# New outdoor CDT burrow



## Team Gomberg (Apr 10, 2014)

It was brought to my attention that Luke Skywalker's tort house wouldn't offer him a cool enough retreat during our warm/hot SoCal weather.

The thread to see his house is here:
http://tortoiseforum.org/threads/new-outdoor-cdt-house.90294/#post-841444

So, I spent the morning building him a burrow.  Now he has cool place to hang out when it's hot out.

I decided to make his burrow into the side of a brick planter. It's 7' long and about 2' wide. Since I don't have cement skills (yet), the bricks are just stacked on top of each other.






To start, I removed the bricks on one side of the planter and dug a trench 3' in.





Next I screwed together a plywood frame. I left a few inches on each side so dirt could insulate it all the way around.





Made a top of plywood





Then covered the wood with painters plastic





3"-4" of dirt piled up on top then I covered the whole area with decorative bark





The opening to the burrow faces a covered area where the BBQ sits. Unless you stand in the corner by the BBQ, you can't tell it's there.





The clearance is about 9" and remember it's 3' long





And he fits in there just swell 





Walking in to check it out...(well hobbling in. I took his wheel off so it doesn't clog with dirt)






I know this burrow is _far_ from perfect. It's not even that pretty and I like my turtle stuff to be pretty :shy:
But using nothing but scraps and what I thought was an ugly brick planter to begin with....at least now he has an "underground" retreat to cool off in. He doesn't care what it looks like, as long as it works. 

The temps outside are in the 90's today. At noon I used my temp gun to check the concrete- 115F and the entrance to his new burrow- 66F. Now that 4 hours have passed since it finished I should go temp it again. But I'm fairly confident that this will work for us, for him.

..I'll keep ya posted 

After hard work on a hot day, what better way to relax than watching a Desert tort play in the sprinkler and drink from a puddle??


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## ascott (Apr 10, 2014)

That is FANTASTIC Heather


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## wellington (Apr 10, 2014)

Heather, you did a fantastic job and even laid the bricks properly, you should be very proud of your work. I'm sure he loves it and it will work great for the both of you.


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## Team Gomberg (Apr 10, 2014)

Thanks gals. I wanna do right for this guy :shy: poor thing had been through more than we will ever know!

I did go temp it right now. The burrow is still 66-68F and I know the weather has cooled a bit due to cloud cover. He was sitting in the entrance with a shell temp of 81F

I pulled him out and he is grazing on the grass.


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## kathyth (Apr 10, 2014)

Heather..... You go all out! I love it!
The burrow is cool and I will definitely save thus thread. 
Thanks!


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## Team Gomberg (Apr 11, 2014)

86F today at 2pm and the burrow is 62F.. Pretty cool huh?  (pun intended lol)


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## bouaboua (Apr 13, 2014)

I love the idea for the burrow. I need to find a place for my Sulcata. 

I also like the close-up photo of your CDT. What a beautiful Torts. Thank you for sharing it.


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## Yvonne G (Apr 13, 2014)

Very nice! May I ask why you have tarp on the side of your house? (inquiring minds not only want to know, we need to know!)


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## Team Gomberg (Apr 13, 2014)

oh the tarp... how I dis like the tarp! 

There is a chain link fence right there. The guy who lived here before us (we rent) put up the tarp up to cover his "less than professional" DIY fence job.. The tarp is ugly but what is behind it is even uglier, trust me!! lol

I set up that brick planter with the intention of growing a tall shrub to cover it!! But that changed and I just have the palm there... It's an ugly planter in front of an ugly tarp that is over an ugly chain link fence that shows through to the neighbors very ugly trash pile yard...  

I'd love to put in privacy slats but the fence isn't complete, so I can't. I'd love to re do the wall/fence but I'm just a renter. What's really great about renting here, we can do anything we want. Literally, we have all the freedom to make changes or upgrades....we just know that whatever we invest into the place is lost once we move. So re doing that section of fence (10ft or so) isn't a priority. 

I bet that was more than you expected, right! lol


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## Candy (May 22, 2014)

I love that. Thanks for the idea. Our Fernando would love one of those.


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## TigsMom (Jun 7, 2014)

Heather, have you considered Bamboo Reed Fencing? It's at any Home Improvement store, comes in 6' tall or 4' tall and could easily be wired or zip tied to the chain link and will create privacy as well as more eye appealing. Super simple and cost effective. Plus you could take it with you if you move. Here's a link so you get a better idea of the stuff I'm talking about. http://www.homedepot.com/p/6-ft-W-x-16-ft-L-Bamboo-Reed-Garden-Fence-0406165/100330784


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## Team Gomberg (Jun 7, 2014)

Thanks for the idea @TigsMom. Funny thing is a couple of weeks ago we had some very strong winds. It completely shredded the tarp. I had to cut it all down. We were in the process of figuring out what to replace it with...but now it doesn't matter since we are moving next month!


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## TigsMom (Jun 8, 2014)

Congrats on moving, but I sure wouldn't want to move everything we own and build tortoise enclosures all over again. Very best wishes for finding the perfect home for you and your tort buddies!


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## lynnedit (Jun 8, 2014)

You did a wonderful job. Even for a temporary set up. Heather, you are so clever!


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## Team Gomberg (Jun 8, 2014)

TigsMom said:


> I sure wouldn't want to move everything we own and build tortoise enclosures all over again!



....I hear ya....


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## DawnH (Jul 2, 2015)

Oh my gosh. I am just now seeing this and I seriously just squealed. LOVE THIS. What a fantastic idea and you did a bang up job. Awesome! Just awesome and Luke Skywalker is just dreamy!!


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## Team Gomberg (Jul 2, 2015)

Ya, I sure do miss him. He was a cool dude. I had to leave him in CA when I moved to Oregon. He went to a fellow CTTC member. 

This planter was ugly but functional. Just image the possibilities!


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## Tom (Jul 3, 2015)

I completely missed this thread the first time around. This is ingenious! I love it. I could so easily work something like this into my enclosures...

Brilliant. Superb. Well done.

Did you leave it like that after you moved? I wonder what the new tenants trout of your secret cubby hole after they finally found it. If they've found it yet...


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## Team Gomberg (Jul 3, 2015)

A friend of mine wanted all the brick..so nothing was left but a pile of dirt lol

The yard looked so different after all the tortoise pens were taken down.


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## JohnnyB65 (Jul 5, 2015)

Hi Heather, it looks good and I have to tell you that it is probably better to not cement them in place just in case you ever want to make changes. I built an above ground pond many years ago and cemented it all together, but after about 5 or 6 years later I decided that I wanted to move the pond. I had cemented it so well that I could not break it apart and had to use a car jack to lift it up and roll it out on pipes.

Now I only build things that can be taken apart. I used Patio Wall Blocks for my second pond without the concrete and have made numerous changes over the years.






I used regular colored concrete blocks for my tortoises borrow because it had holes down through it. Instead of cementing it, I packed wet mud down into the holes with a stick. I did eventually make changes to it by making it longer and I have to say it didn’t want to come apart with the dried hard mud holding it together. The concrete block doesn’t look as nice as the brick, but it is strong and also provides a planter above.

Oh I just now noticed that this was an old thread. I thought you just did this.


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## Team Gomberg (Jul 5, 2015)

@JohnnyB65 You are absolutely right though. I moved and was able to give all the brick to a friend. Had it been cemented...well... Based on your car jack story, you get it. That was hilarious btw..


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## Tort Love (Jul 5, 2015)

Team Gomberg said:


> It was brought to my attention that Luke Skywalker's tort house wouldn't offer him a cool enough retreat during our warm/hot SoCal weather.
> 
> The thread to see his house is here:
> http://tortoiseforum.org/threads/new-outdoor-cdt-house.90294/#post-841444
> ...


Love this very cool and so cute


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## Jacqui (Jul 6, 2015)

JohnnyB65 said:


> Hi Heather, it looks good and I have to tell you that it is probably better to not cement them in place just in case you ever want to make changes. I built an above ground pond many years ago and cemented it all together, but after about 5 or 6 years later I decided that I wanted to move the pond. I had cemented it so well that I could not break it apart and had to use a car jack to lift it up and roll it out on pipes.
> 
> Now I only build things that can be taken apart. I used Patio Wall Blocks for my second pond without the concrete and have made numerous changes over the years.
> 
> ...



I love the look you ended up with this by using the choices you made.


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