Star Tortoise Enclosure

Neal

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So much for my monthly post resolution. It was probably the day after I submitted my first post that I received a promotion at work which motivated me to pursue further professional designations. The craziness is all the way to 11 these days.

Anyway, with the heat of summer already here for a lot of us I thought it would be helpful to discuss some enclosure concepts that I used when designing my star tortoise pen. I admit that compared to many others, my design is a bit humble, but I think I have a good balance of functional, low maintenance and budget friendly with my limited capabilities.

The design I came up with was a simple 24*24 square pen. I like right angles and even sides, so nothing fancy. The borders are 12*2*12 boards, which I'm not a huge fan of. I'm still struggling to find a more aesthetically pleasing option. Been thinking a lot about slump block, but I'm not 100% sure I want to go that route. The boards work well for now though.

Here’s the backyard the day we moved in:

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And here it is today:

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Slightly unorganized from this angle as we have several different projects going on, but there has been a lot of work put in within a two year span. I removed something like 20 oleanders, several trees, several other types of bushes, and a whole lot more. Fun!

The focal point of the east side of the yard is the star tortoise pen. Most of the materials and plants have been in use for several years and have survived several moves.

Here is the construction progress from the start to today. Unless otherwise indicated, most of the narrative related to the pictures will be above each picture:

Laid out the foot print with stakes and string among the temporary sunning pens I set up for the smaller tortoises.

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The border went up quickly. Dropped a few plants in along with the winter house. The first step was to clear out as much rock as I could. The rocks have been on the dirt for years and the soil has swallowed them deep so every time it rains or the wind blows, more rock is exposed. Removing rock is something I will be dealing with for a long time.

A couple of notes here. The dormant bushes you see in the triangle shape are fountain grass plants. The idea here is that the two in the foreground face west - southwest, with one plant on the north/east which will provide the center of the triangle with a greater amount of shade during the warmer parts of the day than any other configuration. The plants are planted four feet apart and four feet from the edges of the enclosure to allow enough space for the plants to grow large while allowing the tortoises to walk all around it as they patrol the enclosure. As the fountain grass grows, the space in the middle of them will be completely protected from the sun, and an irrigation drip resting on the dirt in the middle provides some moisture and cooling. This same concept is repeated in the north east corner of the enclosure.

A bit hard to see in the picture, but there is a mulberry tree planted in the southeast side of the pen. The intent was to have it off-center enough that it will not completely shade the entire enclosure when it matures allowing the tortoises access to direct sunlight.

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Next was install a grass area. Again, I like straight lines and right angles, so nothing fancy other than a 12' * 8' rectangle slightly off centered relative to the enclosure borders.

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Trenching for sprinklers.

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Sprinklers in. I started off with just normal sprayers but have since switched to MP rotars. We're eventually going to re-do the sprinkler system in the main part of our yard and I wanted to test these out to see if they lived up to the hype. I installed them late last year so the jury is still out, but they didn't kill the grass while using a lot less water.

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I teed off the grass sprinkler line expecting this to connect to other tortoise pens in the future. The line to the right feeds the star tortoise pen.

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Filled in dirt.


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Placed border.

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Sprinkler test. Used 12 foot sprayers so I will have overlap allowing a larger area of the pen to be cooled and giving the tortoises more access to moisture.

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Grass installed.

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Drip-line goes in. This poly-line stuff is not the best thing to use in AZ due to the heat and bad soil, but it's cheap and easy to use. I think I have it buried deep enough that I should not have too many problems, but my goal is to get 10 years out of it.

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The dirt is all filled in and we're pretty much ready to move all the furniture in.

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Plants are going in here and there. Logs and rocks are going in to provide sight blocks for the tortoises. Flagstone and slate pavers are scattered randomly all over to provide good feeding surfaces.

The plants are spaced out enough that they are not too close together where they would ever grow into each other, but yet, close enough that the tortoises would never have to go far to find a shady spot if they happen to be wandering around on a 110+ degree day.

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I capped the two corners on the west end with some spare lumber I had. I may do the same on the other two corners, but wanted to start here as these two corners would be the most exposed to the heat. I have a drip going into small clay saucers in the middle of both corners to provide some water and cooling. There is a large rock in the front/middle to help the tortoises feel secure and encourage them to not venture out too far on a hot day.

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The fountain grass sometime early in the first summer. You can see it's a popular spot and appears to be functioning as designed. The plants are twice as big now and are completely jungle-like when I allow them to over grow the area.

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Mulberry tree two years ago:

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Mulberry tree today.

I think this is the first year that I will not have to ration the mulberry leaves. I've already pruned it twice this year and it's growing a lot of new leaves every day.


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Some growth during the first summer:

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The kids love the stars. Male stars are full of personality and are a lot of fun.

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A couple more shots from today. I had to replace one of the fountain grass plants that died. I trimmed them up a week ago, but they will be overgrown before the real heat comes.

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Here's the other cluster of fountain grass. I have a lengthy drip line in there that I can move at will to provide moisture and cooling on the hot days.

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This elephant bush is the only one that has ever lasted more than 1 season with me. It looks like it has established itself well and is growing like crazy this year. It's in the perfect spot right in front of the wood shade where the tortoises can hang out and nibble at the parts that they can reach. I have to work a bit to keep the grass from suffocating it, but I like the grass growing there too as it provides food and shade when overgrown.

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This is a new idea I just put in today. I cut a plastic pot in half, filled it with soil with and added a drip line coming out of the middle. I planted some zuchini seeds in there with the hope that the large leaves will grow low to provide accessible food and shade for the tortoises while being raised just enough that the tortoises can't damage the main part of the plant. I am about 2 months too late with the zuchini so I am really hoping for a miracle. If anything, I am all set-up for next year.

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I made four all together.

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For me, the key for tortoise survival in extreme heat has been a combination of lots of shade, easy access to shade, heat tolerant landscaping, and lots of moisture. The plants will keep growing as the years go by making the whole design a lot more aesthetically pleasing and effective. The only maintenance that needs to be done is pruning the mulberry tree every now and then, removing rocks, bi-weekly grass mowing and trimming the fountain grass twice a year. That's about as care-free as I could hope.

I'd love to hear about any other enclosure concepts designed to battle extreme heat.
 

fathoms

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Hi Neal...

Sick setup! All the planning seems to have come into fruition...happy tortoises for years to come.



I wouldn't mind hanging out there and having a couple
 

RosemaryDW

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Wow, what a well thought out design this is; with work like this, it's no wonder you received a promotion! I see several more i your future. :)
 

wellington

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Looking really nice. Lots of hard work paying off. I can't believe you have been at your new place two years already, man time flies. Did you stay in Chandler?
For people that live in AZ and I have visited a friend in Chandler many times an know the heat, that worry how to keep their torts cool in the very hot temps, does just providing shade work or does it have to be shade with misters? What/how do you do for a hide box on keeping one cool?
How about the winter months when your nights can get cold, what do you use/do for those days?
Maybe if you want to do a seperate thread?
 

Yvonne G

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That looks great, Neal. Simple yet aesthetically pleasing and functional.
 

Neal

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Looking really nice. Lots of hard work paying off. I can't believe you have been at your new place two years already, man time flies. Did you stay in Chandler?
For people that live in AZ and I have visited a friend in Chandler many times an know the heat, that worry how to keep their torts cool in the very hot temps, does just providing shade work or does it have to be shade with misters? What/how do you do for a hide box on keeping one cool?
How about the winter months when your nights can get cold, what do you use/do for those days?
Maybe if you want to do a seperate thread?

Yes, stayed in Chandler. I'm actually about half a mile from the house I grew up in.

Shade is critical, but multiple areas with layers of shade + moisture is more effective. You'll notice in some pictures I had a shade cloth over portions of the enclosure. I put that up during the summer which takes off some of the edge off the heat. Then the plants, fountain grass especially, grow full and provide a thick layer of protection. The evaporation cooling that the water provides keeps things on the ground level relatively comfortable. Having multiple well-shaded areas reduces the risk of a tortoise wondering around during the daytime and getting trapped in the heat. I am aware of many horror stories of that very thing happening.

I am not a fan of summer hide boxes. Well designed hide boxes with good air flow can work, but most become ovens in the summer time. Adding moisture helps but that may attract more bugs which would then attract black widows and scorpions. Both are deadly to tortoises. All of my shaded areas are "open" allowing for more air flow and discouraging the bugs from staying for too long. I've tried a lot of other ideas including underground hides with sprinkler boxes and cement blocks, but my experience with the stars is that they do not like to stay in those types of underground hides. Perhaps they're genetically programmed to avoid areas that may flood during a monsoon storm. The pen is set up now in a way that is more favorable for what the stars seem to like as best as I can tell.

The winter hide box you can see in the pictures is a simple design similar to a lot of the hides we see here. 1.5 inch foam insulation rests between a piece of plywood on the inside and paneling on the outside. I have two 100watt spot lights and CHE's in the hide. Not optimal, but most of the winter I only run one CHE and it's high enough, and the area is big enough, that I feel it reduces the risk of any harmful desiccation. I also do not put a floor in the box so the floor is just the natural dirt. Again, probably not optimal in all settings, but I prefer doing it this way and I can easily get away with it in AZ even on the coldest of nights. My concern with placing a floor in the hide is that it would create a large void underneath which would become a safe haven for bugs, and for the same reasons indicated above, I want to do whatever I can to discourage bugs from multiplying to uncontrollable levels. I have kicked around the idea of pouring a cement floor....maybe someday. The hide is blocked off and vacant from about March through October.
 

wellington

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Great AZ help for all those newbies and beyond that wants to know how to handle the heat for their torts. Thank you
 

Lizard Lance

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That's quite a bit of very hard work. Very impressive as well. I'm sure your torts are very happy.
 

Jodie

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This turned out really great Neal. It is always interesting to me to read how you all deal with exact opposite challenges from what I face in the north. I love all the natural shade you have created.
 
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