I am so bummed

[Angi]

Well the Box Turtle enclosure I am making didn't work as well in real life as it did in my head....I am starting over It turns out I should have used a measuring tape, a level and listened to Kristina and put it up on blocks. Grrrr.......
LIVE AND LEARN

 

[Millerlite]

Trial and Error, the best way to learn.

 

[dmmj]

Like my father always said cut twice measure once.

 

[Edna]

Like my father always said cut twice measure once.

As in, "I don't know what's wrong. I've cut it twice and it's still too short!"

 

[Millerlite]

Lol, Cut twice measure once, lol. Measure twice cut once, good laugh

 

[Angi]

I am still not sure what my new plan is. I have removed all the bricks that took me 2 days to bury and I have a big hole. My comptuer crashed so I don't even have software to load pics to F/B. I am using my son's computer. Did I mention my whole body hurts and my house is a mess?

 

[webskipper]

How old is your baby? Maybe we can help design.

If it helps, my friend's adult Aldabra cadabras are in (I think) a 50x50 pen with a picket fence which is maybe 12" high.

Funny thing is that they never got out.

Recently, the water pipe burst and flooded their pen. They were moved to the yard, and then one proceeded to bulldoze her way through the wooden door. His nice neighbors returned the 150lb Tort to the garage while he was driving through the desert looking for a moving black rock.

So you see, it does not take much to keep a Tort in place and the flipside is that it does not take much for a Tort to escape and terrorize the neighborhood cats.

 

[Tom]

I had to go through a lot of that to get to where I am. There are still huge gaps in what I wish I knew, but I'm learning. I hope round two goes better for you.

 

[Angi]

Skipper
It is for my Box Turtle not my torts. I was given a 5'6" X5'6" chain link dog pen. It is chain link on top too, so I thought perfect it will keep predators out. It will still work I just need to level out the area and secure it up on blocks. That is what Kristina sugested to begin with, but I had a picture in my head that just didn't work I still need to dig and lay rabbit wire to keep gophers and snakes out. I thought I was almost to the fun part buying plants and grasses.

 

[Kristina]

Actually I didn't mean ON the blocks, but rather around them.

In other words, dig down and put your blocks in and then add another layer of blocks for a sight barrier, and then have the chain link be all the way around it.

 

[Angi]

Kristina ~ That would shrink my sqaure footage. I am now thinking dig down place blocks EVENLY then place another layer of blocks then secure the pen on top. I think I need a tractor

 

[Millerlite]

just use plywood, dig it into the ground 6 inches, and put it along the fence line after you finish put the fence up. Then drill holes and zip tie it to hold it, they will present them from climbing and looking out. Then add dirt to level it, i always add gardening soil, to help with humidty, maybe make hills etc...

 

[yagyujubei]

If it were me, I would buy 4 2x6-6 treated, and set the kennel right on top of the lumber. Done.

---

You could then add sight barrier. 1/2" x 6" r/s cedar fence pickets work great, just wire to outside of fence, a couple of bucks each at Home Depot. Othwerwise he'll spend all his time trying to walk through the wire.

 

[Angi]

That was my plan Miller. I dug all around it and put bricks then another TFO and F/B friend said to do the plywood thing. Well it just didn't work. It was too uneven. I need to do a better job with the blocks or bricks. I tried to do it with it already in place. I just really screwed it up. Actually that is not the first word that comes to mind, but more appropriate than what I feel like saying......

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Yagi explain in a little more detail. I am not seeing it in my head.

 

[Millerlite]

Ahh, yeah, i redid mine recently, The key is to dig the trenches where you put the wood in to be even. but the block can work too,

 

[Angi]

Ahh, yeah, i redid mine recently, The key is to dig the trenches where you put the wood in to be even. but the block can work too,

Wood would be cheaper but would wood be stong enough?

 

[ChiKat]

Wood would be cheaper but would wood be stong enough?

ha! What a sentence

 

[Millerlite]

Wood would be strong enough, you only have box turtles. I use to build all my box turtle enclosure out of wood, at one point i had 30 plus box turtles, lol. check out my pictures of my wood sides on my new enclosure, the sides are dropped in about 6 inches, and i made it even by just using a spade shovel and making it even as possible.

http://www.turtletimes.com/forums/topic/74505-redid-my-enclosure/

 

[Angi]

Miller~ I could not find anything on the website other than very expenseive looking reptile cages.

---

I found it. Your torts look tiny. Why is the dirt so black? Is it some kind of sand? I was thinking wood would rot outside. I am so confused.

 

[Millerlite]

my enclsoures are fairly cheap my new outdoor enclosure cost 20 dollars,