New outside enclosure, does it look okay so far?

[chaseswife]

I finally just decided to go for it and bought some new cement blocks. Does this look okay? It is 14 blocks (8x 8x16 size) with 2 crib sides over top. I am not done yet, it isn't even in the right spot in the yard yet!

Questions: I read 1 post about the cement blocks damaging the tortoise shells. Is this true? Would it help to paint the blocks and make them not quite as rough? And if I painted them just because I wanted to, is there any harm in painting them?

 

[wellington]

Looking good so far. This is for a sulcata? How big? Sulcatas dig, so you may want to lay some type of fencing down before you lay the bricks. The bricks will scratch and ware on their shells, as they usually will walk the fence line, or brick line lol, I'm not sure what if anything anyone has done to prevent this. Hopefully someone will have an idea. If you paint them, I don't think it will help. If you wanted to paint them anyway, make sure you use proper paint for the material so it doesn't flake off easily and be eaten.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Good basic set up. If the top is to keep out raccoons, keep in mind that they'll be able to fling those off very easily and even overturn the blocks.

 

[chaseswife]

No raccoons, maybe just big stupid birds in the day time. We are in the Arizona desert. This is for Shrimp, our baby sulcata. 91 grams and 2.75 inches long. So he will only be out there for short amounts of time and definitely not over night yet.

 

[Alaskamike]

Well Shrimp should love that. When I put my juvenile leopards out in their enclosure they graze off and on all day.

 

[Tom]

I can't see the pic... Is it my internet connection?

I've never had a problem with blocks as walls in a large enclosure. They don't tend to rub on the walls a lot. Where it can be an issue in if you make a night box out of block where they tuck into a corner and try to push into it all night.

 

[chaseswife]

Adding it a different way, does that help?

 

[bouaboua]

What is the size of the torts you will have in this enclosure? Looks like you have a very big yard and If I would you, I would make it bigger and taller. So I will not have to rebuild it few year after.

 

[chaseswife]

It is just for one little all sulcata- less than 3 inches. We are doing it with the blocks so we can easily expand it. Eventually he will have almost the entire yard.

 

[chaseswife]

I've never had a problem with blocks as walls in a large enclosure. They don't tend to rub on the walls a lot. Where it can be an issue in if you make a night box out of block where they tuck into a corner and try to push into it all night.

Thanks for the reply Tom! Just the walls will be brick. No actual night house yet, but the hides I am putting in will be plastic and Terra cotta for now. I decided to go ahead and paint since 6 of them were already pink from a previous project. I found a cheap gallon of decent exterior paint in a decent color on the "goof shelf" at Walmart.

 

[Tom]

Thanks for the reply Tom! Just the walls will be brick. No actual night house yet, but the hides I am putting in will be plastic and Terra cotta for now. I decided to go ahead and paint since 6 of them were already pink from a previous project. I found a cheap gallon of decent exterior paint in a decent color on the "goof shelf" at Walmart.

I've never done that, so I'll keep looking for updates and how well it works for you and how well it holds up.

 

[leigti]

How wide are the slats in the crib sides? Maybe just put some chicken wire over it to make sure a bird can't reach through there. Speaking from experience of having made a small enclosure and then enlarging it every year I would definitely suggest start framing out the final size that you want.to keep from losing a little tiny tortoise in a big space you can always section it off with cinderblocks until he is big enough to not get lost in the entire thing. but I think this enclosure is very good for now.

 

[chaseswife]

Since the finished size is pretty much the entire yard, I think this counts as sectioning it off! Lol. The whole yard is already fenced in, so we will gradually buy more bricks and expand his space outwards. But i will look into adding something to the slats to make the openings even smaller.

 

[chaseswife]

Not done yet, but making progress. It took an entire gallon of paint to completely cover the 14 blocks. (My family just loved having those on every counter in my kitchen while i painted them!) I had spent too much time planning and buying while i was painting. By the time i put the blocks on the ground again it was much too small for everything I wanted in there! So I bought 4 more blocks to add. And they are just being left unpainted for now. Today I have been adding steer manure/compost mix and some more dirt to the ground. Tomorrow I will be putting in the hide and plants I bought already, and then I will add in seeds and see what other stuff I want (have room) to add. I am already thinking of when I can get away with buying more blocks to extend it even more. I should probably take care of my human kids Christmas stuff before I spend too much more money on Shrimp!

 

[Tom]

I should probably take care of my human kids Christmas stuff before I spend too much more money on Shrimp!

Bahhhh. Your kids are going to leave you in a few years. Shrimp will be still be with you when you die of old age!

 

[johnsonnboswell]

Keep an eye on the paint. Over time, moisture could cause it to flake off. Paint flakes might look like an attractive food.

I use Cinderblocks, too. I like how they allow drainage and can be repositioned when necessary.

 

[chaseswife]

This is what I have got so far. With the plants so small I think i need to add in some more hiding spots. Grazing seed mix is on all of the dirt.

 

[Yvonne G]

That's beautiful! He must be very happy.

 

[Jacqui]

LOL I spent time this summer painting cinder blocks for my leopard zone, you sure go through the paint don't you. Some of mine were old blocks that I took from my Mother's house when she died about 16 years ago, before that they had been used in a building that had been torn down, so they came already painted all those years ago. The paint on them was still holding on, I just wanted a different color and all of my blocks (new and old) to be the same color. The old blocks have only been years for years in the past with redfoots/cherryheads and leopards. None of those rubbed their shells. Have not used them in any of the sulcata enclosures.

I really like the clean look you got in your enclosure using the paint on the blocks. The entire thing is looking good (and will just get better with time). I like the plant variety. What do you have in those triangles? How do you plan to put the cover on over that hibiscus? I agree another hide option would be nice, atleast til the plants fill out a bit. I am guessing the rock/pebble area is actually a water source? Great job and I hope to keep seeing this continue in the future.

 

[chaseswife]

When I dumped out the bag of steer manure and compost it had red ants in it. So shrimp still hasn't been out there yet. I bought some food grade diatamacious earth and used a cup to "sprinkle" it around the perimeter just after I took this picture. Really- it looks like it snowed on parts of the enclosure. I need to find a better way to apply it.