# new outdoor enclosure



## terryo (Jul 22, 2009)

My son came over this weekend, and he upgraded Pio's outdoor pen. I put him outside in the AM, I watched him all day so I could see if I had to change anything. We are going to change the fence this weekend, and do something to hide the hose.....everything has to get established as far as the plants go. He sat in the stream most of the AM and when it got hot out during the mid afternoon, he went under a hosta....at night he went right into the house, which still needs a little work.


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## soundwave (Jul 22, 2009)

beautiful setup. It's better than some zoo exhibits I have seen.

I'm so jealous of it. Great work Terry


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## Seiryu (Jul 22, 2009)

Looks amazing. How big is the entire outdoor area?


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## jlyoncc1 (Jul 22, 2009)

Once again Terry I have to say how "BEAUTIFUL" everything looks. You always do such a great job! Pio looks like he enjoys it!


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## Yvonne G (Jul 22, 2009)

You and your son do such beautiful pens! Do you have a pump on the stream so it actually flows? What a great place to just sit and look!

Yvonne


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## Nay (Jul 22, 2009)

Terry, that's a great outdoor place to be!! I could set up a little recliner and stay there under the hosta all day..
Can we get an areal view so I can try and copy it?. When it comes to imagination I like to copy others cuz I have none. I would love to set up something nicer than I have.
Thanks Na


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## Isa (Jul 22, 2009)

Wow Terry!! Amazing enclosure, I love it


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## terryo (Jul 22, 2009)

Thank you everyone. The enclosure is about 6' x 7'. He put a little pump in a hole he made in the middle of the little pond. Above the stream there is a little water fall. I had to put some river rocks in the deep end as it was too deep for Pio. My boxie would just swim across, but pio panic's if it is too deep. The little stick fence is going...I don't know what he is putting there and he is making his house just a little bigger. One boy out of 5 son's took after me with the animals, ponds, and turtles...thank God ...at least I have help.

Nay...I will take a better picture when he finishes the fence, but this is one when he just finished everything, so maybe you can see it better. The plants were so nice, but he had to take them out to make the stream, and now I have to wait for them to get established again.


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## Millerlite (Jul 22, 2009)

of course Terry very nice looking enclosure, I always wanted to make a stream, i just don't know how i would go about, lol.. Is it cement? Also my Hosta is finally starting to bloom, I didnt know they got so tall, lol


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## Candy (Jul 22, 2009)

Oh my gosh Terry that is so beautiful. Tell your son how talented he is and I know it was you too. I know now that Dale will have to have one in his enclosure. I'm getting ready to call my husband in and show him so he can make one for Dale.  I do have one question though....I know how much Dale likes to poop when he gets into the water what would you do about keeping it clean if Pio does that? Thanks for giving us such great ideas for our own tortoise's so they can live a wonderful life like Pio, he looks soooo happy.


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## tortoisenerd (Jul 22, 2009)

That is so cool! And, Pio is getting big.  Pretty shell.


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## Crazy1 (Jul 22, 2009)

Terry, It is a beautiful upgrade for Pio and your boxie. It makes mine look so stark and dry. Oops different tort types. Oh well they like the heat and dryness. But I love yours so I've made up my mind, I'm coming to move with Pio next spring so be ready.


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## Traveller (Jul 23, 2009)

This enclosure is absolutely gorgeous!
Thanks for sharing and passing on all kinds of great ideas.


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## terryo (Jul 23, 2009)

Candy said:


> Oh my gosh Terry that is so beautiful. Tell your son how talented he is and I know it was you too. I know now that Dale will have to have one in his enclosure. I'm getting ready to call my husband in and show him so he can make one for Dale.  I do have one question though....I know how much Dale likes to poop when he gets into the water what would you do about keeping it clean if Pio does that? Thanks for giving us such great ideas for our own tortoise's so they can live a wonderful life like Pio, he looks soooo happy.



There is a little filter with a pump in a hole that is covered with a piece of slate, in the pond section. I just pick up the slate and take out the filter and clean the sponge and put it back...also I reverse the pump and it drains the water for a quick water change. He make it very convenient for me...knows I'm old and tired now...lol


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## Candy (Jul 23, 2009)

terryo said:


> Candy said:
> 
> 
> > Oh my gosh Terry that is so beautiful. Tell your son how talented he is and I know it was you too. I know now that Dale will have to have one in his enclosure. I'm getting ready to call my husband in and show him so he can make one for Dale.  I do have one question though....I know how much Dale likes to poop when he gets into the water what would you do about keeping it clean if Pio does that? Thanks for giving us such great ideas for our own tortoise's so they can live a wonderful life like Pio, he looks soooo happy.
> ...



Well tell him for me that I think mom has raised a pretty smart son.


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## terryo (Jul 23, 2009)

Thank you Candy,....like you I raised 4 sons, and also 1 grandson who I adopted after his father died....I wouldn't trade one of them for anything. BUT...this one is just like me..you should see his pond.


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## DoctorCosmonaut (Jul 23, 2009)

Can I hire you and your son?


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## Okietorter (Jul 23, 2009)

Absolutely beautiful?


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## Tort14U (Dec 15, 2009)

When can we all move in?


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## webskipper (Dec 15, 2009)

Nay said:


> Terry, that's a great outdoor place to be!! I could set up a little recliner and stay there under the hosta all day..
> Can we get an areal view so I can try and copy it?. When it comes to imagination I like to copy others cuz I have none. I would love to set up something nicer than I have.
> Thanks Na



Imagination not required here. 

Dig a winding trench and cover it with a pond liner. Since it is for the Torts, it does not have to be too deep, and let it dump into a deep area to keep some feeder Goldfish for action. Cover the liner edges with rocks and your stream will look like it is supposed to be there. You can also make the stream disappear into the groundTurtles make ponds come alive, so Torts make brooks come alive.

Bird ponds are shallow and you could adapt them. Think of it as an outdoor aquarium.


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## Stephanie Logan (Dec 16, 2009)

I know this is an older thread (I am getting better at noticing these things  ), but I still find myself admiring this orchestrated slice of tortoise heaven that you and your son constructed for you chelonian family members.

I wonder what it looks like in winter? Or do Pio and Nolie and Bindi and Chewy all hang out in the indoor viv during the cold weather months?


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## terryo (Dec 16, 2009)

I can't believe that this old thread came to life.
Everyone is inside for the winter Stephanie. Next summer that pen will be for Pio alone. I have a big pond on the side of my house (1,000 gal) and I am taking it apart this Spring and making a really big boxie pen with a little stream and a bigger pond than Pio has. That pen is only 7 x 6...or something like that. This one for the boxies will be about 30' x 5'. I think that's it. Julie M. at TRLI is giving me 2 juvie boxies. I had to wait for my permit to come. Eastern's I think she said. That big pond was for my water turtles for years, the I re-homed them all and converted it into a Koi pond. I can't wait to start on that......the gardener in me is getting frustrated now.


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## Stephanie Logan (Dec 16, 2009)

I hear you, girlfriend! I _hate_ the cold dark winter days, and the only thing that keeps me going is the certainty that spring _will_ arrive, and I can then go outside and dig in the dirt every day! Yes! My gloves are waiting for me.


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## Ronaldinho (Jan 7, 2010)

It is an eye-catching landscape. If ever this is a good place to conduct an exhibit. I think the children like this place, and they enjoy the view.


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## purpod (Jan 13, 2010)

Wowzerz, Terry! Your son has done a fantastic job with this habitat! OMGosh, I'm ready to move in myself, lol ~ 
Xllnt work and thanx for sharing with us ~

Blessings,
Purpod


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## Yvonne G (Jan 13, 2010)

Terry: If I'm not being too bold, would it be possible for you to take a long shot of your backyard? I'm interested in what the overall image is. We have little snap shots of each enclosure, but I'll bet your total yard is something to look at!


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## vickyb (Jan 13, 2010)

Fabulous. Love it. Wish i could do something like this. but being in toronto, canada does not offer that


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## terryo (Jan 13, 2010)

My yard is pretty small...only 45 x 100. I'll take some pictures in the summer when it is in bloom. I have two from the first year when we finished the yard. That was 4 or more years ago ...I think.
See the cyprus trees along the back...they are way bigger now. I thing that Izzy is in there someplace.


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## Yvonne G (Jan 13, 2010)

OMG! Terry...that's just beautiful! I'll bet you spend a lot of time just sitting out there and day dreaming.


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## Stephanie Logan (Jan 13, 2010)

Oh my goodness, Terry! Your beds! Your pots! Your borders! Your vines! The colors! If your yard were any bigger, you'd have to hire an "under-gardener" to help you with the daily maintenance duties in high summer. 

I would say that these photos eliminate forever any doubts that Terry is the "Supreme Outdoor Gardener" in addition to her Vivarium Champion distinction. 

It will be so nice when Izzy reappears. It will be interesting to see if Pio still recognizes her and follows her around after her long absence. I am wishing with all my heart for a reunion.


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## terryo (Jan 13, 2010)

Thank you Yvonne, and Stephanie. Everything is much bigger now. All the flowers are annuals and I usually have to re-plant every Spring. It's a lot of work, but I love it. On one side of the house is the vegetable garden, that you can't see, and on the other side is the big pond that I used for my RES rescues and then converted into a Koi pond, which I am taking apart to make a big boxie enclosure with a little stream and small pond. I can't wait to start that. And you can't see towards the left hand side of the garden is another big planter 7' x 6' that is Pio's enclosure, with the stream. My father did gardening and had a little yard in Brooklyn, where he had vegetables, flowers, fruit trees....it was so beautiful, and just a little bit of heaven. In that yard our boxie lived for 60 years. All he ever put out was a big pan of water for him. He had a really big compost pile in the back of the yard where he would put bags and bags of leaves in the fall, for him to hibernate, under a big fig tree. He would always leave some fruit to fall to the ground for the boxie, and you could always find him eating a ripe piece of squash or some other veggie....or see him digging in the compost pile for a worm. He never went to a vet and was never sick......the good old days. I guess I took after my Dad.


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## vickyb (Jan 14, 2010)

Thats a lovely backyard. How do you keep track of where Izzy is?


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## terryo (Jan 14, 2010)

Vicky, Izzy is lost in there somewhere. I'm hoping this Spring to start searching again. I posted the story somewhere I here.


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## vickyb (Jan 14, 2010)

Very sorry to hear that Terry. I am sure she will "surface"  Awaiting the good news soon


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## Sandy Courtney (Jan 16, 2010)

How beautiful!


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## liliabug (Jan 17, 2010)

Its amazing!!





terryo said:


> My son came over this weekend, and he upgraded Pio's outdoor pen. I put him outside in the AM, I watched him all day so I could see if I had to change anything. We are going to change the fence this weekend, and do something to hide the hose.....everything has to get established as far as the plants go. He sat in the stream most of the AM and when it got hot out during the mid afternoon, he went under a hosta....at night he went right into the house, which still needs a little work.


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## purpod (Jan 17, 2010)

Dang Terry!  If my yard looked half as good as yours, I'd be very tempted to live there instead of indoors!  
Sigh... Someday, right?

Blessings and keep up the superb work!! 
Purpod


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## vickyb (Jan 18, 2010)

Terry,

You are "relatively" close to me so your wildlife should be the same as mine... more or less..? Well, I am concerned about racoons and other predators... how do I handle that if I leave her hour all summer??


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## terryo (Jan 18, 2010)

Vicky where are you located? I am in Staten Island, and have had boxies and water turtles for years, hand never had a problem with any wild life. I have a lot of plants...maybe that would help. I know some people in Penn, and had a turtle garden with loads of plants too. If you have that kind of problem, you need something with a cover.


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## vickyb (Jan 19, 2010)

I live in Toronto, Canada.. I am beginning to make an outdoor encl. for her. In a box... I really cannot just leave her in the yard. I have wayyyy too many predators lurking around.


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## f burkart (Jan 19, 2010)

wow that a beautiful setup!!


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