New Balcony Enclosure... Finally!

[pdelpizzo]

So, It was a long time coming but I finally built this balcony enclosure for my smaller Russian tortoise. I bought a cedar planter box and painted it red. Then I stained some pieces of redwood for the cage top and added vinyl coated hardware cloth. I also put a hinged lid with a latch on each of the two front corners. I'm going to use the same kind of latches to attach the cage top to the planter box. I still need to put some staples in the screens (the staple gun I borrowed isn't working) but otherwise it's finished. It's not perfect, partially because I don't have a proper place to work and I had to get the wood cut at home depot. They don't exactly do precision cutting. I also build a hide from the leftover redwood and buried it in a dirt hill with a rock on top. I'm growing a couple different types of clover in their and I also added some Scottish moss plugs and a petunia. I'm sure I'll continue to make changes to the landscaping but I'm happy with the project overall. And more importantly, my wife likes how it looks too! I'm going to introduce Juca to his new summer house this weekend when I'll have time to observe. Check out the photos and let me know what you think!

Patrick

 

[Millerlite]

Looks good! I like it. Not to bad for using home depot cuts I'm in the same boat no where to actually work on things, your little guy is going to love it .

How much sun does it get?

 

[pdelpizzo]

Looks good! I like it. Not to bad for using home depot cuts I'm in the same boat no where to actually work on things, your little guy is going to love it .

How much sun does it get?

Thanks! It gets about 4 hours or so of direct sun a day right now.

 

[pdelpizzo]

I buried a bottomless wooden hide under a mound of dirt with one opening to the front. Do you think I need to add a chimney or something for ventilation?

 

[Millerlite]

That's good amount o sun, my balcony gets very little sun, so I have mine indoors.

And as far as those hides they are fine, turtles and tortoises don't use as much oxygen as a human, they like it dark,

 

[terryo]

That is beautiful! It looks like a piece of furniture.

 

[pdelpizzo]

That is beautiful! It looks like a piece of furniture.

Thanks! I suppose it is furniture.

 

[Jacqui]

I can see why your wife likes it. You did a great job!

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

 

[ascott]

Very cool enclosure....

 

[Momof4]

It came out great!!! Your little guy is going to love it.

 

[l0velesly]

Very neat!!
I wish I had a house with a balcony. It's the perfect spot for sunlight... and almost free from predators or getting stolen.

 

[pdelpizzo]

Thanks for all the compliments! I'm excited to get him out there this weekend! I only wish I had room for his larger healthier brother outside but he's getting by fine in is indoor digs for now. Hopefully it won't be too much longer until I have a yard to fully accommodate them both.

 

[pdelpizzo]

I couldn't wait till the weekend so I came home for lunch and put Juca in the new enclosure. I was surprised how active he was! He went all over the place sampling everything. You'd never know he was the same bullied and malnourished tort! He loved chewing on the clover and the Scottish moss but when he found the petunia it was over. I didn't expect him to jump right in to grazing but he's all over it. Fortunately, I just found an organic nursery 3 miles from my apartment so I'll probably be heading over there this weekend. I'm attaching a photo of him going to town on the petunia flowers.

 

[terryo]

Fantastic! That's the only thing mine will eat ....the petunia's. I also throw in some SpringMix seeds, and mine love eating all the little sprouts that come up.

 

[lynnedit]

I agree, he looks great! What a treat for him, nice to hear he is doing so well.