Height questions

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Seiryu

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So for my leopard indoor enclosure, I plan to use wood for the sides so he can't see out. Sort of planning ahead, havn't started yet.

He's a babcocki (so shouldn't get more than 16" max, of course always exceptions).

How high should the walls be, i'm thinking 20". Would that be enough?

And for the outdoor, should the walls be higher? Like maybe up to 24" or something? Or is 20" plenty. Of course being outside, I don't want him to think there is more out there :p, or at least think he can get out to more areas. And since I don't really know what all the weeds are back here, I don't want to chance just letting him free-roam back here. I know what Oxalis is, that's easy. But a few plants I just don't know, posted in plant ID section and no response on them yet.

Note this of course is not the total height for either cage :p The outdoor is going to be 6' tall so I can jack the roof up like you would for the hood of your car so I can walk in easily. And the roof and rest of the sides are going to be the Vinyl hardware cloth (it's just hardware cloth coated in vinyl to help prevent corrosion, rust etc).

The indor is probably going to be more like 4'-5' tall. With the upper half using a Vinyl hardware cloth as well.
 

Greg T

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Rob,

I think you are shooting too far ahead at this point. You don't need to make a home ready for a full-grown tort right now. My little ones are 5-6" scl and they are more than happy inside my table with 8" walls. Outside, I have chicken-wire sides on a frame of 2"x2" wood. I put a 1"x6" along the bottom to keep the little guys from trying to walk through the holes in the chicken wire.

I don't have a top on my outdoor pens, but I really don't have any predators in my urban area either. The walls are 2' high and easy to step over.

It will be a while before your tort gets real big, so start with a medium sized table and build a new one later on as he grows into it.
 

Seiryu

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Yes I am thinking ahead. I plan to have grasses growing in there for next year so it's well established by the time I put him in. He isn't going to have access to the entire thing either. There will be a movable wall inside so I can adjust and block off areas etc that he's demolished.

I don't see a point in building smaller, medium and then a large enclosure when you can just build the larger enclosure and block sections off. This way too, since there are hawks and a few other predators here, I can put him in there and not worry while i'm out or doing other things.

So anyone on what height is needed for a full-grown 16" tortoise? Is 20" enough or go for 24"?
 

tortoisenerd

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You want the enclosure tall enough so that if the tort is on its hind legs on top of the tallest cage furnishing (or other tort), including any substrate, the tort cannot look or reach the top. If they can see out or get their arms on the top, they will keep trying. I say build it as high as you can reasonably. You also need to consider the width of the wood you are buying, unless you have the tools to cut it down. I had 18 inch high walls for my hatchling enclosure, but have 6 inches of substrate and cage furnishings. Once he's full grown and I build the second story it will be just right. Too tall is much better than too short, and it shouldn't really interfere with air flow unless it's ridiculously tall. I don't have enough info about your situation to answer a dimension...

I do agree better to build an enclosure and block part off. I planned to do this but had too many cage furnishings and ended up giving him the whole space, so I'll have to build a second story and hope he doesn't get huge, or else I'll have to build a bigger enclosure. He's already 3 inches and I'm guessing he'll get to 5 inches so I may be ok.
 

Seiryu

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tortoisenerd said:
You want the enclosure tall enough so that if the tort is on its hind legs on top of the tallest cage furnishing (or other tort), including any substrate, the tort cannot look or reach the top. If they can see out or get their arms on the top, they will keep trying. I say build it as high as you can reasonably. You also need to consider the width of the wood you are buying, unless you have the tools to cut it down. I had 18 inch high walls for my hatchling enclosure, but have 6 inches of substrate and cage furnishings. Once he's full grown and I build the second story it will be just right. Too tall is much better than too short, and it shouldn't really interfere with air flow unless it's ridiculously tall. I don't have enough info about your situation to answer a dimension...

I do agree better to build an enclosure and block part off. I planned to do this but had too many cage furnishings and ended up giving him the whole space, so I'll have to build a second story and hope he doesn't get huge, or else I'll have to build a bigger enclosure. He's already 3 inches and I'm guessing he'll get to 5 inches so I may be ok.

Ok thanks, that's what I was looking for. I imagine 24" should suffice then. Oh I have table saws and everything needed in my basement to cut stuff.

Pressure treated comes in 12' long by 8" (really 7.5" though) wide pieces. I plan to use cinderblocks/garden edging stones for the bottom and then use whatever wood is needed to get to the correct height.

No plans on getting a second tortoise either lol but I can always adjust if that happens.
 
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Maggie Cummings

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The walls on Bob's pen are 22" tall. I am a woman living alone with only one working hand so building a wood fence was not in the cards for me, so my walls are cinder block. I started out with them stacked 2 high now they are 3 high and he continually goes to one spot and stands on his back feet to look out. It was that spot a month or so ago that he pushed the blocks over and walked out thru the break, he then climbed 7 stairs to my deck and knocked on the back door.:D
Bob is very friendly and follows me around like my shadow the whole time he can see me outside. I am eternally grateful to whomever (I missed his name) it was that suggested I pound rebar into the block because Bob has not been able to escape since I used the rebar. I started out with my yard divided into thirds so two sides could rest while he devoured one side...now it's in half because it has become too hard for me to move the blocks and I am supplementing with produce saved for me by the people in the produce dept at our local grocery store. I have to get up early to get there and get the 'trimmings' before Doctor Cosmonaut gets them...:p
Here's a couple of pictures to illustrate what Kate and I are telling you...Bob's pen is not fancy or pretty like most I have seen posted on this forum, but it does the job and works for both me and Bob...
The wood he is standing on was standing upright used to block his access to the corner, you see how good it worked with him...

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The wood with the brick on it was supposed to block his head from looking over the wall...you see how good it worked...

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He's poking his head out to decide if he really wants to go out

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When I stand on my deck to look out to make sure he is still in his pen, this sweet face is what I see. He always knows when I am looking out for him and it is very obvious to me that Bob knows I am his person...

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I just thought you might like to see what will happen when your tort gets bigger, once they have escaped or just looked over that thought is planted in their brains and they become obsessed with it, so build as tall as you can notw before he can look over...
 

dmmj

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Concerning tort pens I have always chose function over form myslef. I use a lot of those cinderblocks to build my varuious pens and I don't really care what others may or may not think about how "pretty" my pen is, it works and that is all I really care about. BTW I love bob pics
 
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Maggie Cummings

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I have had a lot of tortoises since I started keeping them, and I just have to say that Bob has more personality then any 10 of them put together. He is so much fun/trouble for me. I just adore him, and I really love it that others think he is fun also. It's almost 100 here today, that's about 20 degrees hotter then our normal temps and Bob didn't get up until noon today and then all he did was go to his resting spot in the yard and plunk himself down and go back to sleep. Both his eyes are weeping and so I decided he was sick so I sliced up some strawberries to see if he would eat some. That's my measuring stick if their sick or not. If they won't eat then their sick. So I marched myself over to him with my berries and I sat down in front of him quietly because I know he is sick and dying...and he opened his eyes and saw me and those berries and came running and climbing up on me like a dog! Too funny. I guess he's just hot and not sick cuz he ate every berry in my cup...I guess he's just hot, it's really humid too...it feels like Louisiana in August...
 
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