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I'm starting to plan ahead for building an outdoor enclosure for my Russians this summer. (I'm thinking of a day when this snow is GONE! Hoping, waiting, anticipating!)

I'm thinking I'll just get some slabs of wood and nailing them together so that I end up with two side-by-side enclosures (sharing a middle wall) that are 16' long by 8' wide by 16-24" high (each enclosure to hold 5-6 adult Russians). I cannot dig into my yard as I rent this home, so I'm going to take some stakes and stake down the sides (alternating which side of the wood I put the stake on - one inside, one outside, one inside, etc) every 3 - 4" all around. I think that should hold the enclosure steady and discourage any digging out.

My questions are...

1) Do I need to stain the wood? And if yes, what do I use?
2) I need to come up with some way to keep other animals (especially racoons and hawks) from bothering the tortoises. What can I do to make a cover of some sort that is a) easy to lift and possibly made in sections since anything that is 8x16 will be difficult for me to handle, b) allows direct sunlight and airflow, c) EASY to make, we're talking single female with NO power tools, only nails and a hammer! ??

Any thoughts or suggestions?

That is exactly the kind of temp enclosure I have for my rescued male desert tortoises while awaiting adoption. The only thing wrong with your thinking is that nothing you have said shows that it will discourage them trying to dig out. They always go right up to the fence and start to dig. If there is no cement barrier or some kind of discouragement, they WILL dig under. I suggest laying down those "masonry caps" then putting the pens on the caps. They are rectangular cement stepping stones about 6" x 8" or so. You can also staple a strip of hardware cloth to the bottom of the board and dig it down into the ground a bit. Three inches is enough. I use the masonry caps. I lay them down in the pattern of the pen, then I place the pen on the very outside of the cap, so that most of the cap is inside the pen. They don't seem to realize that they have to back up to the dirt, they always dig on the cap at the fenceline.

Yvonne

Kelly,
An easy way to do what you want would be get fence panels, I got 8' tall ones and then cut them in half and bury them a little. You could dig a little trench maybe 4" deep, that way when you move you could put it up and fill in the trench, or use the stakes. Then across the bottom put chicken wire and fill with soil. For the top take 1x2" lumber and have the store cut them and make squares, cover w/ chicken wire, bird netting, or other mesh and attach with piano hinges??-I think thats what they are called, then place a 1x2 across the middle so they can all rest on that. Put handles on them and they should be easy to open. Ventalation should be fine since it is going to be so big. Put in a part of your yard that gets morning sun and no afternoon sun and they should be good. Also plants lots of plants & seeds, and put in a bunch of hides and a big water dish and they should be good. Here is a pic of one of mine that we made.


Here is two different ones I used before, the first one was block across an area that already had three walls, but I didn't like it much do to location, the boxies did though. The second one was a swimming pool with a screened top, it didn't hold up to the dogs after a while but I used it for boxies and then for a res.





If you want the wood to hold up and not rot you will either need to paint it w/ non toxic paint or stain it and put polyurathane on it. Hope this helps.

Well I'm thinking if I get long stakes, with them spaced every three inches, they would go down into the ground deep enough to discourage them getting UNDER them. I don't know how to explain what I'm thinking... anyone know what I mean?

I'll have to look into fence panels... but I'd still be worried about hawks here.... At least I've got TIME to figure this out! LOL!

Fibreglass fence posts from your local farm supply would be cheapest. You can get them by the case. Bird netting (such as is used to cover fruit trees) would discourage hawks. Menards has 100'x 14' rolls that I think they call deer netting.

Take a look at the one post here. It may give you some ideas.

http://www.turtletimes.com/forums/index....opic=26722

i think i know what you mean about the stakes, kelly. if they are flat and you really can put them only a few inches apart (that sounds like a lot of stakes though) i dont see how a tortoise could easily get under them...
maybe you could also line the perimeter of the pen with concrete pavers (like stepping stones) on the inside that way they'd have to dig pretty far to get anywhere.
as for coverings, i've heard that tightly woven screens and mesh like material can really block out UV light. maybe something like chicken wire would work better?

Kelly, I have already priced rebar that you can get at lowes. I am planning on putting in rebar every 4", 2' deep for my sulcatas. They should not be able to budge it. They sell it in shorter lengths also that would be fine for the russians as they don't dig as deep.

Just one more idea for you

Kelly, I also rent and as you know I don't have Russians. But I made this for my Greeks in one weekend, by myself, not including sealing the wood (I used water based Thompson water seal and let it dry for a week or two - getting old can’t remember).

Made the gate by wrapping wire around so it swings freely


I keep the gate closed by strong clamps and 3 carabineers


Top is chicken wire with two 8 ft metal plant stakes


completed without wall or top frames and sturdy enough to hang lights from.


This took:
a pair of pliers-used to twist wire and cut it
A hammer
Nails
5 – green temp Fence posts
4 ft high Wire mesh and/or chicken wire
4 - 8ft x12in x2in Boards (Most expensive)
2 - 8ft x 1in metal plant stakes from Wal-Mart
1 - small roll bailing wire
5 - small strong clamps
3 or 4 - carabineers

At home depot they have like shims they are thin on one end and thicker on the other and if you wet your ground to soften it around the boards you should be able to easily set them so that they work like the stakes you’re talking about they are really, really cheap.
(I ran Chicken wire down about 6 inches you can use the shims or rebar etc. Rebar may be best as Racoons can dig.

Dude, Robyn, that's a great idea! I didn't think of using that kind of chicken wire, and I'm sure those fence posts are cheap and wouldn't be too hard or ruin the yard too much! If I can do some trimming of the shrubs along the side of the house, I could have one side up against the house to discourage digging on that side. Great idea, thanks!

I just LOVE the way you folks post pictures for us to see what you are talking about! Thanks so much!

Yvonne

In looking for borders for my rock gardens/tortoise/turtle pens Ive come up with the following to choose from. Any of these will be inset with rebar to make them a little more sturdy and will have brick pavers along the inside edge. I also plan on planting lemon grass around the perimeters for a natural mosquito repellent as well as edible food source/shade area and sight barrier for the perimeter walls. I will be bringing everyone in at night since I cant really build much here either due to renting the house. Since I work from home and my office window faces out the back, Im not too worried about daytime predators plus the dog factor on patrol once the torts/turts go out.

Thanks Kelly, Most of the material were really cheap. the most expensive was the boards and I got all materials at Home Depot except for the plant stakes. I found out while planning the pen that two houses away were a family of 3 racoons and a big hawk lives in a tree across the street so I just had to peditor proof my babies. It's worked great they stay out 24/7 from spring to Late fall. And the Racoons have now been removed.

Anja were did you find the bamboo in the second pic?

Crazy1 Wrote:Thanks Kelly, Most of the material were really cheap. the most expensive was the boards and I got all materials at Home Depot except for the plant stakes. I found out while planning the pen that two houses away were a family of 3 racoons and a big hawk lives in a tree across the street so I just had to peditor proof my babies. It's worked great they stay out 24/7 from spring to Late fall. And the Racoons have now been removed.

Anja were did you find the bamboo in the second pic?

Here ya go Robyn...

http://www.mastergardenproducts.com/bamboo_edging.htm

JustAnja Wrote:Here ya go Robyn...

http://www.mastergardenproducts.com/bamboo_edging.htm

Thanks, nice site.