outdoor "pen"

[seadogrun]

About 8 months ago I moved my redfoot into his outdoor enclosure that I built out of plywood. Unfortunately it has not held up well in the South Florida weather. I am thinking about putting a little border up and giving him the run of a good portion of the back yard. But I have some questions:

At about 6" and 610g is My redfoot big enough to not be covered? I worry about predators, in my urban neighborhood there could be possums, red tail hawks(and others, but the RT would be the largest), etc. I have not seen them, but there could be a racoon, or even a fox, but that would be rare. Ideally there would not be a cover except for his hiding area.

What is a good way to create the border"fence"? I would love to see some pictures of what others have for borders.

Thanks everyone

 

[pawsplus]

I would definitely not leave him out at night. Either make a secure, LOCKING night box or bring him in at night. I still bring my 11", 22 year old redfoot in at night. Just not worth the risk. Raccoons are nothing to mess with.

During the day, if you know there are hawks around, I would continue to provide a cover. That can be as simple as netting over the enclosure to foil hawks.

You can sink posts, 2 feet below ground and 2 feet above, and then use pressure-treated lumber running horizontally between the posts. Redfoots are not usually diggers, but putting pavers around the inside is a good precaution. My own pen has a 4' picket fence on 2 sides, the house on one side, and a 6 foot fence on the other, between the dogs' yard and the tortoise yard. But if I were building it w/in an existing privacy fence, I would do as I describe above.

 

[Toddrickfl1]

Mine is just two 8" wide pressure treated boards attached together. I've never had any problems with digging. I would definitely recommend a night box you can secure your tort in if your going to leave it out at night.

 

[seadogrun]

thank you.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

If I can be of assistance, let me know.
I'm probably 10 or15 minutes away from you. And I've developed some seriously inexpensive and strong enclosures for my Redfoot that hold up great in our weather.

 

[seadogrun]

I am still in the idea stage, it could be 6 months before starting so seeing some pictures for now would be nice.

Being that you know exactly the habitat and threats here, how do you feel about a RF the size of mine being uncovered? I would much more like it to be uncovered, but not if there is much risk involved.

Also is it possible for the area to be too big?

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Covered and uncovered work fine in the suburbs of Broward county.
My latest 12x12 cost a whopping $75

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Pound these 24" steel posts into the ground with a heavy mallet (lots of rocks in our soil)
Attach 24" 2x4s to the posts with exterior screws.
Then screw 6" x 6' fencing pickets to the 2x4s....I use them four high. Three would work.
You can make a 6x6, 12x6, 12x18, 24x24 whatever. Without any more cutting. (Because the pickets are 6' long) I brace them vertically every 3 feet with another 24" cut picket.
The ONLY issue with making an enclosure too big. Is that tortoises blend in very easily. And you'll always think that they have escaped.
Otherwise. No. They can't be too large.

 

[seadogrun]

That is really helpful. Thank you very much. I will reach out to you when I am ready to start and get some other ideas.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

That is really helpful. Thank you very much. I will reach out to you when I am ready to start and get some other ideas.

I'll loan you my cordless saw.