New Outdoor Enclosure

[mrhoyo]

Just finished our first ever outdoor enclosure for our first ever tortoise and thought I'd share. The only thing left to do is add some mesh to the lids.
Overall it's 3.2m x 1m so not huge but neither is he (only a year old)

 

[mrhoyo]

Posted one of the photos twice but here's Sheldon anyway:

 

[mini_max]

Really nice job!

 

[mrhoyo]

Thanks, it took a while.

 

[Yvonne G]

Wow...nice job!! He'll be very happy in there.

 

[DawnH]

That looks SO great!!! You really did a fantastic job! How does he like it?

 

[mrhoyo]

That looks SO great!!! You really did a fantastic job! How does he like it?

He hasn't been in yet but hopefully will be exploring this weekend. We've been reluctant to put him in until the mesh arrives as there are a lot of cats and birds around here.

 

[Oxalis]

Wow, awesome enclosure! He's going to love it! I'm glad he'll be safe with the mesh. I especially like all the rocks you added; I should add more to mine too. The bamboo fencing in the background is pretty great too!

 

[mrhoyo]

Well he's been finally been able to have some outdoor time. He wandered around exploring for a couple of hours, had a nibble on some seedlings and a dried flower but is currently sleeping under a geranium.

 

[mrhoyo]

Tapatalk has multiplied one of the photos again [emoji20]

 

[Jodie]

Nicely done! I like all the plants and different divided areas. It is very pretty and functional.

 

[mrhoyo]

It's grown a lot over the summer and become a bit of a wildflife refuge. Just this morning I've seen millipedes, two species of spider, a weevil, springtails, a bee, a hoverfly, a couple of earthworms and unfortunately several cabbage white butterflies, caterpillars, about 6 snails and tonnes of slugs.
Any ideas how to deter the slugs and snails? I can stop the butterflies getting in with some fine mesh if I need to but it's really the molluscs I want to prevent.

 

[mrhoyo]

Well we're on year two now and a new batch of weeds. I have absolutely no idea what any of them are, any ideas? The weather has been awful so far this year so Sheldon hasn't been out much. I've attached some pictures of him, does he look ok?
https://imgur.com/a/kgJza

 

[BrianWI]

For slugs make a beer trap.

I have been told copper tape generates enough electrical activity to keep slugs from crossing it.

 

[LaRue]

For slugs make a beer trap.

I have been told copper tape generates enough electrical activity to keep slugs from crossing it.

The snails around here are out if control. The beer traps catches a few, but sadly I find hand picking them off far better. Maybe I need a better beer?

 

[BrianWI]

The snails around here are out if control. The beer traps catches a few, but sadly I find hand picking them off far better. Maybe I need a better beer?

I hear snails like Miller Genuine Draft. Even snails can't stand Budweiser.

 

[mrhoyo]

Beer traps are a good idea, don't know why I haven't put any in already. The tape could be interesting, I'd have to staple it in as I don't think the self adhesive variety will keep up with an English 'summer'.

 

[mrhoyo]

Anyone have any idea on what the weeds are?

 

[Oxalis]

Anyone have any idea on what the weeds are?

Not offhand, but my rule of thumb is generally to remove any plants from my tort enclosure if I don't know what they are. Steve has a large enclosure with plenty to eat so I'd hate to take a chance by keeping a plant that ends up making him sick, or worse.

Another tip I have is to put down Popsicle stick markers in the spring when I first plant seeds or baby plants. I will forget what they are months later if they don't sprout or bloom until later in the season. The only problem I have with the sticks is that they come up from the ground in the winter because the dirt freezes. I'm getting better at identifying my plants though! You could also draw a "map" of your garden on paper and then divide that up into a grid. In each grid you can identify the plant(s) growing there. Unfortunately, I have removed plants I wanted to keep by accident, but it happens.

For plant identification, I sometimes use the "Ask an Expert" feature from the Michigan State University Agriculture Dept: https://ask.extension.org/ask You can submit a photo with your question. Be sure to include your location.

 

[BrianWI]

The viney one with purple flowers is crown vetch.

One of the others looks like basil.​