/temps as their health dictates.
Any thoughts or advice. Am I missing anything? I've read a lot of the forum posts, and still just can't quite decide if I'm tracking in the right direction with everything. What tortoises would work well in my climate (semi-arid, getting 100 °F in July and a down to the mid/low 40s°F on some nights in May/September)? And which tortoises would work best in with companions (1 male, 2 females)?
I have a nice 8'x12' garden against my house in the backyard (south and a little east facing) that I believe would make a nice Tortoise run. The perimeter would be fenced with stacked pavers or landscaping timbers 18-24" tall.
The plan is to build the habitat with a cold frame, a nice dug in hide, a shallow water feature, some perennial shrubs and maybe a couple of 4'x4' pastures of clover/dandelions/greens that I would barricade with pavers so I can allow the plants to recover between grazing. I would also need to irrigate (micro sprinklers or drip lines) the pastures and shrubs as we don't get enough rain to keep plants alive without supplemental water. I'd also add a few drip emitters to the water feature to do part of the job of keeping the water fresh.
I want to hibernate my tortoises from late Oct to early May using a fridge I have in the garage, but would be willing to keep them in a large Rubbermaid tub with proper lights/temps as their health dictates.
Any thoughts or advice. Am I missing anything? I've read a lot of the forum posts, and still just can't quite decide if I'm tracking in the right direction with everything. What tortoises would work well in my climate (semi-arid, getting 100 °F in July and a down to the mid/low 40s°F on some nights in May/September)? And which tortoises would work best in with companions (1 male, 2 females)?
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