Russian outdoor enclosure on a slope

Status
Not open for further replies.

nadeanr

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2012
Messages
3
Location (City and/or State)
Wenatchee
The only place in the yard we had room for Tom outside was on our hillside which goes entirely unused.......until now!!! The challenge was working on a slope with very sandy soil and removing lots of tree debris which had been left for years.
We need to put some type of "lid" on it, or protection from predators. We live in a very hot and dry climate so a fountain or water source was a must!! Heres the progression!
P1020653.JPG
P1020719.JPG
P1020728.JPG
P1020741.JPG
P1020743.JPG
P1020744.JPG
P1020750.JPG
P1020752.JPG
P1020756.JPG
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,390
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
Hi nadeanr (is your name Nadean?):

Welcome to the Tortoise Forum!!

You put a lot of hard work into that habitat. I'm sure they'll be very happy there. I'm not so sure about the alligator, though.

What would you like us to call you?

...and may we know appx. where in the world you are?
 

nadeanr

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2012
Messages
3
Location (City and/or State)
Wenatchee
Yes, my name is NaDean. We live in Wenatchee, WA and have just one russian tort named Tom. Just to let you know the alligator is rubber, he's left over from a birthday party so now they are ALL over the yard and seem to show up everywhere. We'll see what Tom thinks of him!!
 

lynnedit

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Feb 25, 2011
Messages
5,730
Location (City and/or State)
Southwest Washington
Wow. Really nice! I agree with Yvonne, the alligator does not look to happy.

If you find the pond is too deep, I have seen some tortoise/turtle ponds with plastic grids cut to shape and inserted 2-3" down. That way, the water circulates as a larger reservoir, but the tort can bathe if he wants.
 

Utah Lynn

Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2011
Messages
585
Very cool setup. Just remember, RT's can't swim; well, like a rock I guess. Lynnedit has a very good idea. :cool:
 

nadeanr

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2012
Messages
3
Location (City and/or State)
Wenatchee
Utah Lynn said:
Very cool setup. Just remember, RT's can't swim; well, like a rock I guess. Lynnedit has a very good idea. :cool:

Thanks for the input. I put in a false bottom. Its made of white fencing material with the pump underneath it. I then placed rocks in the bottom to keep it the depth appropriate for the "non swimmer".

Am still working on a cover for it though....
 

Jacqui

Wanna be raiser of Lemon Drop tortoises
Moderator
10 Year Member!
Joined
Aug 28, 2007
Messages
39,941
Location (City and/or State)
A Land Far Away...
I love it! I wish my Russian enclosure had a slope to it like yours does. Okay now for my thoughts, first you need something on those corners and even along the walls as Russians are master climbers. I know your going to put a lid of some sort on it, but you may still want/need to put lips or blockers on them.

I have this fear/question... what if he falls into the water from off the ledge? How deep is the water at that point? Also how easy is it for him to get out of it on all sides?

I too like the ski lift chair look, but to bad it faces away from the enclosure. Your going to want to be able to spend a lot of time just watching Tom being a tortoise out there. :D I like the water with the added feature of the noise it will make adding to creating a soothing place for you also.

Really a nice job!
 

Carol S

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Jun 2, 2009
Messages
2,721
Location (City and/or State)
Alta Loma, CA
Hi:

You have a very beautiful enclosure!

I have Russian tortoises. They are great escape artists. When we built our outside enclosure we put a thick nylon mesh material in front of the cinders blocks which projects 18 inches into the enclosure. We used rebar up against the cinder blocks and attached the nylon mesh to the rebar with nylon zip ties. This weights the mesh down and keeps the tortoises from digging it up. It is buried about 6 inches or so under the dirt. This keeps them from digging under the block and out of the enclosure. Also my Russians can climb over one cinder block height. I used two cinder blocks in height with a cap to divide my enclosure as they were climbing over one cinder block.

Also if your tortoise flips and lands unside down in the fountain will he be able to flip back over and get out of the fountain?

Carol :D
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top