In-ground soaking pool for my Desert Tortoise

Ariza

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Angela, could you post a pic of the concrete soaker that you made, the one being used by the ravens now? I might try making something like that. BUT, in the summer mold builds up in the water and with the rough surface isn't it a problem?

My father once built an outdoor laundry sink/tub by making a mold in the ground and then pouring concrete on it. Then he lifted the thing and righted it and voila, he had a sink.
 

JohnnyB65

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The funny thing about this corner is that it only gets about an hour of sun in the morning and was the reason why I didn’t think of it before. I thought the water would be too cold except for in the middle of the summer.

We originally had large flower pots arranged around the area as a small rock garden with a garden table and chairs, but we never could get anything to grow in that spot. Now I just store my portable fencing up against the wall there.
 

JohnnyB65

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......
My father once built an outdoor laundry sink/tub by making a mold in the ground and then pouring concrete on it. Then he lifted the thing and righted it and voila, he had a sink.
I did that way back in my younger years while going to college to make extra money. I built a large boat shaped thing for making concrete cow stanchions. There were 6 -16ft long stanchions that were made with one large wooden form that I pulled out with a fork lift. It was just a onetime job but I really had a lot of fun doing it. I ended up with a little more work installing steel cables across the front because the cows were climbing into it. It was a learning experience and it’s too bad I never had a chance to make more.
 

ascott

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Angela, could you post a pic of the concrete soaker that you made, the one being used by the ravens now? I might try making something like that. BUT, in the summer mold builds up in the water and with the rough surface isn't it a problem?

My father once built an outdoor laundry sink/tub by making a mold in the ground and then pouring concrete on it. Then he lifted the thing and righted it and voila, he had a sink.


Yes....give me a minute....:D
 

ascott

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Angela, could you post a pic of the concrete soaker that you made, the one being used by the ravens now? I might try making something like that. BUT, in the summer mold builds up in the water and with the rough surface isn't it a problem?

My father once built an outdoor laundry sink/tub by making a mold in the ground and then pouring concrete on it. Then he lifted the thing and righted it and voila, he had a sink.


waterer for ravens.jpg

I ran out and took a quick pic...the automatic waterer and timer is no longer on the waterer after I moved it from its original location...so I do it the old fashion way...I take a hose and stick my thumb on the end...spray out the muck for the most part and then lay the hose as you see it...let the new water flush out the old....as for the roughness of the waterer...It was made that was originally so that the tortoise would have traction in and out...so it is a desirable feature....also, there is no reason to scrub it out or wash it with anything because the water is changed out every couple of days or even daily as summer heats up full on....
 

Ariza

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{{...It was made that was originally so that the tortoise would have traction in and out...so it is a desirable feature.}} Yes, that would be a plus, never thought of that. I think I'll try something like that in the pic, will have to make sure it's no deeper than 2 inches. Thanks for the pic!
 

ascott

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{{...It was made that was originally so that the tortoise would have traction in and out...so it is a desirable feature.}} Yes, that would be a plus, never thought of that. I think I'll try something like that in the pic, will have to make sure it's no deeper than 2 inches. Thanks for the pic!

At the time it was made, the tortoise could nearly submerge his entire shell (the very top of the dome could still be seen)...and that was ad the very center of the soaker...and the edges of course gradually became shallow ...so the tortoise had the choice to submerge of walk outwards to be in a much more shallow area....
 

JohnnyB65

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So I'm going to make mine tomorrow if it doesn't rain. I'm a little confused about the depth because I heard 6 inches and now I'm hearing 2 inches.
 

Yvonne G

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If you have the sides sloping nicely, and not steep, you can make it deep enough to come up to the middle of the tortoise's sides. Some of them really like it deeper, but you won't know if he wants deep until you test it out.
 

JohnnyB65

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If you have the sides sloping nicely, and not steep, you can make it deep enough to come up to the middle of the tortoise's sides. Some of them really like it deeper, but you won't know if he wants deep until you test it out.
Thanks Yvonne,
Well I just checked the weather because it feels like rain, but it’s just going to be cold at 44° low and 63° high with 24 mph winds. The winds are going to be a problem because I don't want concrete mix blowing all over the place and my fish pond is close by so I’ll have to wait to mix the concrete mix until a calm day..
 

Ariza

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Johnny, from what Ascott and Yvonne said, I seem to be wrong with the two inches limit. I think I'll make it 6 inches deep in the middle and leave it up to Ariza how deep she goes. Since the surface will be rough she'll have no trouble getting to the shallower sides. Good luck with yours, post pics when you get it done.
 

JohnnyB65

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Yesterday turned out to be a really bad day weather wise. It was cold, windy and even rained. The tortoise never even came out.

Today it looks like it might be nice. I just now noticed that the rocks which are his favorite place actually get a lot of sun in the morning and probably warms up the rocks so that might be the reason he likes it so much.

DSCN1899_1_zpsqw55keem.jpg


I’m thinking about either removing the bird bath which is never filled up with water or putting the soak right next to it and maybe keep it full for the birds as well.

Anyway I'm going to wait until it warms up a little before digging it out. :cool:
 

ascott

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Yesterday turned out to be a really bad day weather wise. It was cold, windy and even rained. The tortoise never even came out.

Today it looks like it might be nice. I just now noticed that the rocks which are his favorite place actually get a lot of sun in the morning and probably warms up the rocks so that might be the reason he likes it so much.

DSCN1899_1_zpsqw55keem.jpg


I’m thinking about either removing the bird bath which is never filled up with water or putting the soak right next to it and maybe keep it full for the birds as well.

Anyway I'm going to wait until it warms up a little before digging it out. :cool:


Oh yeah.....that is exactly what I pictured by what you described previously....some rocks with concrete surrounded by walls with stucco...all warm up surfaces --like a really nice basking spot....
 

Ariza

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I think the bird bath is very pretty, would look even prettier with some petunias growing at its base. The splashing water would be good for them and the Tortoises love petunia flowers, mine does. I'd say keep it and fill with water and put the soaker right close to that pipe on the wall on the right. Less work for you, the birds will like it, the tort will have sun and water, and the soak will be good for ground birds, if any, that visit your yard. Just my opinion, am thinking maybe I should do something similar but don't have a corner like that.
 

JohnnyB65

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I think the bird bath is very pretty, would look even prettier with some petunias growing at its base. The splashing water would be good for them and the Tortoises love petunia flowers, mine does. I'd say keep it and fill with water and put the soaker right close to that pipe on the wall on the right. Less work for you, the birds will like it, the tort will have sun and water, and the soak will be good for ground birds, if any, that visit your yard. Just my opinion, am thinking maybe I should do something similar but don't have a corner like that.
I've tried to grow petunias years ago and they never really did well here, but I'll give it another try. We tried to grow a variety of plants in large pots around the walls, but for some reason nothing ever grew in that corner. We eventually pulled the pots out on to a corner of the patio where they grow like crazy..
The birds are always bathing in the torts water bowl and I'm sure they will also be in the soak.
My only problem with the area is that I spray insecticide along the bottom of the wall to keep ants and terminates out of the house so I'm going to have to come up with a way to keep the tortoise away from the wall.
 

Ciri

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One idea I've liked for providing water for desert tortoises is to dig a few depressions in the soil, and assuming you have dirt with some clay content like we do here in southern Arizona. Rainwater or water from the hose can fill up the shallow hole in the soil. It can be left to dry out in (assuming it gets direct sun) between fillings, so that kills off anything that otherwise might grow in the water. This is the low tech, low energy option. I kind of like that feature. I don't know if it would work in your California soil.
 

JohnnyB65

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Thanks Ciri! The soil here is very sandy and water percolates pretty fast. I have pipes all around my trees with drain caps to do deep root watering and the water drains very quickly when filling them up. I’ve had to dig up around the pipes to add water absorbent material in order to slowly release the water to the roots. Concrete or plastic containers are really the only way to keep the water in place in this soil.

I’ve been trying to keep this particular area dry under the rocks to keep the neighbors pine trees from coming under my block wall. The original owners of the house next door planted pine trees right next to the wall and I’ve been fighting the roots ever since. Another neighbor had a lawn along the same wall right up to the wall and the tree roots actually lifted up the wall and then busted it into pieces during a wind storm.

I’m terrified that the trees are going to do the same thing on my wall so I don’t have any vegetation that’s not in pots near this wall. I also have 4” drains under the rock through heavy plastic to drain any rain water to the street from the rock area.
 

Ciri

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You've obviously got this very well figured out. I'm really lucky that I haven't had to deal with that level of complexity in planning my backyard. It sounds challenging.
 

JohnnyB65

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You've obviously got this very well figured out. I'm really lucky that I haven't had to deal with that level of complexity in planning my backyard. It sounds challenging.
Well I’ve had 20yrs to work it all out and I have personally dug up every square inch of my entire yard for irrigation, underground electrical and drainage pipes a couple of different times. I once even dug by hand a swimming pool for the kids and then I removed it when they grew up. One of these days I’ll move out of here to a larger piece of property and then I’ll need a tractor or something. LOL

IMG_0033.jpg


Oh and I did have a little help from the grand kids. :)

JessicaampTyler_zpskul6sh4b.jpg
 

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