Turbeaux Sulcata's New Enclosure

[theresal]

Turbeaux's new enclosure was built over the Thanksgiving holidays by my husband. The walls of the enclosure are 24" tall and will have another barrier added to the top to keep my dog, Daisy, out. The enclosure and night box will be mostly complete in a couple of days except for the caulking, painting and final touches. We still need to add the oil filled radiator heater and shelf, thermostat, shelf for containers of water for humidity and the door flaps to keep the moisture and heat in which I am not sure where to order. The pen is approximately 35 feet long by 14 wide and Turbeaux's house is approximately 8' x 3' so he should not ever outgrow it.

Turbeaux is a male Sulcata 18" long and is 8 years old. I got some ideas from Tom's best night box design and I got some of the other ideas from ojaisulcataproject.org. We also still need to move the cinder blocks from inside the enclosure. My husband had the blocks laid out for a shed he was going to build there but of course Turbeax is more important and he liked that part of our yard. I am going to post a couple of the pictures here but more will be located on my photo bucket account. Your password to view the album will be: Turbeaux

I hope you enjoy our build. This summer we will plant some of the enclosure. I know he will eat and or wear away the grass very quickly. Luckily, we have a whole front and backyard of grass to give him clippings from. Maybe a larger hibiscus bush but I'm not sure what else that he won't eat all of as soon as I put it in there. I will post more photos in a few days when we get a little more of the enclosure completed.














For more photos, you can click on my photo bucket link: http://s986.photobucket.com/user/theresal23/library/

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Lots of space, looks good.

I suggest you build some planter boxes in the enclosure itself to grow some edibles but keep it out of tort reach. My friend does it. Adds some beauty to pen, obstacles for the tort to go around and free food that you can prevent from being destroyed.

 

[theresal]

Lots of space, looks good.

I suggest you build some planter boxes in the enclosure itself to grow some edibles but keep it out of tort reach. My friend does it. Adds some beauty to pen, obstacles for the tort to go around and free food that you can prevent from being destroyed.

Thanks for the ideas. We will probably add some planter boxes as you suggested inside the enclosure.

 

[Tom]

Looks good, but I don't think you need shelves with water tubs in LA. Is the bottom going to be open? What will happen when your frequent torrential rains come or when he decides to start digging?

 

[diamondbp]

Looks good Theresa. I'm sure he will be more than happy munching on Louisiana grass He is such a handsome fella

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Looks good, but I don't think you need shelves with water tubs in LA. Is the bottom going to be open? What will happen when your frequent torrential rains come or when he decides to start digging?

Perhaps because of the soil type down here I don't personally have issues with my sulcatas digging and my hides bottom is open. My large female dug a large hole in the middle of my yard when she first was moved to my yard. I think she did it to feel comfortable , but she never goes in it anymore. All of my sulcatas prefer to just hang out under my shed on the heated pig mat. But that may be because their personality isn't to burrow.

So I think it will depend on Turbeaux's personality when it comes to burrowing. Keep and eye on his activity and if he ends up being a burrower then make provisions to prevent it. But it's quite possible that he won't bother burrowing.

My buddy Scott down here also has an adult pair that has never once tried to burrow. I really do think it's because of the soil type and the high water table.

As far as what happens when it rains alot, the water does rise but it doesn't necessarily mean the enclosure will have water in it. In south Louisiana the slightest change in elevation can drastically affects how well the soil drains. I've had MANY MANY flooded days and my tortoises have had zero issues dealing with it, but my yard drains fairly well for this area.

Theresa is sure to keep an eye on these possible issues.

 

[theresal]

Looks good, but I don't think you need shelves with water tubs in LA. Is the bottom going to be open? What will happen when your frequent torrential rains come or when he decides to start digging?

Thanks for the reply. Yes, the bottom will be open. We thought about the rain and placed the house on higher ground where the rain never has collected before. Although when Turbeaux decides to dig a hole, water will definitely collect in it. We were lucky that he will actually go in the house since we didn't let Turbeaux pick it himself.

Other areas of our yard like in our Redfoot pen hold standing water in shallow puddles during and after a rain storm for several days. If you look on my photo bucket, you will see the inside of my Redfoot pen and the ground is pretty dry looking in there when there has been no rain or hose misting done by me.

As for the humidity, even though it is humid here once there are no plants/grass on top of the soil the ground gets pretty dry. Seems crazy I know. We didn't want his house to get that way. Also, if we keep the humidity up, it may deter some digging in his house. Although, I know it won't completely stop the digging because that's what Sulcatas love to do.

As for digging throughout the pen, we are going to monitor where he likes to dig and cross that bridge when we get there. Although you can't see it in the pictures, the wooden fence has a 6" wide by at least 3" deep concrete base the length of the fence used for securing the metal fence posts. And the opposite side from his house we have a pretty wide concrete driveway. That's another reason we picked this spot in the yard.

I know once he is in there he will show us where we need improvements. Also, as he grows we intend to put up the same 24" wood along the wooden fence to keep him from trying to bulldoze it.

As for a water dish for soaking and drinking, we bought a large plastic hot water heater pan thats roughly 2 feet across.

Again, thanks for the comments and I am open to other suggestions if you have any.

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Looks good Theresa. I'm sure he will be more than happy munching on Louisiana grass He is such a handsome fella

---

Looks good, but I don't think you need shelves with water tubs in LA. Is the bottom going to be open? What will happen when your frequent torrential rains come or when he decides to start digging?

Perhaps because of the soil type down here I don't personally have issues with my sulcatas digging and my hides bottom is open. My large female dug a large hole in the middle of my yard when she first was moved to my yard. I think she did it to feel comfortable , but she never goes in it anymore. All of my sulcatas prefer to just hang out under my shed on the heated pig mat. But that may be because their personality isn't to burrow.

So I think it will depend on Turbeaux's personality when it comes to burrowing. Keep and eye on his activity and if he ends up being a burrower then make provisions to prevent it. But it's quite possible that he won't bother burrowing.

My buddy Scott down here also has an adult pair that has never once tried to burrow. I really do think it's because of the soil type and the high water table.

As far as what happens when it rains alot, the water does rise but it doesn't necessarily mean the enclosure will have water in it. In south Louisiana the slightest change in elevation can drastically affects how well the soil drains. I've had MANY MANY flooded days and my tortoises have had zero issues dealing with it, but my yard drains fairly well for this area.

Theresa is sure to keep an eye on these possible issues.

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Thanks, Byron! I agree completely on the rain. My yard drains well and quickly especially in Turbeaux's pen. I will definitely keep an eye out for digging.

 

[sissyofone]

Hey Theresa Turbeauxs enclosure looks good. Im just glad he got a good home. Keep us posted

 

[theresal]

Hey Theresa Turbeauxs enclosure looks good. Im just glad he got a good home. Keep us posted

Thanks, Maria, I will.

 

[sissyofone]

Any new pics of Turbeaux? Hope all is well.

 

[sissyofone]

Hi Was wondering how Turbeaux is doing?