dt enclosure

[Rainman69]

Here's a couple of pics of my enclosure. All I need now is a tortoise.

 

[Yvonne G]

Oh wow! That is super! Just dig the dirt out from under the water dish so that the sides are even with ground level. That looks really nice. And quite big enough for a tortoise. Also, you might lay some flat stepping stones or masonry caps all along the edge in front of the bamboo side so that the tortoise doesn't get the idea to push under.

Yvonne

 

[Crazy1]

Nice, nice enclosure. I would follow Yvonnes suggestions and good luck on getting your new DT.
Rainman where are you located. I have 2 males that I foster to go this summer!

 

[Millerlite]

looks good,

 

[chelonologist]

Nicely done. Once you get a tortoise in there, watch it closely for a while to make sure it doesn't fall off of the large mounded cave and and land upside down. Desert tortoises aren't the best at righting themselves, and that's a horrible way to lose a pet tortoise. Also, you might be able to encourage your tortoise to stay outside of the burrows if you give it a little more shade structure. The branch is a good start, but adding a bit more will allow your tortoise more shade.

 

[Rainman69]

Thanks for the comments. The wire fence is buried a foot in the ground. I live in Tucson az. I went through the desert museum web site and they are sending someone to inspect my enclosure. They said if it was acceptable i could adopt one. However I am unsure of how long this takes or fees involved.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Have you posted pictures of this before? That enclosure sure looks familiar to me...it looks really nice, great for a desert tort the best tortoise in the world!

 

[jlyoncc1]

That looks really nice. Good luck in getting a tort!

 

[Isa]

Really nice enclosure, I am sure your future little DT will have a lot of fun in it.

 

[Stazz]

Yes it is lovely! Lucky tort Good luck in finding your new shelled friend!

 

[Rainman69]

The shade idea was great as it could be quite some time before the trees and shrubs provide much. I was trying to avoid putting shade cloth in my desert and came up with this. Can't decide if i like it or if it will provide enough shade. It is about 18x18. What do guys think.

 

[Yvonne G]

There's nuthin' wrong with that at all! Looks very natural. And eventually that little vine in the corner can be trained over it.

I had a BIG eucalyptus tree just outside the fence of my Aldabran pen. It provided shade all day long from early morning to late evening. Shade, but the pen wasn't in deep shade because the tree was about 75' tall. Every so often a large limb would break off, falling on my fence or driveway, and costing me many, many $$ to have cleaned up. The next limb to fall was going to fall on my garage...so I contacted P.G.&E. (the power company) and asked if they could remove the tree under their un-safe tree program, as it was growing right under the power lines and they had to trim it from the lines every year. Earlier in the year I had an estimate from a tree company to have it removed at a cost of $3000. But thank goodness, because broken branches had caused 4 power outages in the past few months, the power company cut down the tree FOR FREE!!! Long story just to say that I now have a wide open, sunny Aldabran pen that I need to provide some shade for. I was thinking of planting a couple of Rose of Sharon, but in the meantime, while they are growing tall enough to do any good, I'm going to buy two large market umbrellas and "plant" them in the pen.

Yvonne

 

[Millerlite]

thats good you got the tree taken out for free. Oh the enclosure looks great. teh little hut you made might not be enough shade, but if you can make more, or bigger ones that would be good

 

[desertsss]

I think that is a beautiful enclosure. Very lucky DT coming your way.
Happy adopting!

 

[Rainman69]

The hut turned out to be pretty small for the dt i adopted,so i made a 4x8 shade cover. Hopefully when the mesquites get bigger i will remove it. Thanks again for the kind comments.