This is my desert tortoise yard:
It's about 50' by 80' (and usually not as overgrown as in this picture).
At the far end of the yard there is a Oklahoma Red Bud tree and behind that one a mulberry tree. The tortoise shelter is up against that far fence, under the trees. The shelter is in deep shade in the summer, never any sun reaching that area.
When building their shelter, I had brumation in mind, so first of all I hauled in a couple wheel barrow loads of dirt and made a slightly raised pad and leveled it out (raised pad??? We don't get enough rain to make a puddle here, so flooding really isn't in the picture). Then I put down masonry caps (rectangular stepping stones) as a floor and stacked cinder blocks around the edges of the floor stones.
I added a sheet of rigid foam in front of the fence, then a piece of plywood to protect the foam from the tortoises. For the lid, I used more rigid foam and plywood. The lid is set at a bit of an angle so in case it does rain, the water rolls off. But just as added insurance to keep the tortoises dry, once it's all put together, I drape a tarp over the top - just the top, not down the sides, as I don't want a greenhouse effect.
Then, once the tortoises have all decided they're ready for brumation, I make sure they're all in there and I add leaves:
. . . and put the lid on:
I use another piece of rigid foam and plywood to cover up the doorway and side wall, then I rake. . . and I rake. . . and I rake!!!
There are actually two brumatoriums (don't know if that's a word or not, but I like it) in that spot separated by a fence, with the desert tortoises on one side and the Texas tortoises on the other.
I've been brumating my tortoises in this brumatorium for several years and they come out just fine in the spring. The leaves make it so they never freeze, and keep it insulated enough that there's not much temperature fluctuation. Also it's dry; very important.
(The yard after I mowed and edged
It's about 50' by 80' (and usually not as overgrown as in this picture).
At the far end of the yard there is a Oklahoma Red Bud tree and behind that one a mulberry tree. The tortoise shelter is up against that far fence, under the trees. The shelter is in deep shade in the summer, never any sun reaching that area.
When building their shelter, I had brumation in mind, so first of all I hauled in a couple wheel barrow loads of dirt and made a slightly raised pad and leveled it out (raised pad??? We don't get enough rain to make a puddle here, so flooding really isn't in the picture). Then I put down masonry caps (rectangular stepping stones) as a floor and stacked cinder blocks around the edges of the floor stones.
I added a sheet of rigid foam in front of the fence, then a piece of plywood to protect the foam from the tortoises. For the lid, I used more rigid foam and plywood. The lid is set at a bit of an angle so in case it does rain, the water rolls off. But just as added insurance to keep the tortoises dry, once it's all put together, I drape a tarp over the top - just the top, not down the sides, as I don't want a greenhouse effect.
Then, once the tortoises have all decided they're ready for brumation, I make sure they're all in there and I add leaves:
. . . and put the lid on:
I use another piece of rigid foam and plywood to cover up the doorway and side wall, then I rake. . . and I rake. . . and I rake!!!
There are actually two brumatoriums (don't know if that's a word or not, but I like it) in that spot separated by a fence, with the desert tortoises on one side and the Texas tortoises on the other.
I've been brumating my tortoises in this brumatorium for several years and they come out just fine in the spring. The leaves make it so they never freeze, and keep it insulated enough that there's not much temperature fluctuation. Also it's dry; very important.
(The yard after I mowed and edged