I'm starting to plan ahead for building an outdoor enclosure for my Russians this summer. (I'm thinking of a day when this snow is GONE! Hoping, waiting, anticipating!)
I'm thinking I'll just get some slabs of wood and nailing them together so that I end up with two side-by-side enclosures (sharing a middle wall) that are 16' long by 8' wide by 16-24" high (each enclosure to hold 5-6 adult Russians). I cannot dig into my yard as I rent this home, so I'm going to take some stakes and stake down the sides (alternating which side of the wood I put the stake on - one inside, one outside, one inside, etc) every 3 - 4" all around. I think that should hold the enclosure steady and discourage any digging out.
My questions are...
1) Do I need to stain the wood? And if yes, what do I use?
2) I need to come up with some way to keep other animals (especially racoons and hawks) from bothering the tortoises. What can I do to make a cover of some sort that is a) easy to lift and possibly made in sections since anything that is 8x16 will be difficult for me to handle, b) allows direct sunlight and airflow, c) EASY to make, we're talking single female with NO power tools, only nails and a hammer! ??
Any thoughts or suggestions?
I'm thinking I'll just get some slabs of wood and nailing them together so that I end up with two side-by-side enclosures (sharing a middle wall) that are 16' long by 8' wide by 16-24" high (each enclosure to hold 5-6 adult Russians). I cannot dig into my yard as I rent this home, so I'm going to take some stakes and stake down the sides (alternating which side of the wood I put the stake on - one inside, one outside, one inside, etc) every 3 - 4" all around. I think that should hold the enclosure steady and discourage any digging out.
My questions are...
1) Do I need to stain the wood? And if yes, what do I use?
2) I need to come up with some way to keep other animals (especially racoons and hawks) from bothering the tortoises. What can I do to make a cover of some sort that is a) easy to lift and possibly made in sections since anything that is 8x16 will be difficult for me to handle, b) allows direct sunlight and airflow, c) EASY to make, we're talking single female with NO power tools, only nails and a hammer! ??
Any thoughts or suggestions?