new enclosure

[elevatorjunky]

Hi,been lurking a while and found good ideas for a enclosure.I have moved to Acton CA from Simi CA a few months ago and had to build a new home for our two DT'S.We got them the day they hatched on oct 11 2003.I had them living in a 3'x8' enclosure.with our new property i found a nice little 20'x13' spot next to our garage to house Tic and Toc
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e292/elevatorjunky/desert tortoises/deserttortoisehabitat014.jpg
I started by trenching 18 inches deep around the three open sides and putting rabbit guard in the full depth then building two fences.one for the habitat border and one shorter one 3 feet along that for a dedicated food garden for them.
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e292/elevatorjunky/desert tortoises/deserttortoisehabitat006.jpg
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e292/elevatorjunky/desert tortoises/deserttortoisehabitat007.jpg
I then laid six inches of mojave desert dirt in the enclosure to prevent the possibility of flooding.I took a 3x8' box made with 2x10 pressure treated and a 1" thick plywood top for the base of the burrow.I then divided it into two 2x2 foot summer homes south facing and two 2x6 winter homes north facing.For the entrances i cut 5g buckets in half cut half circles in the burrow and screwed the buckets to the enclosures.
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e292/elevatorjunky/desert tortoises/deserttortoisehabitat010.jpg
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e292/elevatorjunky/desert tortoises/deserttortoisehabitat008.jpg
I then planted two creosote bushes"they died"and built a small spring "which cannot possibly hold more than 2 inches of water"around the spring i placed small rocks for texture I compacted them flat so they can be walked on
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e292/elevatorjunky/desert tortoises/deserttortoisehabitat012.jpg
I filled the burrows with mojave soil so the tortoises can barely fit in and turn around screwed the lid on and burried it under a foot of dirt
I added privacy slats 2 foot high on the chain link so they cant see out and planted summer seed mixture in the garden"not growing so good"
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e292/elevatorjunky/desert tortoises/deserttortoisehabitat005.jpg
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e292/elevatorjunky/desert tortoises/deserttortoisehabitat003.jpg
More to come have to go to a birthday party

 

[Greg T]

Wow! That is one nice habitat. I'm sure they will love being in there. Thanks for sharing and including pics!

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Elevator Junky: Can we know your name? You have done a really nice job on your desert tortoise habitat. It sounds like you've taken everything into consideration. The burrows look cool and the extra dirt to keep the water out is good. You can go to www.turtlestuff.com/ or www.carolinapetsupply.com/ and buy a seed mixture to plant for the tortoises. The mixture from turtle stuff is actually compiled for desert tortoises. The owner of this place lives near the Mojave desert and gathers seed (with permission) from the desert. If you wait to plant until the tortoises are hibernating, it will give the little plantlets a chance to grow before the tortoises eat them down to the roots!!

Welcome to the forum. You are going to be a welcome addition to our little family of tortoise people!

Yvonne

 

[Crazy1]

Welcome to the forum and what a great enclosure you are creating. An enclosure any respectable DT would love to inhabit.
Remember a lot of desert plants get planted in the fall or winter as this is the re-seeding time in the desert here in CA. So some plants may not do really well until it cools a bit. Also you might want to look into the two sites Yvonne has mentioned for seeds, and perhaps organic plant food. And yes I agree with Yvonne I'm sure you will be a welcome addition to the forum.

 

[Isa]

Welcome to the forum.

The enclosure you made looks very nice. I am sure your torts will love it.

 

[elevatorjunky]

Thanks for the nice replies.I have actually already bought 1 ounce of Desert Tortoise mixture from the theodore payne foundation.I will plant this very soon.I also bought 1/4 ounce of the warm grass mixture which is what i planted already.The creosote's were planted back in june but they did not take.I harvested them from the mojave myself.These are not for eating just for the real Mojave landscape.I tried to germinate seeds which I also purchased from the TPF but they would die after a week or two.Just not lucky with these.I will get more 1 footers this month and see how they do.
My largest problem was trying to keep the squirrels out.I ended up having to put 1/4 inch weldwire around the enclosure.I found the squirrels trying to share the burrows and did not want to stress out Tic and Toc.They fit right through the rabbit guard.I also blamed them for eating their food"which they might have been"until I discovered the torts are unbelievable eaters they eat a ton.
One thing which i should already have done is put the screen over the top.I have some aircraft cable and pond netting"black cheap netting to keep birds out of Koi ponds",I guess they have raven problems to.My torts are 5 but I still worry especially since there is a roost on a large rock face not more than 500' away.I think the dogs keep them at bey but my dogs actually have no access to the enclosure.
I sort of designed the enclosure to be able to split in half in case of fighting but even in a small house these torts have been the best of buds and their are plenty of burrows.There is a large hill in the middle to keep line of sight down as well.
I have been kicking around maybe taking on one or two more it seems like no more work and even more reward.It would be illegal to keep them but maybe a foster situation would work.I have the perfect place right next to this enclosure for another.It would probobally be to cramped to add a stranger in this.My habitat is on the small side for a two tort enclosure according to what I have read.Even though it is over 260sqft.Thoughts and opinions on this would be apreciated,maybe a seperate thread in another forum.
Anyway it has been a pleasure meeting and learning from you all.I have read so much here and have found so many great resources I will never get bored.
http://www.theodorepayne.org/ great link

 

[Josh]

welcome to TFO! thats a real nice enclosure you've built for your DTs. its great to see another local SoCal member join us. we're going to have our first TFO meeting in November in the Pasadena area, maybe you can make it down! check the events forum for more info

 

[jlyoncc1]

Welcome to the forum! Great enclosure!!

 

[AWAaviatrix]

Thanks for the nice replies.I have actually already bought 1 ounce of Desert Tortoise mixture from the theodore payne foundation.I will plant this very soon.I also bought 1/4 ounce of the warm grass mixture which is what i planted already.The creosote's were planted back in june but they did not take.I harvested them from the mojave myself.These are not for eating just for the real Mojave landscape.I tried to germinate seeds which I also purchased from the TPF but they would die after a week or two.Just not lucky with these.I will get more 1 footers this month and see how they do.
My largest problem was trying to keep the squirrels out.I ended up having to put 1/4 inch weldwire around the enclosure.I found the squirrels trying to share the burrows and did not want to stress out Tic and Toc.They fit right through the rabbit guard.I also blamed them for eating their food"which they might have been"until I discovered the torts are unbelievable eaters they eat a ton.
One thing which i should already have done is put the screen over the top.I have some aircraft cable and pond netting"black cheap netting to keep birds out of Koi ponds",I guess they have raven problems to.My torts are 5 but I still worry especially since there is a roost on a large rock face not more than 500' away.I think the dogs keep them at bey but my dogs actually have no access to the enclosure.
I sort of designed the enclosure to be able to split in half in case of fighting but even in a small house these torts have been the best of buds and their are plenty of burrows.There is a large hill in the middle to keep line of sight down as well.
I have been kicking around maybe taking on one or two more it seems like no more work and even more reward.It would be illegal to keep them but maybe a foster situation would work.I have the perfect place right next to this enclosure for another.It would probobally be to cramped to add a stranger in this.My habitat is on the small side for a two tort enclosure according to what I have read.Even though it is over 260sqft.Thoughts and opinions on this would be apreciated,maybe a seperate thread in another forum.
Anyway it has been a pleasure meeting and learning from you all.I have read so much here and have found so many great resources I will never get bored.
http://www.theodorepayne.org/ great link

Very nice natural setting. You did a fantastic job!

Misty in NM
7 Star's
5 Sulcata's
1 Leopard