Tortoise / Turtle Enclosure

[Mike05]

Hello all. So I recently have built a enclosure in my backyard. It's still not finished but it's getting closer. I will have 4 Cherryhead Tortoises in there. All for are about 6 inches down their carapace. I live in Va so it gets cold in the winter and hot and humid during the summer. I'll keep them indoors during the winter months. So my question is, what can I use to lay over a 3rd or half the enclosure so it's not totally in the sun. Also currently I have a grass bottom but I have about 15 bags of Cypress Mulch I was planning on spreading in the enclosure. Should I spread it totally or should I maybe spread part of it and leave the rest grass? Any other suggestions you may have is more than welcome. I do have more plants to plant I just have not had the time to plant them yet. It's my first real building experience so it's definitely not perfect. And again I still have a bit more work to do. I wanted to build an enclosure so they'll be outside more along with it being predator proof.

 

[AmberD]

Amazing enclosure! Gives me great ideas for when my little redfoot is bigger! What if you got a shade cloth for creating shade? You could attach it to the top of your enclosure? I've seen those used in previous posts. Personally I would leave some grass

 

[Yvonne G]

What a nice enclosure!

The shade cloth idea is a good one. Also, small trees, shrubs and plants offer a lot of shade for the tortoises.

 

[Markw84]

Agree with the above - shadecloth and plants is best. It blocks 95% of the IR (heat) from the sun, yet still gives some light perfect for growing plants. Leave the grass. It will help keep humidity up and create a cooler place. Use the mulch to create planters where you can put lots of plants. that will be a favorite place your tortoises will love to stay, pushed under the plants, but still getting plenty of indirect UVB. Plant a tree just outside on the south end of the enclosure and I a few years you will have plenty of shade plus spots of sunlight.

 

[Mike05]

I currently have a weeping willow outside the door. It's currently 10-12 foot now. But it won't give much shade for at least another two years I'm guessing. It's grown about 4 foot since last year. I was gonna go out this morning and get a shade cloth actually this morning to put on top of the right half of the enclosure. Trying to decide on whether I should try to put it as a semi permeant fixture or maybe just zip tie it onto the enclosure. With me being on the coast we usually get at least a couple tropical storms a year. So the wind can get crazy during those times. So would be nice to be able to just take it off and put it back on. Any suggestions on the kinds of small trees or bushes I can put in there? The enclosure is 6 foot tall. For what ever reason the hibiscus I planted is still blooming but have noticed leaves are dying left and right on it and the grass around it has died. Only thing I can figure is it's getting too much sun and started to suck up all the water close to it. When we get heavy rain the back of my yard about 3-4 meters gets flooded and stays that way for a day or two. When digging the posts in the back once I hit about a foot and a half the holes would be flooded with water. Also I'm still looking to actually building a more sturdy and bigger house for them. The two overturned planters in there is just temporary till I get something more permeant built.

 

[Oldbattleaxe]

That is awesome and inspired. I'll be saving those pics for future reference! Might I suggest digging out a small trench beneath the door and lining it with pavers?

 

[Mike05]

I have put plastic garden barriers that are about 4 inches tall completely into the ground all the way around the enclosure. So there is no digging out. I didn't want the wood to go into the ground except for the posts due to rotting the wood. But yes I have put brick inside the enclosure on one wall and in front of the door on the inside. Once I weed eated around the enclosure there was light coming from under the wall so I placed brick along a wall so they couldn't see out at all.