Outdoor Enclosure Progress

katieandiggy · May 20, 2019

AliG said:
Ouch ..... i am a 53 year old mum and with a little bit of manual labour help and adjustments and learning curvesome lol it has been fun. I am not brave enough to leave him out at night (bring him inside when I get home from work)

I plan to have a heated kennel it will be fully insulated and I’ll probably use a green house tube heater for night heat on a thermostat. I will lock him inside it at night, this will only be for the summer months. But I hope it can extent the outside time for a couple of extra months.

AliG · May 20, 2019

katieandiggy said:
I plan to have a heated kennel it will be fully insulated and I’ll probably use a green house tube heater for night heat on a thermostat. I will lock him inside it at night, this will only be for the summer months. But I hope it can extent the outside time for a couple of extra months.

AliG · May 20, 2019

I look forWard to watching your progress with the insulated house and heating and see if it is something I could work on also going forward

Momof4 · May 20, 2019

katieandiggy said:
Also forgot to add, whilst doing this I managed to drive the screwdriver straight into my thumb right down to the bone. ‍♀️

What!?! That is awful!

katieandiggy · May 20, 2019

Momof4 said:
What!?! That is awful!

It was extremely painful.

I had about a 10 second pause where I thought shi* what have I done, it was only when I bent my thumb and saw bone I came over a bit faint and felt the pain.

I had a tetanus but it’s more of less healed now, I just can’t bend my thumb fully and the skin around it feels odd, like nerve damage maybe.

Still, it taught me a valuable lesson in DIY.

I plan to try and make a night box next, and for that I need to buy a circular saw, so watch this space, I’ll probably end up with some kind of amputation.

CarolM · May 20, 2019

katieandiggy said:
It was extremely painful.

I had about a 10 second pause where I thought shi* what have I done, it was only when I bent my thumb and saw bone I came over a bit faint and felt the pain.

I had a tetanus but it’s more of less healed now, I just can’t bend my thumb fully and the skin around it feels odd, like nerve damage maybe.

Still, it taught me a valuable lesson in DIY.

I plan to try and make a night box next, and for that I need to buy a circular saw, so watch this space, I’ll probably end up with some kind of amputation.

Oh no. Don't say that. Good luck and I cannot wait to see the end result.

Beasty_Artemis · May 21, 2019

Momof4 said:
What!?! That is awful!

My dad did that one time when he was fixing his glasses!!!!

katieandiggy · Jun 1, 2019

Well the sun was out today so I made some progress with my outdoor enclosure. Here are some updated pics, it’s not finished, I am adding a heated insulated kennel and a cold frame which I am waiting on.

All the plants I have propagated and grown myself for about the last 2 years (except the petunia which I bought today but no pesticides used at my local garden shop)

Along the back I have sprinkles seeds from shelled warrior which are things like clover, vetch, dandelion and many more, I’ve also spread them all over the mound which I’m not sure if you can see from the pics.

Tortoise_Nerd · Jun 1, 2019

katieandiggy said:
Well the sun was out today so I made some progress with my outdoor enclosure. Here are some updated pics, it’s not finished, I am adding a heated insulated kennel and a cold frame which I am waiting on.
View attachment 273581 View attachment 273582 View attachment 273583

All the plants I have propagated and grown myself for about the last 2 years (except the petunia which I bought today but no pesticides used at my local garden shop)

Along the back I have sprinkles seeds from shelled warrior which are things like clover, vetch, dandelion and many more, I’ve also spread them all over the mound which I’m not sure if you can see from the pics.

Looks great! Have you got a water dish for it? If not I recommend a paint rolling tray, they work well.

katieandiggy · Jun 1, 2019

Redfootcare101 said:
Looks great! Have you got a water dish for it? If not I recommend a paint rolling tray, they work well.

Hey, yes I have got one in there, you can just see it in the bottom right of the 1st photo. It’s a plastic plant saucer. I may change it but my little guy is only 100g he is going to look lost in this.

TortillaTheTortioise · Jun 1, 2019

It's looking great! Do u have a pic of the lucky tort?

katieandiggy · Jun 1, 2019

Here he is, he’s going to looks ridiculously tiny in there!

TortillaTheTortioise · Jun 1, 2019

katieandiggy said:
View attachment 273586

Here he is, he’s going to looks ridiculously tiny in there!

Sooooo cute!

Maggie T · Jun 2, 2019

katieandiggy said:
Thank you!!

I’ve just lined all of the edges with bricks and I’m first going to get the cold frame and set it up and also the outdoor house/kennel which I will insulate.

Then I’ll be ready for planting, I can’t wait for mine to look established.
View attachment 272667

All the outside is finished and painted and lined with bricks. Not bad for a 37 year old who is useless at DIY [emoji23]

Looks great! What kind of wood and paint did you use?

katieandiggy · Jun 22, 2019

Maggie T said:
Looks great! What kind of wood and paint did you use?

Hi, it’s just a standard fence paint. Ronseal one coat or something similar.

katieandiggy · Jun 22, 2019

Here are some pics from today. My weed seeds have grown on lots, we’ve had tons of rain. I found a mallow growing in the corner of my garden so I dug it up and planted in here but I think it’s got transplantation shock, hopefully it comes on.

Other than some more planting of some larger shrubs I just need to sort out the night box.

Yvonne G · Jun 22, 2019

That's very nice - eye pleasing for the humans and comfy and safe for the inhabitants.

Lyn W · Jun 22, 2019

katieandiggy said:
Hey, yes I have got one in there, you can just see it in the bottom right of the 1st photo. It’s a plastic plant saucer. I may change it but my little guy is only 100g he is going to look lost in this.

Lovey enclosure. Do you have a cover for it to make sure any gulls etc can't pick him up?
A shallow terracotta plant saucer would be better than plastic - less slippy for those little feet when he's trying to get in and out, and if you sink it level with the soil that will be easier for him again.

katieandiggy · Jun 22, 2019

Lyn W said:
Lovey enclosure. Do you have a cover for it to make sure any gulls etc can't pick him up?
A shallow terracotta plant saucer would be better than plastic - less slippy for those little feet when he's trying to get in and out, and if you sink it level with the soil that will be easier for him again.

Hi Lyn, I don’t have a cover at the moment. I’m thinking of maybe some netting until he gets a big bigger. I don’t really have any problem with gulls as I have chickens in the garden and they are like guard dogs, but you never know I guess. The thing that worries me most is rats. Haven’t seen a rat for a long time but I know they are never far away.

Lyn W · Jun 22, 2019

katieandiggy said:
Hi Lyn, I don’t have a cover at the moment. I’m thinking of maybe some netting until he gets a big bigger. I don’t really have any problem with gulls as I have chickens in the garden and they are like guard dogs, but you never know I guess. The thing that worries me most is rats. Haven’t seen a rat for a long time but I know they are never far away.

Netting should be ok as long as you don't have any predators, cats or dogs around.
That's true about rats - my tort has a missing foot which could be due to rat attack but I don't know for sure as happened before he came to me.

Outdoor Enclosure Progress

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