Russian tortoise enclosure ( update)

DoubleD1996!

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Excited to say that I finally finished my enclosure. It's 23 inches tall, roughly 45ft long and 13ft wide. I sunk the walls down about five inches, I then took some coveyor belt I had laying around and cut them into straps. This material is tough and the tortoises can't dig through it. I put it underneath the boards then covered with dirt and the scrap would from my cuts. Later I'll take a gravel and dirt mixture and put it on top. This has worked in keeping my box turtles from digging out. As far as the terrain,I'm going to leave it as is with the exceptionof a few holes. Most russian tortoise enclosures I've seen have been flat, I want my tortoises to use their legs, but. The pin is next to a tree because the roots will prevent the tortoises from burrowing super deep. However, I want to encourage this natural behavior. The image of the bottom of the pallet is what I plan to use for hides. I'm going to pry off the boards and rearrange them and the tortoises will have and entrance. I got the dishes they need, but I will still spread their food around the enclosure to encourage foraging behavior. I also went around the pin with the grinder and cut exposed nails as a safety precaution. I'm also looking for an adult female. Someone contacted me who wanted to rehome a male and a female :).

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Yvonne G

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Oh wow. That's mighty nice! It reminds me of a corral with wild horses or cattle milling around in it. All that space for a little russian! Good job!! Pallets really come in handy, don't they?
 

DoubleD1996!

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Oh wow. That's mighty nice! It reminds me of a corral with wild horses or cattle milling around in it. All that space for a little russian! Good job!! Pallets really come in handy, don't they?
Thanks so much. And yes they do. I'm surprised how much companies just toss them out.
 

Ink

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I am not sure if a gravel substrate is good. But your enclosure is great!
 

wellington

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Very nice. Now you need 3 russians not 2. One male 2 females.
Add lots of sight barriers, bushes/weeds etc and a couple water and food stations. Along with at least 3 hides. I would not put the hides in the same area as the others.
You may also want to do something at the top of the boards unless you have an over hang that hangs inward. Russians can climb straight up. My russian climb a tree thinking it would get him out.
 

DoubleD1996!

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Very nice. Now you need 3 russians not 2. One male 2 females.
Add lots of sight barriers, bushes/weeds etc and a couple water and food stations. Along with at least 3 hides. I would not put the hides in the same area as the others.
You may also want to do something at the top of the boards unless you have an over hang that hangs inward. Russians can climb straight up. My russian climb a tree thinking it would get him out.
Thank you. I didn't think about the overhang. Not gonna lie my backs kinda hurting after this so hopefully I can drill them on tomorrow ?. And I have one male and one female coming in a few days, so hopefully I can luck out on another female.
 

Toddrickfl1

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Thank you. I didn't think about the overhang. Not gonna lie my backs kinda hurting after this so hopefully I can drill them on tomorrow ?. And I have one male and one female coming in a few days, so hopefully I can luck out on another female.
Again, if your willing to travel, The Repticon show will be here in north GA next month. There's usually tons of adult Russians available there.
 

DoubleD1996!

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Again, if your willing to travel, The Repticon show will be here in north GA next month. There's usually tons of adult Russians available there.
Thanks, but we have one here in a couple of months. I'll try there.
 

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