How do I make a Sulcata proof enclosure?

Jane Nelsen

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Dec 10, 2017
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Hello All,
We have an 8 year old 50 pound African Spurred Tortoise. He is eating all my native plants and I don't want him to. I am to the point where I am thinking of giving him to someone else just so he doesn't tear up my yard. In the past we have made enclosures for him, but he's so strong that he seems to plough through them, or I am worried he will flip himself or harm himself trying to get out of them. Any advice about how to make a safe fence that will contain him? He currently has the run of 1/2 acre. Thanks in advance for advice.

Jane
 

Taylor T.

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Welcome to the forum!

Have you tried cinder block walls? stack enough up so that you are confident he will not be able to climb over them, and drive a wood stake or a piece of rebar into the holes in the blocks. Then pack the holes with dirt and it will likely be strong enough.
 

Tom

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You want to have a sulcata and a beautiful yard all at the same time??? :confused::confused::confused:

Get a post hole digger and sink 4x4 pressure treated posts into the ground on 8 foot centers. If you buy 8' posts, you can cut them in three pieces and each one will be 32" long. You can bury 10-11 inches in the ground and then attach either two 2x12' or 16" or 24" strips of 8' plywood between the posts.

16" will hold them and then you get 3 strips for each sheet of plywood, or 24 linear feet for each sheet of plywood. Or if 24" tall walls just makes you feel better, go 24" and get two strips, or 16', for each sheet of ply. The 2x12s are stronger, but a little more expensive, and you will need a lot to make a big pen, since you are using to for every 8 feet.

I try to incorporate walls and fences into the perimeter of my enclosures. Any see through fencing will need to have the bottom 16" lined with plywood, or something similar, for a visual barrier.

I use slumpstone blocks stacked 3 high to contain mine, but mine grow up behind those blocks and have no idea they can move them when they are bigger. If your tortoise has already learned to test the walls and had success pushing through, stacked blocks will not hold him.
 

Hugo's Home

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Tom's idea is by far the best and cheapest option I would say!
This is what I did using old roofing tin since the materials were free.
20170801_152517.jpg
Can you spot hugo?
 
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Tom

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Len makes a great point. I encircle any plants or trees I want to save from the sulcatas with blocks stacked 3 high.
 

Hutsie B

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these are all cool ideas. I will be building the larger enclosure for my torts this summer. we have horse fencing and I need to make a fence for torts. thanks for all the ideas.
 

Jay Bagley

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Hello All,
We have an 8 year old 50 pound African Spurred Tortoise. He is eating all my native plants and I don't want him to. I am to the point where I am thinking of giving him to someone else just so he doesn't tear up my yard. In the past we have made enclosures for him, but he's so strong that he seems to plough through them, or I am worried he will flip himself or harm himself trying to get out of them. Any advice about how to make a safe fence that will contain him? He currently has the run of 1/2 acre. Thanks in advance for advice.

Jane
Kryptonite. Just joking.[emoji4]
 

Yvonne G

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Hello All,
We have an 8 year old 50 pound African Spurred Tortoise. He is eating all my native plants and I don't want him to. I am to the point where I am thinking of giving him to someone else just so he doesn't tear up my yard. In the past we have made enclosures for him, but he's so strong that he seems to plough through them, or I am worried he will flip himself or harm himself trying to get out of them. Any advice about how to make a safe fence that will contain him? He currently has the run of 1/2 acre. Thanks in advance for advice.

Jane
Hi Jane, and welcome to the Forum!

What most people don't realize is once a sulcata knows there's more to his world on the other side of the fence, it's hard to contain him inside that fence. He now knows there's land all over his half acre, and no amount of fencing is going to keep him away from all that land. It's best to never allow a sulcata to see what's on the other side of the fence. Now that he knows, it's going to take cement and a very sturdy fence, not a see through type, to contain him. And even then, he's going to try to climb, push or dig past the fence.
 

SULCY

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I also use the corrugated steel roofing panels and so far has worked really \well and very easy to just add another section to the enclosure. The ones I used were 12 feet long.
 

Jane Nelsen

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Dec 10, 2017
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Sierra Madre, California
Hello All,
We have an 8 year old 50 pound African Spurred Tortoise. He is eating all my native plants and I don't want him to. I am to the point where I am thinking of giving him to someone else just so he doesn't tear up my yard. In the past we have made enclosures for him, but he's so strong that he seems to plough through them, or I am worried he will flip himself or harm himself trying to get out of them. Any advice about how to make a safe fence that will contain him? He currently has the run of 1/2 acre. Thanks in advance for advice.

Jane
Thank you so much for all the replies. Wow, I am really not sure what we'll do at this point.
 

Big Charlie

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We put a row of these to block off access to part of our yard.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/8-3-4-in-x-10-3-4-in-x-10-3-4-in-Concrete-Pier-Block-100014754/100321948
It was an area Charlie used to go often. We've haven't had a problem with him trying to move these. They are pretty heavy.
Well, we thought these were working, until this morning I found Charlie on the wrong side of them! Does he look like he is gloating? I might change his name to Houdini! JK! I thought I was going to have to move them out of the way for him to get out, but I went away for 15 minutes and the next thing I know he was happily roaming the yard. I would have loved to see how he maneuvered over them. We'll be building a new higher, more solid, barrier this weekend.charlie 2018 4 26 003.jpg
 

Theodorian66

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We have a steel fence with a brick/cement base. On the outside we have large rocks lined up against the fence, and on the inside boards secured to the fence about 2 feet high to block view.
Ours is still a baby, but it's better to get prepared sooner than later haha
 
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