new outdoor enclosure for my Greek. pic heavy!!!

[farber2028]

Finished putting this together just a little earlier. I used two 4 foot or so kiddie pools. We built two "picture frames" for the door between the two pools. We then smashed the two pools together and bolted the frames together, and cut the plastic out for the door. I punched a ton of little holes on the bottom of the pools for drainage. Lined the bottom with river rock. Put down a layer of to soil. Then layered it again with cypress mulch. I made some hills too which both plants are on. The plants are daylillies. I cut a small planter dish for the water bowl and used the other half as a hide. The big black hide is a big planter. We flipped it upside down carved out an opening. We reinforced the inside lip with a metal bar and used a big hinge so i can open it up and get her out. Its kind of funny too. I had to put up some two by fours and sticks around her water dish because she insisted on trying to climb in and out of it. Pretty funny to watch but i had to block it because i don't want get getting stuck in the water.

I do plan on eventually getting a few more plants in there. And I'll probably make some tweaks a time progresses. Any constructive criticism is appreciated.

I'm also open to any ideas as to how to put wire around this to make it critter proof.

I'm the guy holding the drill

 

[sueb4653]

looks great I like how inventive that is
great job

 

[65redroses]

Finished putting this together just a little earlier. I used two 4 foot or so kiddie pools. We built two "picture frames" for the door between the two pools. We then smashed the two pools together and bolted the frames together, and cut the plastic out for the door. I punched a ton of little holes on the bottom of the pools for drainage. Lined the bottom with river rock. Put down a layer of to soil. Then layered it again with cypress mulch. I made some hills too which both plants are on. The plants are daylillies. I cut a small planter dish for the water bowl and used the other half as a hide. The big black hide is a big planter. We flipped it upside down carved out an opening. We reinforced the inside lip with a metal bar and used a big hinge so i can open it up and get her out. Its kind of funny too. I had to put up some two by fours and sticks around her water dish because she insisted on trying to climb in and out of it. Pretty funny to watch but i had to block it because i don't want get getting stuck in the water.

I do plan on eventually getting a few more plants in there. And I'll probably make some tweaks a time progresses. Any constructive criticism is appreciated.

I'm also open to any ideas as to how to put wire around this to make it critter proof.

I'm the guy holding the drill

So will you tortoise live in that all,of the time?

 

[farber2028]

she won't live out there 24/7. Its more of a 5-8 hour a day thing once i figure out how to securely close it.

Thanks sue i had a lot of fun constructing it. And for the hour or so she got to be out there today she seemed to thoroughly enjoy it. It was pretty funny. When i picked her up to take her back inside, it was the hardest she has ever tried to get out of my grip. It was as if she saying, "how dare you take me outta there. Put me back, put me baaaaaaack"

 

[alysciaingram]

http://www.lowes.com/pd_97029-80032...L=?Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&facetInfo=

I use this stuff to put on the top of my enclosures, but yours is circular so you'd have to do some clipping and fixin'. Love this, and it's very creative.

 

[wellington]

Love your idea. Very nice. I just have a little concern with the black hide, if that's what it is. Dark colors, specially black at tracks heat. If you were to temp the inside of that when in the sun, it most likely will be way to hot and could possibly over heat your tort. Make sure you check the temp under there.

 

[theelectraco]

That's a really need idea. And you can keep adding on which is cool. Good sight barrier too.

 

[farber2028]

Thanks everybody!

Wellington. I am going to be keeping on eye on it. I also put some cypress mulch over the top to try to block some of the heat out for now. I was talking to my fiance about it this morning and we might actually get an umbrella of some sorts to go over the hide or even that entire side to have a shady/sunny split up.

Alysciaingram - I thought of doing something with wire like that, but I'm not 100% sure how to completely cover it. I thought of doing like a tee-pee type deal over it. I just can't figure out how to make it sturdy enough. One other thing I thought about was just making a square around it with wire but I don't think it will be tall enough to keep anything out. This isn't going to ever be an overnight enclosure so it's just during the day time. I know most critters in my area aren't bold enough to do anything like that during the day but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

I gave her a bunch of little choices all throughout the enclosure, too. In the black hide there's cypress mulch, sphagnum moss, and plain soil that she has a choice to burrow in. On the side without the hide she's got a hill of just top soil, cypress mulch and a combination of the two. She's got cement and rock to lay on. Two different hides as well. I'm going to plant some taller grass in there too. I might use that to block some of the sun away from that hide. My only real concern is when it gets to be 90+ degrees out. Here in Iowa it's been a mild summer this far so in the near future it's not a huge deal.

 

[alysciaingram]

Thanks everybody!

Wellington. I am going to be keeping on eye on it. I also put some cypress mulch over the top to try to block some of the heat out for now. I was talking to my fiance about it this morning and we might actually get an umbrella of some sorts to go over the hide or even that entire side to have a shady/sunny split up.

Alysciaingram - I thought of doing something with wire like that, but I'm not 100% sure how to completely cover it. I thought of doing like a tee-pee type deal over it. I just can't figure out how to make it sturdy enough. One other thing I thought about was just making a square around it with wire but I don't think it will be tall enough to keep anything out. This isn't going to ever be an overnight enclosure so it's just during the day time. I know most critters in my area aren't bold enough to do anything like that during the day but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

I gave her a bunch of little choices all throughout the enclosure, too. In the black hide there's cypress mulch, sphagnum moss, and plain soil that she has a choice to burrow in. On the side without the hide she's got a hill of just top soil, cypress mulch and a combination of the two. She's got cement and rock to lay on. Two different hides as well. I'm going to plant some taller grass in there too. I might use that to block some of the sun away from that hide. My only real concern is when it gets to be 90+ degrees out. Here in Iowa it's been a mild summer this far so in the near future it's not a huge deal.

That's the best part about that stuff. It's completely flexible and can pretty much be secured on by bending it over the ledges. I did this for a tote I used before my main outdoor enclosure was done and there was no problems. It was just kind of a pain in the butt to get all the prongs I cut peeled back and get to the tortoise when I needed her to come inside or soak lol.

 

[farber2028]

Thanks everybody!

Wellington. I am going to be keeping on eye on it. I also put some cypress mulch over the top to try to block some of the heat out for now. I was talking to my fiance about it this morning and we might actually get an umbrella of some sorts to go over the hide or even that entire side to have a shady/sunny split up.

Alysciaingram - I thought of doing something with wire like that, but I'm not 100% sure how to completely cover it. I thought of doing like a tee-pee type deal over it. I just can't figure out how to make it sturdy enough. One other thing I thought about was just making a square around it with wire but I don't think it will be tall enough to keep anything out. This isn't going to ever be an overnight enclosure so it's just during the day time. I know most critters in my area aren't bold enough to do anything like that during the day but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

I gave her a bunch of little choices all throughout the enclosure, too. In the black hide there's cypress mulch, sphagnum moss, and plain soil that she has a choice to burrow in. On the side without the hide she's got a hill of just top soil, cypress mulch and a combination of the two. She's got cement and rock to lay on. Two different hides as well. I'm going to plant some taller grass in there too. I might use that to block some of the sun away from that hide. My only real concern is when it gets to be 90+ degrees out. Here in Iowa it's been a mild summer this far so in the near future it's not a huge deal.

That's the best part about that stuff. It's completely flexible and can pretty much be secured on by bending it over the ledges. I did this for a tote I used before my main outdoor enclosure was done and there was no problems. It was just kind of a pain in the butt to get all the prongs I cut peeled back and get to the tortoise when I needed her to come inside or soak lol.

Did the wire for you serves as just walls, or did you have it fully enclosed? I just feel like if I leave it open topped, it'd be counter-intuitive.

 

[alysciaingram]

Oh no it was just used as a top to keep the hawks from scooping the little ones up and the squirrels from eating the seed. My torts go into an indoor enclosure at night so raccoons and such wouldn't be an issue.