# Outdoor Enclosure for Rasputin, the Sulcata Tortoise



## ra94131 (Dec 5, 2012)

Anticipating Rasputin's eventual move to the outdoors, I have begun construction of his outdoor enclosure. The idea is that this will last him until such time as he is given free reign of the backyard. The garden will then be used as a varied food source and shelter.

The materials used in construction include:
- 34+ ft of metal fencing (w/ gate)
- Rustoleum to help protect/maintain fencing
- black hardware cloth (partial sight barrier and extra security)
- black zip ties
- bricks (left over from home construction and buried to prevent digging out of enclosure)

Materials laid out in the garage:






Some challenges I anticipated prior to starting:
- North facing location limits sun, but this will be nice in the summer when temps are 100F+ for multiple months. Even in the winter, a good portion of the garden receives good morning and midday sun.
- Sprinkler system requires careful digging. Until the last couple posts, this was not an issue.
- Ends of fence (next to house/foundation) leave a small gap. I think this can easily be mitigated w/ a large rock obstruction and one end is quite flush anyway.
- I will need to restore proper grading of the lawn to facilitate drainage. Our clay-rich soil and minimal slope can be unforgiving. This will be an ongoing challenge.
- The hardware cloth may not block Rasputin's LoS sufficiently. I will monitor this and add additional barricades as necessary.

A couple pictures of the location:








I break ground and add the first section:








The rear border is added. You can see where the brick "foundation" has been added and the fence has been adjusted for the slight slope:








Just a few more pictures of the various trenches and fencing. I actually got the entire border up, but without the sun I couldn't get pictures of the "final" result.














There is still a lot of work to be done, including completing the brick barrier, securing the gate and fence edges, not to mention grading, planting, and landscaping. I will continue to post here throughout the process.

Please feel free to offer your opinions and critcisms of the project as it develops. I appreciate your input. Thank you!


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## Richsandwich (Dec 5, 2012)

Maybe to save material along the house and wooded fence you could have laid brick and just skipped installing the new fence on that section. I don't see why the wooden fence would not have worked. What you've done though looks nice.


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## ra94131 (Dec 5, 2012)

Richsandwich said:


> Maybe to save material along the house and wooded fence you could have laid brick and just skipped installing the new fence on that section. I don't see why the wooden fence would not have worked. What you've done though looks nice.



Two reasons I didn't (that was the original plan):

- The longer portion of that fence is considered shared w/ my neighbor, so I preferred to leave it untouched where possible.
- Due to the concrete support of the posts on the privacy fence, it would be difficult to get reliable security.

The neighbor to that side has two large dogs. This is good because we share an interest in having a secured fenceline, however it also means that any "security breach" could have serious repercussions for Rasputin.


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## mattgrizzlybear (Dec 5, 2012)

I love the name!


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## waterboy (Dec 5, 2012)

Are you going to have a tort box or hide for him. I dont know how cold it gets at night in the winter their but if its going below 55 at night and not getting real warm during the day you will need a box with a heat source. if it stays real warm you will still want a hide or bug shade area for him. Other then that i would just add a hill somewhere and in the summer dig a mud hole, mine love laying in their mud hole and throwing it on them selves on hot days.


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## ra94131 (Dec 5, 2012)

waterboy said:


> Are you going to have a tort box or hide for him. I dont know how cold it gets at night in the winter their but if its going below 55 at night and not getting real warm during the day you will need a box with a heat source. if it stays real warm you will still want a hide or bug shade area for him. Other then that i would just add a hill somewhere and in the summer dig a mud hole, mine love laying in their mud hole and throwing it on them selves on hot days.



I plan on building a heated mini-shed by next fall... call it phase 3 of this project. Over the summer I will use a variety of objects (upturned barrel, flower pots, etc.) to provide hiding places. Additionally the enclosure will have landscaping before Rasputin moves in. Currently I'm considering hibiscus, some hostas, and some prayer plants, but I haven't made any final decisions. If the heated hide is phase 3, then I guess landscaping would be phase 2.

In general we get a few consecutive months of 100F+ heat in the summer and a few months of sub-50Fs (at night) in the winter.

I have been considering some type of hill, assuming it doesn't overly impede yard drainage. A "mud hole" is in the plans, but like the hill will probably require some trial and error on my part.


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## Richsandwich (Dec 6, 2012)

Well those 2 reasons are good ones. Keep up the good work !


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## Zamric (Dec 6, 2012)

Looks like your little one will have a nice stomping ground for the next 4-5 years! I cant wait to see it finished and planted!


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## murdocjunior (Dec 12, 2012)

very nice any update pics?


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## ra94131 (Dec 17, 2012)

Just a quick update. An unanticipated event put the project on the back burner, but here are a couple pictures of the completed fencing. I also completed the brick base for the fence/gate and did a preliminary re-grading of the garden space. I will monitor the drainage as is for a couple weeks, but plan to remove some of the existing dirt and mix in some top soil/amendments. I'll keep you all posted as the project progresses.


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## Team Gomberg (Dec 17, 2012)

That is a nice space. I know you mentioned this being his outdoor enclosure till he is large enough for the whole yard. I think it'll work great.


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## Yvonne G (Dec 17, 2012)

That looks very nice; an eye-appealing addition to your back yard, even in its unfinished/unplanted state. I'm sure your young sulcata will do fine in there.

My son and his family live in Forney, and their house looks SO similar to yours. I wonder if they were designed by the same person.


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## Shannon and Jason (Dec 18, 2012)

That looks really great! Can't wait to see the finished results.....I also love the name your came up with for yours.


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## CtTortoiseMom (Dec 18, 2012)

Wow, that is really nice!


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## ra94131 (Dec 18, 2012)

emysemys said:


> My son and his family live in Forney, and their house looks SO similar to yours. I wonder if they were designed by the same person.



Could very well be designed by the same group, as I know they have been very active in the area. We just moved in this year after the house completed construction. It is a very similar style to a lot of the newer construction in this region.


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## goReptiles (Jan 8, 2013)

Did you bury anything along the sides to prevent digging out?


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## ra94131 (Jan 8, 2013)

goReptiles said:


> Did you bury anything along the sides to prevent digging out?



I buried a "foundation" of bricks along the border to discourage digging as well as help secure the fence. Even with this precaution I'm going to carefully monitor his time outside at first. I'm not too worried, since he has shown little interest in digging in his indoor enclosure, but it is something I'm going to keep an eye on.


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## Momof4 (Jan 8, 2013)

It looks great! Where did you purchase the fencing? You are going to have a very happy tort.


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## ra94131 (Jan 9, 2013)

Momof4 said:


> It looks great! Where did you purchase the fencing? You are going to have a very happy tort.



I got it at Lowes. It was a little more expensive than originally planned, but the wife liked it better. After seeing the end result, I'm glad I got her opinion. Once it warms up and I'm able to add some landscaping I think it will look great.


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## MasterOogway (Jan 9, 2013)

I like the fence it really looks sharp. I look forward to seeing the the future steps and phases. When you mentioned landscaping it crossed my mind I wonder how many landscapers have been asked to plant a tortoise dream land


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## ra94131 (Jul 9, 2013)

I thought I'd post a "final" update. The enclosure is not 100% finished, but I doubt it ever will be. I anticipate regularly adding new plants as they get destroyed or simply don't survive and the insulated hide is a long-term project I hope to have finished before temperatures start dropping below 75 degrees F during the day, but that will be a while.

For the time being Rasputin is spending all day outside, even when we are away from the house, and being brought back inside at night. He is noticeably more active and "happier" (just meaning he appears to behave very naturally) outdoors.

Any further updates will be covered in the thread Rasputin, the Sulcata Tortoise on the Sulcata forums.











EDIT: Looking at the pictures, I may do one more update once the new grazing mix I planted comes up a bit. I think that should really "complete" the look. Additionally, I'm wanting some larger bushes/plants, but I'm waiting to see how the existing ones grow/expand first.


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## lynnedit (Jul 9, 2013)

That looks simply great! No wonder Rasputin is happy.


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## Team Gomberg (Jul 9, 2013)

I remember when you "broke ground"on this pen.

Looks great. 

No pic of the resident though??....grr. 

Heather
Sent from my Android TFO app


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## ra94131 (Jul 9, 2013)

Team Gomberg said:


> No pic of the resident though??....grr.



I see you already found my update on *Rasputin*, but for anyone else wanting pictures of the resident: Rasputin, the Sulcata Tortoise


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