We recently required our Russian tortoise quite by accident, after finding her in the street.
Last year we landscaped our very small patio "yard" with mostly drought tolerant California natives, in an effort to support local wildlife. We certainly weren't planning on housing a tortoise but it turned out to be a good fit for one. The single non-native plant is abulition, how lucky is that?
The yard is entirely cinder blocked with the exception of one gate, which my husband has boarded up on the bottom and locked.
There are quite a few things Addy can eat here and plenty of hiding spots in both sun and shade. We've turned a hose box into a heated deck box; I'm relieved to say after three weeks she has learned to put herself away when the weather cools down. While we don't have any in the neighborhood yet (too new), we'll have raccoons eventually. We've staked the box down and I think she's got enough space away from the entrance to be secure but I'd welcome feedback.
Since the yard is only a year old, some of the empty spaces will eventually
fill in. A few areas were designed to remain fairly bare; she's working on trails there already. We'll have to supplement feed for a while, if not always; we've got a few things out front that she can eat and I've started some Testudo mix.
She's my first tortoise in many years; please let me know if you see anything we can improve upon!
Last year we landscaped our very small patio "yard" with mostly drought tolerant California natives, in an effort to support local wildlife. We certainly weren't planning on housing a tortoise but it turned out to be a good fit for one. The single non-native plant is abulition, how lucky is that?
The yard is entirely cinder blocked with the exception of one gate, which my husband has boarded up on the bottom and locked.
There are quite a few things Addy can eat here and plenty of hiding spots in both sun and shade. We've turned a hose box into a heated deck box; I'm relieved to say after three weeks she has learned to put herself away when the weather cools down. While we don't have any in the neighborhood yet (too new), we'll have raccoons eventually. We've staked the box down and I think she's got enough space away from the entrance to be secure but I'd welcome feedback.
Since the yard is only a year old, some of the empty spaces will eventually
fill in. A few areas were designed to remain fairly bare; she's working on trails there already. We'll have to supplement feed for a while, if not always; we've got a few things out front that she can eat and I've started some Testudo mix.
She's my first tortoise in many years; please let me know if you see anything we can improve upon!
