Outside Enclosure

tortoisetime565

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Jan 22, 2014
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Hey! I'm going to make an outside enclosure for my torts. I have 5, two red foots, a sulcata, a russian and a testudo. They are all bigger than 5 inches. What is a good substrate to mix in with them and what is almost of plants I can plant for them. As well as veggies. I want to turn their place into a HUGE vegetation area. Edible plants everywhere. I mean all over! Also any vines that I can plant for them? I know grape vine leaves are good but the grapes are not. So any insight is helpful!!! Thanks in advanced!!
 

Yvonne G

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I hope you mean that you are making four outdoor habitats. Each species needs its own place. That way you can design the habitat with that particular tortoise's requirements in mind.

When I started building my outdoor habitats, I just built the fencing on the ground that was there. I didn't import any substrate.

I have drought-tolerant plants in with my sulcata, but mainly his area is a large open grassy plain. The Russian tortoises have clover and dichondra with a mimosa tree planted at one end of their yard. The redfooted tortoises that I'm babysitting live in a small yard on the east side of the garage, so it gets morning sun, but shade the rest of the day. They have a nice big waterer sunk into the ground that they can both fit in, and their yard is planted with rose of sharon, a citrus tree that I don't know the name of, and shade-tolerant ground cover. I don't have any testudo besides the russian, but if I did, their yard would be similar to the Russian's yard.
 

tortoisetime565

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Jan 22, 2014
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Location (City and/or State)
Oklahoma
Yes I was planning to have 3 separate ones. Each one hopefully decent sides. I have to find the right spot. We have a lot of oak trees and they can't eat the leaves so I have to find a spot that they can live freely. My testudo stays with mud russian. He seems to like the warmer side of the cage so I'm hoping that the outdoor pen will have a shady and a sun spot. The area I have been "allotted" gets sun all day. So I'm going to put shade cloth up as well as shady plants. I'm just trying to get ideas. It's a frozen place in Oklahoma. No ice but everything is freezing. It is supposed to get warm next couple of months. So I'm hoping to start then. You should check out my thread on the new table I'm building. It's going to be small but it's going to have to work. If anything I will have my sulcata roam my room. If I need to.
 

Crod454

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Jan 27, 2014
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12
Location (City and/or State)
Whittier Ca.
Yvonne G said:
I hope you mean that you are making four outdoor habitats. Each species needs its own place. That way you can design the habitat with that particular tortoise's requirements in mind.

When I started building my outdoor habitats, I just built the fencing on the ground that was there. I didn't import any substrate.

I have drought-tolerant plants in with my sulcata, but mainly his area is a large open grassy plain. The Russian tortoises have clover and dichondra with a mimosa tree planted at one end of their yard. The redfooted tortoises that I'm babysitting live in a small yard on the east side of the garage, so it gets morning sun, but shade the rest of the day. They have a nice big waterer sunk into the ground that they can both fit in, and their yard is planted with rose of sharon, a citrus tree that I don't know the name of, and shade-tolerant ground cover. I don't have any testudo besides the russian, but if I did, their yard would be similar to the Russian's yard.

Hello Yvonne

I have a question for you ,my sulcata lives outside, and I made a perimeter around my grass area for him, in his house I used linoleum as flooring for easy cleaning. Ive been reading of people making a big deal about what they use. is this only for small Torts in aquariums?
 

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