New Russian tortoise enclosure, FINALLY FINISHED!!! Cost - $10!!!

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Kristina

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Thanks again!

I'll take new pictures in a couple of weeks, once the sod melds back together and the lines in between the pieces disappear. It was like putting together a giant puzzle.
 

webskipper

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Kids are still wearing jackets :) Too warm to wear much here in AZ. 95F.

Really nice. Great creativity.

All I'm worried about is some jerk (dog or kid) stepping on the cave. Can you rebuild it with a milk crate as the structure? You can bury it some or saw it to make it shorter. Use a saw, see?

Many people will bury a bucket and build the rock cave over it.
 

Kristina

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The only kids that would have access to it are mine, and they are not jerks, lol. The entire yard is being fenced at this time.

The support for the cave is NOT the garbage can. It is very thick pieces of cement. The garbage can was more of a liner, to make sure that the rough edges of the cement did not scratch their shells. Think of it like cinder blocks holding the top rock, basically it is the same idea. I really don't think that a milk crate is going to stronger than cement blocks.

The base of the pen itself is pieces of cement. We dug the sod out, and laid the cement in the hole, roughly two inches apart. It raised the pen slightly and allows for drainage, at the same time keeping the Russians from digging out.

KristinasPictures203.jpg


This pic shows the two side supports for the top rock of the hide.

KristinasPictures216.jpg


I stood on top of it to make sure it was secure, and I am no lightweight, lol. If my considerable weight did not shift it, my little girls wouldn't either. And they flat out know better than to put their feet in there :)

I do appreciate the concern, and I would agree with you if I was just using the garbage can as support, but honestly, that top rock would have squashed it flat the second I set it on top of it. It is the cement holding the weight.
 

webskipper

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I was referring to "other people's children". It's always "other people's children".

Maybe I was being presumptuous. That's quite a project and it looks great.
 
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