New T. h. Boettgeri enclosure

[Fishtank307]

Hi!

I've made a new outdoor enclosure for my Hermann's tortoise. I still need to buy a bigger cold frame. Now I just used a small cold frame used for growing herbs. It isn't very practical, but it does get much warmer inside and my tortoise burries herself in at night. If it gets too cold, I just bring her in for now.
The wooden box and cold frame are filled with unfertilized coco peat. The hedge around the enclosure is Taxus baccata, which is toxic. But the root system prevents her from digging underneat the boards. I just have to keep it trimmed. But there is about 20 cm. between the hedge and the enclosure. The ground here is packed with clay and I've noticed she can only dig in some 'soft spots', which I've dug out earlier (In the middle of the enclosure for example). I could barely dig in the chicken wire myself!

Plants:

Lippia dulcis
Thyme
Rosemary
Strawberry plant
Myositis
Geranium endressi (Forget-me-nots?)
Sedum
Cymbopogon citratus
Polytrichum commune (Moss on top of the cave)

My tortoise is aprox. 13 cm. long, CCL. The enclosure faces east, so she can bask in the morning. She gets sun till 6 p.m. When the sun passes our house, the cold house gets sunlight again untill dusk.

I'd appreciate some tips! Especially on building a cold house! Thanks!

 

[Gillian M]

A very warm welcome to the forum!

That's a cue tort you've got - GOD bless. What species is it?

 

[bouaboua]

What a nice enclosure you have built. So lovely. Great work! ! !

 

[Fishtank307]

A very warm welcome to the forum!

That's a cue tort you've got - GOD bless. What species is it?

Thanks! It's a female Testudo Hermanni Boettgeri. She's six years old.

 

[Tort1419]

Maybe put a life with welded wire/ hardware cloth to keep predators out.

Could you give me more details about your cold frame and how it works and how it was constructed.

 

[Fishtank307]

Maybe put a life with welded wire/ hardware cloth to keep predators out.

Could you give me more details about your cold frame and how it works and how it was constructed.

Luckily we don't dont have any predators here. Up until three years ago, we had some martens in the neighbourhood, but they're gone now. At first I was worried cats could harm her, but our dog makes sure they're too afraid to come in our garden! But still, a cloth would be a good idea!

The cold frame is actually store bought, from Ikea. It's way to small and I'm planning on buying a Greenstar 60 (110*55*45) next week.
I dug a small hole in the ground, made a concreteplex (?) box and filled it with cocopeat. The black board is also concreteplex. I placed it there to make my tortoise feel safer. Otherwise, the 'walls' would be see-through

 

[Rue]

Looks great!

 

[TortoiseWarrior]

Well done