New Sulcata Enclosure 13x6 (pic heavy)

[alysciaingram]

Hello everyone! Just thought I'd share my enclosure project I'm working on. I have had my older sulcata, Bowser for about 6 1/2 years now. I got her as a gift from an ex boyfriend my senior year of high school and had no idea what to do or how to take care of her. After a bit of trial and error, I've got her gaining weight and inches (she is very small for her age compared to some of your torts! When I realized this I felt like a terrible tortoise mom), and have gotten her shell to start to smooth out very nicely. There will hopefully be little to no pyramiding once she reaches her full size. I also recently adopted another hatchling, Koopa. Bowser has graduated out of her smaller indoor enclosure, so we're giving Koopa hers, and built her this new one. She still comes inside at night, but living in Florida, temperatures are about to be where she will only need to come in 2-3 weeks during the year at most. We built the initial enclosure, then I realized that I wanted to make it much bigger, so we expanded it out another 7 feet. We're planning on adding a cold frame where the large bricked area is. The bricks that are placed in at the moment are reinforced with plywood a foot and a half deep, and then again with large logs to prevent any sort of tunneled escape. The same procedure will be done on the expansion of the enclosure. The fencing is wire garden fencing to keep any predators out. My main concern was hawks and jays, but they seem to have gotten the hint. The frame on top is removable, but I usually just prop it open since that seems to be a heck of a lot easier then lifting the whole thing off. I'll be adding a second exact frame to the other side on the expansion, since one big one will be extremely heavy for me to lift on my own. Hope you guys like it, and if you have any tips or advice, feel free!

 

[mike taylor]

Nice job!

 

[Jacqui]

First off, I love love love the turtle item on the red blocks!! Second such a joy to see all the plants you have in there! Like how you put the rocks into the water source, so it's not so deep. Also like the "fence" you have to keep them from falling off the front of the hide. I assume it works? What are the reddish/pink flowers by the hibiscus bushes?

If I could make a small suggestion, because of the size of the lid and it's weight, you might want to consider just making the side walls high enough so you have just walk into the enclosure. Take it from me, much nicer to be able to not lift up heavy lids, to be able to freely stand up and work in the entire enclosure. Just my thoughts.

You have done a great job!

 

[alysciaingram]

Thanks guys! I've put a lot of hard work into it thus far. Now that my grass and wild birdseed is growing, I can finally pull the wall and re do the perimeter.
Jacqui, I got that turtle decoration at a potted plants/hydroponics mom and pop gardening store in my neighborhood. I found it hiding behind some large pots and asked the owner if she had anymore that weren't damaged. She didn't, so I got it for free! I was willing to pay her for it but since she didn't want to sell us a damaged item she insisted we take it home and put it to use or she was just going to put him in the dumpster after we left! The little wood "fence" I made myself since I have been paranoid that my tort would just walk off the edge, and it's just sticks from my back yard that I collected up and hot glued together then onto the hides. They've worked great and hold up well against the rain since they're attached and buried pretty firmly. The reddish/pinks near the expanded portion are Fuchsias. I'm debating on taking them out or not, but from my research they are non toxic and once they get their full height (about 18"), will be great shade and very pretty. As for the taller sides, we were going to use a higher fence, but when we contacted the home owner's association, they suggested going below the fence line so as to not be fined and made to redo the enclosure anyway. I hate the home owners association, but this house was a present from my mother in law, so beggers can't be choosers. Eventually my husband and I will be looking into a property with a few acres and out of the gaited community.

 

[Blakem]

Very nice! What is the red flower?


Sulcata (Dexter)
Russian (Ezek)

 

[alysciaingram]

The red flower that Koopa is under is a Geranium.
In the enclosure I also have a large Spider Plant, Hibiscus (red, yellow, orange, and pink), a Yuca tree, a Banana tree, Oregano, Sweet Basil and Boxwood Basil, Gazanias, and if it's still not trampled to death, some Majoram. The grass seed is Bahia mixed with Oatgrass, and in the expansion I also mixed in wild bird feed without sunflowers or corn. All of these things were grown and bought at an amazing organic nursery. There is also some pumpkin about to pop up and sprout that I plan on transplanting into the enclosure once it's big enough, since the sprouts I planted in the original enclosure ended up being devoured before they could even get all the way out of the earth.

The substrate I used was a mixture I made of coconut choir, organic topsoil, and sand from the original dig. It seems to be perfect as far as drainage goes since the sand helps the water to get out quick, and the plants seem to be doing very well in it.

 

[wellington]

Great job. Love it. BTW, your not alone at starting out wrong. There are plenty of us, so don't feel bad.

 

[Tortuga505]

Very cute and green. Will be good until they grow out of it

Hello everyone! Just thought I'd share my enclosure project I'm working on. I have had my older sulcata, Bowser for about 6 1/2 years now. I got her as a gift from an ex boyfriend my senior year of high school and had no idea what to do or how to take care of her. After a bit of trial and error, I've got her gaining weight and inches (she is very small for her age compared to some of your torts! When I realized this I felt like a terrible tortoise mom), and have gotten her shell to start to smooth out very nicely. There will hopefully be little to no pyramiding once she reaches her full size. I also recently adopted another hatchling, Koopa. Bowser has graduated out of her smaller indoor enclosure, so we're giving Koopa hers, and built her this new one. She still comes inside at night, but living in Florida, temperatures are about to be where she will only need to come in 2-3 weeks during the year at most. We built the initial enclosure, then I realized that I wanted to make it much bigger, so we expanded it out another 7 feet. We're planning on adding a cold frame where the large bricked area is. The bricks that are placed in at the moment are reinforced with plywood a foot and a half deep, and then again with large logs to prevent any sort of tunneled escape. The same procedure will be done on the expansion of the enclosure. The fencing is wire garden fencing to keep any predators out. My main concern was hawks and jays, but they seem to have gotten the hint. The frame on top is removable, but I usually just prop it open since that seems to be a heck of a lot easier then lifting the whole thing off. I'll be adding a second exact frame to the other side on the expansion, since one big one will be extremely heavy for me to lift on my own. Hope you guys like it, and if you have any tips or advice, feel free!

 

[Jacqui]

I had guessed they were fuchsias, but I had never saw them not in a hanging basket before. I agree darn those homeowner ***. I can't believe folks pay good money to buy homes that then they can not do with what they want. Thank you for answering my question. Your two guys are going to love their new home sweet outdoor home.

 

[SpdTrtl]

Very nice indeed!

 

[sibi]

Great enclosures! I love all the plants. My sulcatas would have torn out all the plants in a day. They are only 1 1/2 year old, but are bruisers. They would roam the perimeter of any enclosure until there's a trail, and if anything is in their way, it gets mowed down. Now I have them in a 48' by 48' x 2 outdoor enclosure, and they still walk the perimeter. Only now, there's no plants in their way and each has picked a favorite side to roam back and forth. Can't wait to hear your story when your lol ones get to be over 10 pounds.,

 

[alysciaingram]

Great enclosures! I love all the plants. My sulcatas would have torn out all the plants in a day. They are only 1 1/2 year old, but are bruisers. They would roam the perimeter of any enclosure until there's a trail, and if anything is in their way, it gets mowed down. Now I have them in a 48' by 48' x 2 outdoor enclosure, and they still walk the perimeter. Only now, there's no plants in their way and each has picked a favorite side to roam back and forth. Can't wait to hear your story when your lol ones get to be over 10 pounds.,

Hahaha, my Bowser only likes to destroy the dirt patch on top of the hide so far. She's not a very adventurous eater so only the grass is really being touched. She decided to try some hibiscus today and walked around with it stuck on her face for a good twenty minutes. I tried to leave the perimeters without grass because I figured it would be bulldozed out of existence, but the seed that did take is hanging in there. When she's 10lb's she'll be getting another expansion. I'm expecting Koopa to catch up to her pretty quickly too, and if the breeder temp sexed right, he is a he, so he'll outgrow her fairly quickly as well.

Do they run over everything in their way? Even rocks and obstacles? I couldn't imagine lol. I'm thinking Bowser is a very polite tortoise.

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Great enclosures! I love all the plants. My sulcatas would have torn out all the plants in a day. They are only 1 1/2 year old, but are bruisers. They would roam the perimeter of any enclosure until there's a trail, and if anything is in their way, it gets mowed down. Now I have them in a 48' by 48' x 2 outdoor enclosure, and they still walk the perimeter. Only now, there's no plants in their way and each has picked a favorite side to roam back and forth. Can't wait to hear your story when your lol ones get to be over 10 pounds.,

Hahaha, my Bowser only likes to destroy the dirt patch on top of the hide so far. She's not a very adventurous eater so only the grass is really being touched. She decided to try some hibiscus today and walked around with it stuck on her face for a good twenty minutes. I tried to leave the perimeters without grass because I figured it would be bulldozed out of existence, but the seed that did take is hanging in there. When she's 10lb's she'll be getting another expansion. I'm expecting Koopa to catch up to her pretty quickly too, and if the breeder temp sexed right, he is a he, so he'll outgrow her fairly quickly as well.

Do they run over everything in their way? Even rocks and obstacles? I couldn't imagine lol. I'm thinking Bowser is a very polite tortoise.

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Her idea of a good time today.

 

[samsmom]

love the new enclosure. building one of my own so will post pics of that when finished. gots lots of ideas from you, thanks. your guys are lucky to have you!

 

[Yellow Turtle]

That's neat and pretty looking enclosure. Nice job.