Outdoor enclosure questions for Eastern Hermann's tortoise

Michael Bird

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As I mentioned in some other threads, I recently welcomed a 4-year-old male Eastern Hermann's tortoise named Hermes into my home. I'm working on getting things sorted out properly for him to have a nice outdoor area as well as a decent indoor space when the weather outside is too cold.

His indoor enclosure (that came with him from his previous home) is an entirely inadequate 23" x 38" x 13" "Turtle Box" from AIVITUVIN. https://aivituvin.com/products/wooden-tortoise-house-large-tortoise-habitat-air21 It's a really well built enclosure, but it's just far too small even for a Hermann's tortoise and I will be expanding it dramatically in the near future to fill the available space in the room making it about 2 feet by 12 feet, and probably with a second layer 'balcony' for part of that length. Still not an ideal size, but much better than 2' x 3', and it's the full length of the designated wall in the room so that's the max size I can give him inside.

Outside, I have a section of the yard reserved for a tortoise sanctuary that will be populated with lots of tasty plants, several hides and digging spots, as well as a very shallow stream/soaking pond for 24/7 access to fresh water. The planned space is 6 feet by 18 feet and will have side walls dug down into the ground a good distance and probably about 2 feet above ground to prevent escaping, as well as sectional hinged lids made of frames and chicken wire or something similar to keep predators out.

The questions that I can think of right now are as follows. I may add more later if I think if anything that I missed here.

1: There is a large silver maple tree at one end of the planned space. It will be outside of the enclosure, but the branches extend above part of it so there will be leaves falling from time to time. Are silver maple (Acer Saccharinium, I believe) leaves and flowers going to be a potential problem? The wire lids should keep most debris out, but I'm sure some will get through, particularly the tiny flowers. I've read here, and see on The Tortoise Table, that some maple leaves are fine, but I can't find anything about this specific variety of tree.

2: I will have lots of edible plants in the enclosure, provided courtesy of the Broadleaf Testudo Mix from Tortoise Supply. https://www.tortoisesupply.com/TestudoMix
I would also like to have a couple of larger plants for natural shade that are also safe for Hermes to eat and that will grow well and hopefully survive the winters here in Salt Lake City, Utah (temperate zone 7A). I'm thinking maybe a Hosta for lots of shade and also some nice flowers to make my wife happy, and a hardy spineless opuntia like Ellisiana or Beavertail that should be able to handle the cold winters and doesn't grow very large.

3: There is an old concrete garden/landscaping barrier that runs through part of the planned enclosure space. I don't know yet how deep it goes, but it's about 6 inches wide. If it turns out to be too deep and too heavy to move, would there be any problem with just leaving it where it is, and having the surrounding ground level with it to make a paved tortoise "highway" through the enclosure?

4: The ground in the planned space is currently occupied by almost completely dead lawn grass. Would it be better to completely remove the old lawn from the entire space, or leave parts and only remove sections for planting and for the water and food dishes and burrows/hides? I'm planning to remove all of the old lawn unless someone says otherwise.

5: If I do completely remove the old lawn, should I leave the ground bare in the spaces where nothing is built or growing, or should I put down a layer of orchid bark (or something else) over the top?

Thanks!
 

Michael Bird

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My daughter has taken upon herself the task of designing the layout entire back yard at our new house, including places for flower and vegetable gardens, benches, and other things, and has decided that she doesn't want me to use the space that I was planning on for the tortoise enclosure. Instead, she and my wife decided that they would rather have the tortoise enclosure and its 'desert garden' in a more open and accessible area so now I'm looking at making the tortoise space as big as 16' x 24', although I don't think I want to make it that big for a single Hermann's tortoise, and that would take up a lot of the open space in the yard. This means it will be about 40 feet away from the silver maple, but it will also be about 20 feet away from some fairly large juniper trees so I'll need to make sure nothing from the juniper trees can blow into the enclosure.

All of my other questions still apply and I'd appreciate your input.

But since it will be in a sort of flat space instead of the irregular sloped spot I was planning to use, I'm now considering the idea of using a commercial walk-in chicken coop or dog run with fenced sides and roof and tall enough for me to walk around inside for maintenance. I definitely want an enclosed roof since there are many wild peregrine falcons, ravens, red-tail hawks, and other possible predators around here that could harm a little tortoise.

I'm wondering if any of you have used something like that for an outdoor enclosure, and if you ran into any problems or have suggestions to make it work better. I've found several options online that look interesting and that would probably cost less than building the smaller and shorter enclosure with hinged lids that I was previously planning. I'll still need to dig down to create a burrowing barrier below ground under the edges, and definitely put up a short secondary wall around the entire base to create a vision barrier and help keep ground pests out.

Some examples:
10'x13' or 10'x20' https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09DPB4FHB/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

9'x19' https://www.target.com/p/pawhut-18-...pen-hen-house/-/A-84854441?preselect=84854441

10'x10' or 10'x20' https://www.wayfair.com/pet/pdp/tuc...ith-wire-mesh-w006622749.html?piid=1097737951
 

pawsplus

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On plants, check out the Tortoise Table, which tells you whether plants are safe to feed, OK to feed in moderation, OK to feed sparingly, or DO NOT FEED. Don't put anything that is DO NOT FEED in or around the pen. You mentioned flowers--make sure they are on the OK to feed in moderation category at LEAST, as most torts love flowers and WILL eat them. Hostas are safe, but apparently tasty. Dealing with some snacking by my redfoot. Maples vary based on type, but your general acer is in the "feed sparingly" category. I have maples over my new pen but not too worried. By the time the leaves fall it will be too cold for Beas to be out and she has never cared about dried leaves anyway. But check out the database--it is very helpful!

 

Krista S

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As I mentioned in some other threads, I recently welcomed a 4-year-old male Eastern Hermann's tortoise named Hermes into my home. I'm working on getting things sorted out properly for him to have a nice outdoor area as well as a decent indoor space when the weather outside is too cold.

His indoor enclosure (that came with him from his previous home) is an entirely inadequate 23" x 38" x 13" "Turtle Box" from AIVITUVIN. https://aivituvin.com/products/wooden-tortoise-house-large-tortoise-habitat-air21 It's a really well built enclosure, but it's just far too small even for a Hermann's tortoise and I will be expanding it dramatically in the near future to fill the available space in the room making it about 2 feet by 12 feet, and probably with a second layer 'balcony' for part of that length. Still not an ideal size, but much better than 2' x 3', and it's the full length of the designated wall in the room so that's the max size I can give him inside.

Outside, I have a section of the yard reserved for a tortoise sanctuary that will be populated with lots of tasty plants, several hides and digging spots, as well as a very shallow stream/soaking pond for 24/7 access to fresh water. The planned space is 6 feet by 18 feet and will have side walls dug down into the ground a good distance and probably about 2 feet above ground to prevent escaping, as well as sectional hinged lids made of frames and chicken wire or something similar to keep predators out.

The questions that I can think of right now are as follows. I may add more later if I think if anything that I missed here.

1: There is a large silver maple tree at one end of the planned space. It will be outside of the enclosure, but the branches extend above part of it so there will be leaves falling from time to time. Are silver maple (Acer Saccharinium, I believe) leaves and flowers going to be a potential problem? The wire lids should keep most debris out, but I'm sure some will get through, particularly the tiny flowers. I've read here, and see on The Tortoise Table, that some maple leaves are fine, but I can't find anything about this specific variety of tree.

2: I will have lots of edible plants in the enclosure, provided courtesy of the Broadleaf Testudo Mix from Tortoise Supply. https://www.tortoisesupply.com/TestudoMix
I would also like to have a couple of larger plants for natural shade that are also safe for Hermes to eat and that will grow well and hopefully survive the winters here in Salt Lake City, Utah (temperate zone 7A). I'm thinking maybe a Hosta for lots of shade and also some nice flowers to make my wife happy, and a hardy spineless opuntia like Ellisiana or Beavertail that should be able to handle the cold winters and doesn't grow very large.

3: There is an old concrete garden/landscaping barrier that runs through part of the planned enclosure space. I don't know yet how deep it goes, but it's about 6 inches wide. If it turns out to be too deep and too heavy to move, would there be any problem with just leaving it where it is, and having the surrounding ground level with it to make a paved tortoise "highway" through the enclosure?

4: The ground in the planned space is currently occupied by almost completely dead lawn grass. Would it be better to completely remove the old lawn from the entire space, or leave parts and only remove sections for planting and for the water and food dishes and burrows/hides? I'm planning to remove all of the old lawn unless someone says otherwise.

5: If I do completely remove the old lawn, should I leave the ground bare in the spaces where nothing is built or growing, or should I put down a layer of orchid bark (or something else) over the top?

Thanks!

Hi there!

That all sounds pretty great! With regards to the cement barrier, it really won’t be an issue, especially because you intend to have the ground brought up to be level with it. If it was sticking 6 inches out of the ground, I would have a concern of it being a flipping hazard, but doesn’t sound like that is the case. Having the strip of cement is no different than how many of us have slate or stones in our enclosures. It’s good to have different surfaces to walk on. It’ll help keep his nails trim.

With regards to the lawn. A lot of people will pull up sod if that’s what was previously used in the yard. This is because there’s mesh woven into it which can cause a problem for tortoises. Best is to use grass seed if you want to have grassy areas. For substrate, it’s best to NOT buy soil from a green house. You can’t be sure what’s in it (toxic plant matter, chemicals, etc). For building up the ground around that cement barrier, it would be best to use the earth you already have in the yard. If you want to add mulch, you could use orchid bark or cypress mulch. I think having different surfaces for the tortoise to walk in is a great way to add some interest and enrichment for the tortoise.

I have a 4 year old Eastern Hermanns tortoise. He loves to climb and find trouble with anything he can. I suggest making the walls taller than you think you need or have a top ledge that hangs over into the inside of the enclosure so he can’t go into stealth mode and crawl out. They are also incredible burrowers/diggers, so I would recommend digging down around the perimeter of the outdoor enclosure and extend the wall down into the ground so it doesn’t make for an easy escape.

Take a look at post #4 from @Tom at the link below to see an 8x8 cage he has used.


Hopefully that helps.
 
Last edited:

Michael Bird

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Thanks for the input. The flowers and vegetables that my daughter wants to plant will be in different areas of the yard not near the tortoise enclosure, so there shouldn't be any problems. But we did check to make sure that at least most of them are safe for the tortoise to eat.

That cage enclosure in Tom's post is much fancier than the ones I was looking at (and probably costs a lot more), but is a very similar idea so I guess it should work fine as long as there's a solid barrier around the bottom to block sight and prevent escapes.
 

Michael Bird

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Would it be better to go with the original planned 6'x18' space near the maple tree instead of the about 10'x13' space that is about 20 feet from the large junipers since The Tortoise Table says that every part of junipers is toxic?

It's less total area, but not being toxic is more important than lots of space...
 

Cathie G

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This is just my thoughts and really not an opinion. 108 square feet is great and so is 130 square feet. It would also be really nice for me to have an enclosure that I can just walk into. Maybe not so good for my Russian. Having a short enclosure with lids covered with hardware cloth gives me a reminder to look before I step. I usually have to search each area thoroughly. It's crazy but at least I know he can't possibly escape and I will find him somewhere. Since I bring him inside every night I have to find him first. That can be really difficult! I personally would want 6'x18'. With lids on both sides. I can just about guess what area Sapphire is in by his daily habits.
 

Michael Bird

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I am questioning my life choices today.

Due to work and weather, I was only just able to start working on the outdoor enclosure this morning for my Hermanns Tortoise in the area that my wife and girls designated as available in the back yard.

I measured out the 12' x 14' edges (better than 6' x 18' or 10' x 13'!) to get them nice and square and then started digging down into the edges to get them better defined in anticipation of renting a garden tiller to rip up the old dead grass and random weeds that I haven't been able to identify so I don't want to leave them growing inside the enclosure.

Sadly, Mother Nature apparently does not want to make things easy and I found this just below the layer of dead grass and weeds:
PXL_20230527_182929971.jpg

All of the disturbed ground here is where the larger roots were that I managed to dig up in a couple of hours with the help of my wife and one of our daughters and there are still a lot more that need to come out. It appears that at some point in the distant past, there was a tree growing in the corner of the space that I want to use, and its roots are branched out all over the area. So it's going to take a lot of manual labor to get the larger roots out before I can chop up the rest with the tiller..

PXL_20230527_202120713.jpg
 

Cathie G

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I am questioning my life choices today.

Due to work and weather, I was only just able to start working on the outdoor enclosure this morning for my Hermanns Tortoise in the area that my wife and girls designated as available in the back yard.

I measured out the 12' x 14' edges (better than 6' x 18' or 10' x 13'!) to get them nice and square and then started digging down into the edges to get them better defined in anticipation of renting a garden tiller to rip up the old dead grass and random weeds that I haven't been able to identify so I don't want to leave them growing inside the enclosure.

Sadly, Mother Nature apparently does not want to make things easy and I found this just below the layer of dead grass and weeds:
View attachment 357327

All of the disturbed ground here is where the larger roots were that I managed to dig up in a couple of hours with the help of my wife and one of our daughters and there are still a lot more that need to come out. It appears that at some point in the distant past, there was a tree growing in the corner of the space that I want to use, and its roots are branched out all over the area. So it's going to take a lot of manual labor to get the larger roots out before I can chop up the rest with the tiller..

View attachment 357328
Do you really have to get rid of the roots first? Since the tree's not there anymore the roots should just eventually become soil and such stuff. But in the meantime it's a net. My Russian is on an old brick deck with weeds growing all over it like a carpet.
 

Michael Bird

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Do you really have to get rid of the roots first? Since the tree's not there anymore the roots should just eventually become soil and such stuff. But in the meantime it's a net. My Russian is on an old brick deck with weeds growing all over it like a carpet.
It has been at least 30 years since the tree was cut down, since it was not there when the previous owner (my in-laws) purchased the house, and the neighbors who have lived there for about 45 years say they vaguely remember a tree in that area but it was cut down a very long time ago. And many of the roots are still very sturdy and mostly intact so while they might eventually decompose, it probably won't be any time soon.

I guess I don't HAVE to get rid of the roots, but I do want to get rid of the dead grass and unknown weeds, and do some landscaping with new plants and stones and stuff, and the easiest way to do that is to till up the ground.

I'm also worried about my tortoise digging burrows and getting stuck in - or under - the net of roots and not being able to get back out.
 

Cathie G

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It has been at least 30 years since the tree was cut down, since it was not there when the previous owner (my in-laws) purchased the house, and the neighbors who have lived there for about 45 years say they vaguely remember a tree in that area but it was cut down a very long time ago. And many of the roots are still very sturdy and mostly intact so while they might eventually decompose, it probably won't be any time soon.

I guess I don't HAVE to get rid of the roots, but I do want to get rid of the dead grass and unknown weeds, and do some landscaping with new plants and stones and stuff, and the easiest way to do that is to till up the ground.

I'm also worried about my tortoise digging burrows and getting stuck in - or under - the net of roots and not being able to get back out.
Yes and since you have a dead tree the roots will just decompose into compost.🤗 and the area will just settle. Or you could have a big hole to fill. I'm a cheap skate and try not to buy dirt unless I put it on top.😁 Maybe build on top of it somehow. Black plastic on the area will make the plants wilt, at least there.
 

Michael Bird

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Yes and since you have a dead tree the roots will just decompose into compost.🤗 and the area will just settle. Or you could have a big hole to fill. I'm a cheap skate and try not to buy dirt unless I put it on top.😁 Maybe build on top of it somehow. Black plastic on the area will make the plants wilt, at least there.
I'm honestly surprised to see that many roots that close to the surface. There are trees and other plants in other parts of the the yard, and some of the roots might be coming from farther away, but most seem to be branched out from that central "hub" in the first picture I posted, which looks like the old remnants of an old somewhat small tree stump. But those roots definitely are not rotted and decomposed...

Black plastic over the surface plants is an excellent idea! That'll help kill off whatever is there now without using chemicals, just in case some of the random weeds are not friendly to the tortoise. Thanks!
 

Cathie G

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I'm honestly surprised to see that many roots that close to the surface. There are trees and other plants in other parts of the the yard, and some of the roots might be coming from farther away, but most seem to be branched out from that central "hub" in the first picture I posted, which looks like the old remnants of an old somewhat small tree stump. But those roots definitely are not rotted and decomposed...

Black plastic over the surface plants is an excellent idea! That'll help kill off whatever is there now without using chemicals, just in case some of the random weeds are not friendly to the tortoise. Thanks!
Yes. It will all sink and settle. My tortoise's enclosure just sits on an old brick deck built the old fashioned way. There's a black plastic layer with dirt and then smooth bricks spaced throughout it. I can either have a tortoise in a tortoise enclosure or work myself to death trying to clean off the carpet of dirt and plants that would cover it in no time.🤗
 

Michael Bird

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With some help from my wife and girls, this is what the area looks like after about 6 hours of digging and pulling out any roots bigger than about 3/8" (9mm) since the tiller rental guy says it should be able to handle anything smaller than that. There were a LOT more big roots than I expected even after seeing that crazy jumble in the corner that I showed in the pictures from yesterday! (Blue border drawn in approximately where the original border lines were.)

PXL_20230529_233105361a.jpg

Some of the roots just kept coming out when I started pulling them so I kept pulling them up as far as they would go before they broke or went deeper than I could pull them, and you can see some of the results of that in the top left corner of the image by the garbage can. I guess that's evidence that the whole yard is a web of roots just below the surface. I hope my girls don't decide to do any below ground landscaping anywhere else or I just might make them do all of the digging. :D

We filled two of those big garbage cans just with the cut up roots from this project...

I gave up on trying to use the shovel for this very quickly because it kept getting caught in all of the big and little roots. That yellow demolition crowbar sticking in the ground near the top right was surprisingly useful for this project, though. My hands did get pretty sore even with thick leather gloves, but that thing worked great both for digging up the very stubborn top layer and also for prying out the biggest roots.

I'll probably grab the tiller next weekend to churn up the remaining dead grass layer next weekend, since I really don't want to go through and do it all by hand even though it's probably more than half done already...

Then I can get down to the serious work of making a tortoise cave and putting the plants in the ground and putting up the walls and (eventually) a tall fence around and above the whole area to keep unwanted "guests" out. :)

p.s. Just in case anyone is going to ask, part of this area is sloped due to the shape of the yard, (and it will give the little dinosaur some exercise and will make it easier for me to put in a burrow in the hill) so it makes the perspective look rather odd. The "short" sides of the enclosure are 12 feet and the long sides are 14 feet. There's 6 feet between the top left corner of the enclosure area and the nearest corner of the shed, and about 15 feet between the top right corner of the enclosure and those trees.
 

Michael Bird

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It took all day, mostly due to having to stop every few minutes to pull tangles of tiny roots out of the tiller blades, but I finally got the entire area tilled down as far as I can. As it turns out, there's a super hard, almost concrete, layer of natural clay about six inches below the surface, so it looks like the builders of the house just dumped a layer of topsoil on top of the natural ground when the house was built. That also explains why all of the tree roots are so shallow, since they can't break through that hard layer. It also means that my side walls will only have to go about 6 inches below ground, partially since I'm not going to destroy my back trying to cut through that clay around the entire border, and partially because Hermes won't be able to dig through it either...

So this is what the area looks like after a lot more time spent tilling that I expected, and you can see around the edges the piles of tiny (and some not so tiny) roots that the tiller pulled up. You can also see the beginnings of the tortoise cave that I'll be putting in to give Hermes an underground place to chill out, in addition to the multiple above ground hides and shade plants that will be included.
PXL_20230603_025051867.MP.jpg

And this is what the cave looks like from above and from the front for now. I found a sandstone block that had split in an almost perfectly straight line so it makes really great walls for the entry tunnel! I haven't decided yet how far back I will dig the tunnel, or what I am going to use to make the walls for the rest of the tunnel and the cave. I have some old construction bricks that I found hiding in a corner of the property that I think are left over from when the house was built, and they'll probably work for the sides but I need to find something good for the rest of the roof to keep the dirt from caving in. Although the rocks that are on top now look really good for a cave entrance, they only just barely reach across the opening so I might go ahead and pick up a couple of pieces of gardening slate stone from the store and use them for the roof instead of the 'matching' sandstone rocks...
PXL_20230603_025453521.jpg
PXL_20230603_025501472.jpg

The tunnel as it is in this picture is 7 inches across and about 14 inches from front to back. Hermes is currently 5.5 long from front to back and almost exactly 5 inches across at his widest point (the flared marginal scutes at the back) so that'll give him plenty of room to grow and still be able to turn around while inside the tunnel. The cave at the back will probably be wider to give him more room to turn and around and tuck himself in wherever he wants to. It's not quite tall enough for him to walk in with his legs fully extended, but I'll fix that in the near future and will also make sure there is a ridge at the front to help prevent rain from pooling inside the cave.

That "dent" in the slope of the yard took me almost 90 minutes of strenuous digging with a pickaxe and a shovel to get as far as I did into the hard clay layer. If you look close at the "above" picture you can see the line on the sides where the ground changes from regular brown soil to the almost white concrete/clay layer. That stuff is incredibly hard to dig, but I will probably still dig it down some more once I decide exactly how big I want to make it, to allow the cave to angle down so Hermes can feel like he's actually going down below ground, even though the back of the cave is already about a foot below the surface of the slope above it.
 

Scott&taco

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It took all day, mostly due to having to stop every few minutes to pull tangles of tiny roots out of the tiller blades, but I finally got the entire area tilled down as far as I can. As it turns out, there's a super hard, almost concrete, layer of natural clay about six inches below the surface, so it looks like the builders of the house just dumped a layer of topsoil on top of the natural ground when the house was built. That also explains why all of the tree roots are so shallow, since they can't break through that hard layer. It also means that my side walls will only have to go about 6 inches below ground, partially since I'm not going to destroy my back trying to cut through that clay around the entire border, and partially because Hermes won't be able to dig through it either...

So this is what the area looks like after a lot more time spent tilling that I expected, and you can see around the edges the piles of tiny (and some not so tiny) roots that the tiller pulled up. You can also see the beginnings of the tortoise cave that I'll be putting in to give Hermes an underground place to chill out, in addition to the multiple above ground hides and shade plants that will be included.
View attachment 357552

And this is what the cave looks like from above and from the front for now. I found a sandstone block that had split in an almost perfectly straight line so it makes really great walls for the entry tunnel! I haven't decided yet how far back I will dig the tunnel, or what I am going to use to make the walls for the rest of the tunnel and the cave. I have some old construction bricks that I found hiding in a corner of the property that I think are left over from when the house was built, and they'll probably work for the sides but I need to find something good for the rest of the roof to keep the dirt from caving in. Although the rocks that are on top now look really good for a cave entrance, they only just barely reach across the opening so I might go ahead and pick up a couple of pieces of gardening slate stone from the store and use them for the roof instead of the 'matching' sandstone rocks...
View attachment 357553
View attachment 357554

The tunnel as it is in this picture is 7 inches across and about 14 inches from front to back. Hermes is currently 5.5 long from front to back and almost exactly 5 inches across at his widest point (the flared marginal scutes at the back) so that'll give him plenty of room to grow and still be able to turn around while inside the tunnel. The cave at the back will probably be wider to give him more room to turn and around and tuck himself in wherever he wants to. It's not quite tall enough for him to walk in with his legs fully extended, but I'll fix that in the near future and will also make sure there is a ridge at the front to help prevent rain from pooling inside the cave.

That "dent" in the slope of the yard took me almost 90 minutes of strenuous digging with a pickaxe and a shovel to get as far as I did into the hard clay layer. If you look close at the "above" picture you can see the line on the sides where the ground changes from regular brown soil to the almost white concrete/clay layer. That stuff is incredibly hard to dig, but I will probably still dig it down some more once I decide exactly how big I want to make it, to allow the cave to angle down so Hermes can feel like he's actually going down below ground, even though the back of the cave is already about a foot below the surface of the slope above it.
Are sure that tunnel will hold? My Hermanns tortoise loves to push and shove everything in his enclosure, and it could become a risk of him become stuck if it collapses. Is there anyway you could bond or attach the stones together in a way in which would prevent accidents from happening?
 

SinLA

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Agreed that hide doesn’t look like the safest idea… for what it is worth I have a similar one using pavers/bricks for the sides because they are flat and stable, and then use something light for the top. I use a resin reptile hide but you could use almost anything…
 

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Michael Bird

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10 Year Member!
Joined
Jun 25, 2010
Messages
243
Location (City and/or State)
Salt Lake City, Utah
Are sure that tunnel will hold? My Hermanns tortoise loves to push and shove everything in his enclosure, and it could become a risk of him become stuck if it collapses. Is there anyway you could bond or attach the stones together in a way in which would prevent accidents from happening?
No, I'm not sure, which is why I mentioned getting larger slate pieces for the roof of the tunnel. That is just a "concept" picture using the side wall rocks that I'm definitely going to use along with whatever I had on hand that would go across the top give an idea of what it will look like.

It is going to be covered with dirt to fit in with the rest of the sloped ground, so it will need to be something that won't rot and that can support several inches of dirt on top.
 

Michael Bird

Active Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Jun 25, 2010
Messages
243
Location (City and/or State)
Salt Lake City, Utah
Tortoise Cave version 2.0 ;)
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They didn't have any slate at the store but they did have some nice sandstone stepping stones that match better than slate would, and I found three that almost fit together like puzzle pieces so I bought them to use as the roof of the cave, and extended the hole some more to accommodate the full length of the three stones. The tunnel entrance is just a bit over 7 inches wide now, and the widest point at the back is about 10 inches wide. It might be better to have it bigger, but that's as big as it can go and still have the roof piece fit securely over the brick walls. The front edge of the ceiling to the inside of the back wall is just a bit under 30 inches. The whole thing front to back is right around 6 inches high from the floor to the ceiling. I might dig down to round out the floor a bit in the back cave to make it slightly taller, but that should be plenty of room for him to stand up with his legs fully extended.

I do have enough bricks to extend the tunnel the length of one more set of bricks, but then the roof wouldn't fit and I'd have to find something to use to finish off that additional section of roof. I think 30 inches back is probably enough for a Hermann's Tortoise, but I'm welcome to input if you think it needs to be deeper.
 

Scott&taco

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Joined
Jun 2, 2023
Messages
12
Location (City and/or State)
Porsgrunn, norway
No, I'm not sure, which is why I mentioned getting larger slate pieces for the roof of the tunnel. That is just a "concept" picture using the side wall rocks that I'm definitely going to use along with whatever I had on hand that would go across the top give an idea of what it will look like.

It is going to be covered with dirt to fit in with the rest of the sloped ground, so it will need to be something that won't rot and that can support several inches of dirt on top.
Glad to hear you are making to safest choices for your tort, hope it all goes well!
 
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