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OK so I am planning my spring adventures already for tortoise and turtle pens. I have decided to do rock gardens for them. I talked Dan out of the space along the edge of the woods that we cleared last fall and he wants it to look nice. Its right behind the house and I could sit on the deck and watch the torts. He already started piling rocks to form a wall along the tree line since we had so many rocks. Im starting to compile a list of edible plants and flowers that would look good in a rock garden and be great for the torts to nibble on. Im going to try and get some rough drafts drawn up in the next few days so I can try and figure out how I want to set it all up. The Leopards, Hermanns and Redfoots will all have areas of their own of course. I still need to decide if the Boxies will get a pen or if I will move the 6ft stock tanks outside for them. Everyone will be brought in and sleep in a rubbermaid tub each night because these pens will not be predator proof since they will just look like normal rock gardens.

Something along these lines is what Im going for, with a few design changes for the Redfoots.








With maybe a small stream that runs through all of the pens and pools in each one. Definitely not as large as this one, but this is the general idea.

That sounds like a wonderful place for your torts Anja. I really like the looks of that rock garden. What about predators during the daytime?

i'd love to have a nice garden like that with CA native plants that my DTs could chew on.
if you can, post your planned sketches and then the final result! it'd be awesome to see the project progress!

That would be beautiful. I wish I could do that but I would be too worried during the day.

I dont think Im going to worry too much during the day. My big Mastiff Monty stays out most of the day when its warm outside so they should be fine with him lurking around.

Wow if you could make it look half as good as those pics that would be amazing!

If you need help with the stream let me know thats what I do.
I use that company for ponds myself.
Fish tank and pond guy at your service.

Sweet Chip

That'll be AWESOME! Can't wait for Spring, and can't wait to see the finished pics! Then you can come do my yard!

that looks like a great idea, Anja.
I think I saw something like that around here. Isn't it Chris that has some outdoor enclosures that look something like that?
Maybe he can help you with some tips.

Sounds good but I'd forget a common water source such as a stream.