Hey everyone! Last weekend i finished the first of my two new tort enclosures! The one pictured is for the cali derest tort and the sulcata one is still under construction so until i finish it the torts will be sharing (dont worry i should be done in a few days!). Both the enclosures will have the same design and everything. Right now the torts are just staying in there during the day and coming in at night to sleep in their terrarium. I live in santa monica, ca so it still gets a little too cold for them at night right now (low 50s). Im hoping that by summer they can stay they 24/7 with a heat lamp for the chillier nights. On sunday i sprinkled myix of dandelion, arugula, and mustard greens on one half of the enclosure and four days later theyre already sprouting! You can also see my cute little torts in some of the pictures (dozer is the sulcata, pancake is the cdt). So far i think they like it though! Suggestions? Thanks!
New outdoor enclosure!
- Thread starter petlover
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Nice! I like the top for predator protection. Shade is equally important as sunshine.
DITTO 
mine is outside 24/7. it gets cold in the wild too. they dont get brought inside.. they just dont come out as much.. I think its more natural.. im talking DT here..
my sulcatas hve heat.. although.. im sure it gets cold in africa too..so I wonder if they could somewhat acclimate here as well..
my sulcatas hve heat.. although.. im sure it gets cold in africa too..so I wonder if they could somewhat acclimate here as well..
ALDABRAMAN said:
Thanks! For most of the day, there is shade from a tree on one side of the enclosure (as you see in some pics). There are also some hides and a piece of tarp that covers the water bowl and a corner.
I forgot to mention a few things... First of all it is 4x8 feet. I transplanted some fully grown dandelions as you can probably see. I took them from my neighbor who didnt spray them or use fertilizer and he was happy to get rid of them
! I also have an aloe vera plant in the back that they can use for a bit of shade if they dont want to use the hides and they can munch on it if they want.Laura said:
Ya i figures it wouldnt do any harm for them to stay outside but in such a spoiler
Looks great!
Laura said:
Laura, I grew up right next door to Santa Monica. It's pretty cold and clammy beach weather there. In this case I think the CDT would be better of with some heat at night, if left outside.
I love what you've done there. Nice job.
You mark my words, in a few weeks, you are going to have an arugula jungle there. That stuff grows like crazy. It makes great shade and a tasty snack all at the same time.
Tom said:
Thanks! I really hope that happens! Seems like a great type of plant to grow in an enclosure! They love arugula too so im crossing fingers!
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That is exactly what we are getting ready to build for our cdt. What type of soil/sand did you use? What did you use for his hides? That looks really good. We live in Norco.
fergusonfam5 said:
Thanks you! The substrate is just plain old dirt from our backyard. It's not fertilized and not the best for growing unless youix it with some normal mulch (which we used for the growing side). For the hides, we went to a landscape specialty store and got some round terra cotta pipe-like things (sorry, i dont know what theyre called!). Post pics when you finish it!
fergusonfam5 said:
Hi fergusonfam5:
Won't you take a few moments to start a new thread in the "introductions" section and tell us a bit about yourself?
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