Box turtle outdoors habitat

[Cheryl Hills]

I am fairly new to having box turtles. As I can, I don't know much. I did read books and lots of online stuff, but a lot of info, which I have read on here, was not available anywhere else. So, I want to build an outdoors enclosure this summer coming. When putting a enclosure in, how deep should the outside wall be so they can not digg out? I thought I had a great enclosure inside but realize I have to improve it too. It is a work in progress .
Thanks.

 

[yillt]

I am fairly new to having box turtles. As I can, I don't know much. I did read books and lots of online stuff, but a lot of info, which I have read on here, was not available anywhere else. So, I want to build an outdoors enclosure this summer coming. When putting a enclosure in, how deep should the outside wall be so they can not digg out? I thought I had a great enclosure inside but realize I have to improve it too. It is a work in progress .
Thanks.

Maybe an easier solution would possible be to put a sheet of mesh a couple of inches under the top of the soil. I've never owned a box turtle though so someone will be along soon.

 

[wellington]

I would also put mesh or chicken wire of something like that down. I did this for my Russian, just laid it on top of the grass and then filled in with dirt. The grass then eventually grows back up through the fresh dirt. Much easier. Search for pics of @terryo boxie outdoor enclosures, they are beautiful.

 

[TLWR]

Do you plan on allowing them to stay outside year round? If so, how you set up might be a bit different as you'll need to have an area where they can dig down to hibernate and pile up the leaves/mulch to keep them warm enough.

My pen is in coastal Alabama, so vastly different temps than Ohio.
I dug down about 6" for their pen and laid down a layer of house wrap (best weed fabric ever!) to keep them from digging out. A layer of bricks along the edges and one spot that was deeper and piled with leaf litter and mulch for them to dig into. I've since expanded their pen and have done the same thing again with digging down, laying house wrap or landscape fabric (ran out of house wrap) and then putting the dirt back. Bricks around the edge, an area where they can dig and then I piled that with leaves, mulch and pine straw. Once they started to dig in there, I added a bit more. I'll likely add more as we are finally starting to get cooler here, but the buggers were still out for strolls and soaking last week on their own.

So make sure they can't dig out.
Don't plant anything too close to the edge of the pen that will allow them to get out (saw one of mine trying to use a large grass to climb out).
Provide hides with plants or pots or whatever.
Provide somewhere for them to soak.

And one of mine loves the little pea gravel mountain.

 

[Eric Phillips]

For the edge of my outdoor enclosure, I dug down and placed a row of edging paver blocks then 1 row of treated landscape timber to ground level then built the walls with 3 rows of landscape timber, topped off with a 2x10 top over hang. I have never seen one try to dig far enough to get out. I would say they would need to dig more than a foot under then back up the other side. They can dig but I've never even seen 1 attempt it.

 

[terryo]

I'm in New York, and the weather here in the Winter is crazy I had a large planter on the side of my house that I made into a pond, 1,000 gal. Now it is my Turtle garden. It's 22 feet by 7 ft. All made of slate and stone. All around the edge I put large pieces of slate over lapping so no one can climb out. On one end is a cave that goes back about 3 feet. That's where they hibernate. It is elevated so if it rains or the snow melts it won't flood. I fill it with lots of leaf litter. There are lots of plants for them to hide and sit under and a small pond with some water plants. I have weep holes here and there to drain the water in case of heavy rain. They will dig, but only to cool off or sleep. I've never seen any in thirty years keep digging to tunnel out, but I have seen them climb chain link fences and stone, and anything else that will give them footing.

 

[terryo]

 

[terryo]

That's the whole garden in August. You can't see the cave toward the back, as all the plants have grown. But when you get close it isn't as full. You can see the little pond, and there is a few large pieces of slate for them to eat on.

 

[Cheryl Hills]

I love your garden. I am hoping to make something very similar for my two turtles. As fore leaving them out in winter, I am very Leary of doing that as temps can get well below freezing here. It is only 16 degrees out right now and the low tonight will be 4 to 10 degrees. But for summer, it would be great

 

[terryo]

I know. It's very scary. We are expecting a bad snow storm by Saturday. I have seen the turtle garden covered with over a foot of snow. We have a lot of woods around here so I try to make it as natural as I can, but I'm always nervous waiting for Spring to come.

 

[Turtlesfromcolo]

View attachment 162892 View attachment 162894

Beautiful enclosure! What are the plants (ground cover) around the pond?

 

[terryo]

Creeping Jenny. It is very invasive so I have to pull a lot out around mid Summer.

 

[Eric Phillips]

Spotted Dead Nettle is another good one. I have it mixed in with creeping jenny...both fighting for who's superior, lol!

 

[terryo]

Spotted Dead Nettle...I'll have to look into that one.

 

[cdmay]

I love your garden. I am hoping to make something very similar for my two turtles. As fore leaving them out in winter, I am very Leary of doing that as temps can get well below freezing here. It is only 16 degrees out right now and the low tonight will be 4 to 10 degrees. But for summer, it would be great

I agree. TerryO is the Queen of Box Turtle Keepers in my book. Her enclosures are really nice and her keeping methods have proven successful for many years.