Hey,
I'm in the beginning stages of building an outdoor habitat/enclosure for my young CA Desert Tortoises. They currently live in a modified rabbit hutch, which I plan to continue to use, to house them at night; we have racoons and possum that roam the neighborhood. I'd really like some feedback in creating the ultimate habitat for my tortoises to thrive in.
As for the area, I have chosen a space at the back of my property, that would be large enough for them to grow into, once they become adults. My major concern is that I also have two avocado trees in the same area. I could create the perimeter of the enclosure to leave the avocado trees on the outside of the enclosure, but that would cut their space in half, at the least. I've read mixed information about avocados and tortoises, so I'm hoping to hear what you all have to say about the safety of including the trees in their living space. Is it too risky to have the avocado trees in their almost-full time enclosure??? They seem to gravitate towards the trees for shade, and protection. I have seen my bigger tortoise take a bite of a leaf and move on, and haven't noticed either of them trying to eat the leaves since then--I do keep a pretty close eye on them when they are out grazing.
So far, I've only gotten my ideal perimeter (including the trees within the enclosure) trenched out to 18 inches deep, and buried bricks to create a below-ground barrier, and removed most of the gravel that was already there. I plan to create the enclosure walls out of railroad ties and stacked rock next.
As for dirt, any opinions on the best kind of dirt to put in the bottom of the enclosure? Decomposed granite, perhaps? I plan to do a lot of planting to create a native plant/tortoise garden (I'm in CA so the two should hopefully go hand in hand). I'm actually really excited to try and also make it double as a butterfly garden...we'll see
Water system...I really wanted to create a shallow, bubbling water feature, but I don't think that running electrical is in the budget. So I guess I'll just stick with a shallow, but large flower pot saucer?
Any and all advice and thoughts are welcome. I really want to make this a super rad space for my tortoises, and I want to make it the best, from the beginning, since I'll be putting so much work into it.
Thank you in advance!
Kelly
I'm in the beginning stages of building an outdoor habitat/enclosure for my young CA Desert Tortoises. They currently live in a modified rabbit hutch, which I plan to continue to use, to house them at night; we have racoons and possum that roam the neighborhood. I'd really like some feedback in creating the ultimate habitat for my tortoises to thrive in.
As for the area, I have chosen a space at the back of my property, that would be large enough for them to grow into, once they become adults. My major concern is that I also have two avocado trees in the same area. I could create the perimeter of the enclosure to leave the avocado trees on the outside of the enclosure, but that would cut their space in half, at the least. I've read mixed information about avocados and tortoises, so I'm hoping to hear what you all have to say about the safety of including the trees in their living space. Is it too risky to have the avocado trees in their almost-full time enclosure??? They seem to gravitate towards the trees for shade, and protection. I have seen my bigger tortoise take a bite of a leaf and move on, and haven't noticed either of them trying to eat the leaves since then--I do keep a pretty close eye on them when they are out grazing.
So far, I've only gotten my ideal perimeter (including the trees within the enclosure) trenched out to 18 inches deep, and buried bricks to create a below-ground barrier, and removed most of the gravel that was already there. I plan to create the enclosure walls out of railroad ties and stacked rock next.
As for dirt, any opinions on the best kind of dirt to put in the bottom of the enclosure? Decomposed granite, perhaps? I plan to do a lot of planting to create a native plant/tortoise garden (I'm in CA so the two should hopefully go hand in hand). I'm actually really excited to try and also make it double as a butterfly garden...we'll see
Water system...I really wanted to create a shallow, bubbling water feature, but I don't think that running electrical is in the budget. So I guess I'll just stick with a shallow, but large flower pot saucer?
Any and all advice and thoughts are welcome. I really want to make this a super rad space for my tortoises, and I want to make it the best, from the beginning, since I'll be putting so much work into it.
Thank you in advance!
Kelly