How deep

[Seiryu]

Well as some of you may know, Thor my leopard likes to try and climb the walls of his enclosure (he can no longer see out).

So I have 2 plans. Going to try plan 1 first and see what happens.

Plan 1: I'm going to find a Lid/Container that is decently big, like 12"x2-3 ft, and 4-5" deep roughly. And grow grasses/weeds in it and literally put it in his enclosure. I have grow lights if needed in addition to his UVB, but we'll see how it goes. And i'll be using an organic soil/dirt from outside as the soil.

I'm hoping it'll distract him and make it more "outdoorsy". This way he can walk on the grass, and eat the grass/weeds as he pleases and gives him something different to walk on.

Plan 2: Make the ENTIRE 4 ft x 1.5 ft enclosure grass/weeds. With a small area to bask on the coconut substrate and a small area for his water dish and place to put his other greens. The hides will go on the grass itself. I could also plant like Pansies and Marigolds and a few other things in there for cover.

Let me know what you think.

Lol woops. How deep do you think I'd need the soil to be to grow grass and weeds from Turtlestuff.com - The forage mix.

 

[DoctorCosmonaut]

Well what is the max amount of inches you can spare before he can start seeing out again?

 

[Seiryu]

Well what is the max amount of inches you can spare before he can start seeing out again?

The entire outside of the enclosure is blocked off. Only the top is not. So he can't see out unless he's looking straight up. He still climbs the enclosure walls even though he can't see out at all though. So I don't think it's a sight barrier thing to begin with.

Hoping the grasses/weeds will distract him throughout the day as it'd be more natural for him to walk on the grass and nibble on things all day. I'd still be adding spring mix and other greens and goodies though.

I was just curious what the minimum depth would be needed to grow the mix in terms of how deep of a container i'd need. I have a few like I said around the house that are anywhere between 2-5" deep, but wasn't sure if that was enough.

 

[tortoisenerd]

The grasses and grazing stuff only need a few inches. Some weeds have deeper roots so it depends. Sometimes weeds are the toughest to grow sadly enough! I had better luck with safe vegetable seeds for the leaves, and grazing mix. I killed all the plants so you probably shouldn't take any further gardening advice for me though. What's in the forage mix?

 

[DoctorCosmonaut]

I can't give you much advice either... I just have a few plants in some pots. But trial and error always works lol

 

[Seiryu]

Kate - It has a lot of different grasses and weeds. Clover, chicory, plaintain and those kinds of weeds. No dandelions though. I do know those need a much deeper area. Yvonne uses it for her leopards. I was going to just get a grass mix, but he can't really tear off grass but he can get the weeds. If some of the weeds die it isn't a big deal anyways, I don't think they all would. It's a 1lb bag and i doubt i'll use much of it for the container.

I did find a nice 30"x16"x6" deep container I think i'm going to use, should be deep enough. Now I just need to make sure I still have room for his food area, water and basking area.