Jet's new summer digs

[Laijla]

I finally finished up Jet's enclosure for the summer. It's 3'x5' with hardware mesh top and bottom. It sits in a dense shade area that gets just 2-3 hours morning sun. I planted various weeds and a few plants I dug up from around the yard. Plus, I scattered a few mix green seeds - maybe they'll come up? maybe they won't? worth a try. The plants are small now but should offer decent cover pretty soon. In the far back left I have a plastic tub upside down covered with cypress mulch + sphagnum moss inside and to the middle right I have a curved upturned stone stuffed with sphagnum moss (two hides). I covered enclosure with 100% cypress. I put Jet out and he went 'bug huntin' and found a juicy slug "yum" right off the bat --- if he could talk I'm pretty sure he'd say he likes it!
I'm too chicken to leave him out at night yet, even after I went through the trouble of getting it as predator proof as possible... and again, if he could talk, I think he'd say I DON'T WANNA GO BACK INSIDE!
Now I have to finish this viv I've been talkin about

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sorry, pics did not take - let me try again!

I finally finished up Jet's enclosure for the summer. It's 3'x5' with hardware mesh top and bottom. It sits in a dense shade area that gets just 2-3 hours morning sun. I planted various weeds and a few plants I dug up from around the yard. Plus, I scattered a few mix green seeds - maybe they'll come up? maybe they won't? worth a try. The plants are small now but should offer decent cover pretty soon. In the far back left I have a plastic tub upside down covered with cypress mulch + sphagnum moss inside and to the middle right I have a curved upturned stone stuffed with sphagnum moss (two hides). I covered enclosure with 100% cypress. I put Jet out and he went 'bug huntin' and found a juicy slug "yum" right off the bat --- if he could talk I'm pretty sure he'd say he likes it!
I'm too chicken to leave him out at night yet, even after I went through the trouble of getting it as predator proof as possible... and again, if he could talk, I think he'd say I DON'T WANNA GO BACK INSIDE!
Now I have to finish this viv I've been talkin about

---

My apologies, hope this works, I forgot how to post from photo bucket!

 

[ChiKat]

WOW it's amazing!!! Look at all the space! He looks so teeny
That is an incredible enclosure. Do you want to come to Illinois and build one for Nelson?!
That is exactly what I want for him!!
Jet is one lucky little guy

 

[Laijla]

Thanks for the thumbs up I decided on a design from something similar I saw on turtletails.com - Jet's enclosure cost about $50-60 in materials (everything was new so I bet you could do it cheaper with scrap materials) but the handiwork was from a friend of mine. It was a simple design but still took a couple hours to put together. You're IL ?? I'm in Kentucky so not a far stretch
I think this should fit his needs this summer and hopefully next? It's 3'x5' and he is 2 3/4" long now... he does look teeny-tiny in there (for now). I was thinking I could possibly saw a hole in the side later on and use the whole thing as a semi 'hide' when he is an adult - place a concrete block to cover the hole and keep him in there at night as a safe haven from predators... for now, you can see the dense thicket in the back (behind enclosure)... even as an adult I would have a heck of a time finding him if he got back there. In fact I've found a few box turtles in my back yard from time to time so I'm thinking that thicket is their home. I'll have to be extra diligent having Jet checked for parasites to protect him and the native residents as well...

WOW it's amazing!!! Look at all the space! He looks so teeny
That is an incredible enclosure. Do you want to come to Illinois and build one for Nelson?!
That is exactly what I want for him!!
Jet is one lucky little guy

 

[Espeonage]

That is such an awesome idea! Is there any way you could post the specs for the enclosure? I would love to take credit for that ingenious design and build my little guy the same thing!

 

[terracolson]

i want one of those boxes for my bearded dragon....

 

[Laijla]

That is such an awesome idea! Is there any way you could post the specs for the enclosure? I would love to take credit for that ingenious design and build my little guy the same thing!

I got the main idea from turtletails.com - a site Terryo mentioned and it has some COOL ideas in this section he mentions the dimensions he used:
http://turtle_tails.tripod.com/raisingbabyturtles/tour9.htm

I followed his suggestions for the hardware cloth grid sizes top and bottom. In the end, I did not get pressure treated wood. If I could have found some used (sat out a year) I would have preferred it but felt uncomfortable with chemicals/poisons that would be leeching awhile
I did seal the outside with a clear deck sealer and coated the inside with a soy-poly sealant (don't know how well it will work - time will tell). My dimensions worked out 3'x5' and 13" tall. Also, if you look at the 2nd, 3rd, 4th pics you'll see these 1.5"x3" tile counter top samples (Home Depot or Lowes?). They were old or discontinued styles/colors. I have a box of them and they worked real well for stabilzing the saucer of water and reduce debris from getting in. The box was a bit trial and error, we'll see how it holds up but even 2 seasons out of it will make me happy.

 

[Espeonage]

That is such an awesome idea! Is there any way you could post the specs for the enclosure? I would love to take credit for that ingenious design and build my little guy the same thing!

I got the main idea from turtletails.com - a site Terryo mentioned and it has some COOL ideas in this section he mentions the dimensions he used:
http://turtle_tails.tripod.com/raisingbabyturtles/tour9.htm

I followed his suggestions for the hardware cloth grid sizes top and bottom. In the end, I did not get pressure treated wood. If I could have found some used (sat out a year) I would have preferred it but felt uncomfortable with chemicals/poisons that would be leeching awhile
I did seal the outside with a clear deck sealer and coated the inside with a soy-poly sealant (don't know how well it will work - time will tell). My dimensions worked out 3'x5' and 13" tall. Also, if you look at the 2nd, 3rd, 4th pics you'll see these 1.5"x3" tile counter top samples (Home Depot or Lowes?). They were old or discontinued styles/colors. I have a box of them and they worked real well for stabilzing the saucer of water and reduce debris from getting in. The box was a bit trial and error, we'll see how it holds up but even 2 seasons out of it will make me happy.

Good stuff! Thank you, Laijla, I'll be looking into this asap, my baby is itching for some comfortable outdoor time that doesn't involve a 30 minute trist with a pile of endive and a paper plate to sit on. Lol.

 

[Angi]

I finally finished up Jet's enclosure for the summer. It's 3'x5' with hardware mesh top and bottom. It sits in a dense shade area that gets just 2-3 hours morning sun. I planted various weeds and a few plants I dug up from around the yard. Plus, I scattered a few mix green seeds - maybe they'll come up? maybe they won't? worth a try. The plants are small now but should offer decent cover pretty soon. In the far back left I have a plastic tub upside down covered with cypress mulch + sphagnum moss inside and to the middle right I have a curved upturned stone stuffed with sphagnum moss (two hides). I covered enclosure with 100% cypress. I put Jet out and he went 'bug huntin' and found a juicy slug "yum" right off the bat --- if he could talk I'm pretty sure he'd say he likes it!
I'm too chicken to leave him out at night yet, even after I went through the trouble of getting it as predator proof as possible... and again, if he could talk, I think he'd say I DON'T WANNA GO BACK INSIDE!
Now I have to finish this viv I've been talkin about

---

sorry, pics did not take - let me try again!

I finally finished up Jet's enclosure for the summer. It's 3'x5' with hardware mesh top and bottom. It sits in a dense shade area that gets just 2-3 hours morning sun. I planted various weeds and a few plants I dug up from around the yard. Plus, I scattered a few mix green seeds - maybe they'll come up? maybe they won't? worth a try. The plants are small now but should offer decent cover pretty soon. In the far back left I have a plastic tub upside down covered with cypress mulch + sphagnum moss inside and to the middle right I have a curved upturned stone stuffed with sphagnum moss (two hides). I covered enclosure with 100% cypress. I put Jet out and he went 'bug huntin' and found a juicy slug "yum" right off the bat --- if he could talk I'm pretty sure he'd say he likes it!
I'm too chicken to leave him out at night yet, even after I went through the trouble of getting it as predator proof as possible... and again, if he could talk, I think he'd say I DON'T WANNA GO BACK INSIDE!
Now I have to finish this viv I've been talkin about

---

My apologies, hope this works, I forgot how to post from photo bucket!

---

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[terryo]

Glad you liked that site. It is one of my favorites. Your enclosure is so great, and he has plenty of room to grow. I love the Creeping Jenny. I even put some in my indoor enclosures, because they can walk all over it and it lasts. What a good job you did.

 

[Laijla]

Glad you liked that site. It is one of my favorites. Your enclosure is so great, and he has plenty of room to grow. I love the Creeping Jenny. I even put some in my indoor enclosures, because they can walk all over it and it lasts. What a good job you did.

Thanks Terry You've been so helpful with site references and ideas. I have some creeping jenny and irish moss for the indoor viv too. I also added some native moss growing in the thicket behind him around the water dish - hope it takes
I planted hostas, violas, plantain, dandelions, mixed green seeds (fingers x they take!) creeping jenny, irish moss and a petticoat fern. In the far back corner which is the only area that gets any strong sun (and probably not enough) I put portulaca, hens -n- chicks and a strawberry plant. I also threw some kalanchoe seedlings in there but just read they are toxic? I thought they were safe? UGH! I'll play the devil to get all the seedlings up. Its from a mother of million plant and I heard they can cause heart palpitations in torts and turtles. Wonderful I'll dig them out as soon as I get home! In a sunny part of the yard I am growing roses, Rose of Sharon, pumpkin, squash and tropical hibiscus for him to chow on. Trying to spoil him best I can

 

[Stephanie Logan]

Very pretty. Jet looks like the king of his castle there striding around.

 

[Laijla]

Very pretty. Jet looks like the king of his castle there striding around.

I think he is and there is not a slug in sight that is safe

 

[DeanS]

very nice indeed! SLUGS BEWARE!