Photos of Our Outdoor Russian Tortoise Enclosure and Garden

Oxalis

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We were lucky here in Michigan to have a lovely weekend of sunshine and ~70°F degree weather on both Saturday and Sunday. Steve had a lot of fun being outdoors after such a long stretch of days since waking from hibernation. He got lots of exercise, vitamin D, fresh air, and tasty greens. :tort: I'll be sure to post more photos as the plants grow bigger. I'm hoping for a real jungle this summer!
 

Amron

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Great thread, I have found it interesting and informative, thank you. I'm going to look up native plants to my area now:tort:
 

Oxalis

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Here are some updated photos from this sunny and hot Memorial Day weekend! Here's the entire garden now:

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The clover are really taking over, so I've been going in every few days and grabbing handfuls of them to decrease their numbers. Here's Stevie hiding under his Spiraea, which has really become a great natural hide for him. Tortie butt!

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The mulberry is still very small, but the leaves have been growing and getting bigger. :) Do these grow slower? I always try to give him extra water so he grows faster but I don't know if it's actually helping. Maybe his second season here he'll really sprout. I haven't seen Steve try his leaves yet, but I hope he really loves them. Maybe I'll pick him some when the plant's bigger to give him a taste test.

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The evening primrose (Oenothera biennis) from last year is still around. I figure it provides some shade and the finches enjoy the seeds (and there are still many). I'm pretty sure that all the little seedlings around the bottom of it are also evening primrose! I'm not sure how they'll all going to compete to get 5' tall, but we'll see. It might be crazy...

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Here's Stevie this morning, enjoying the sun between lots of shade breaks. I think he's finally getting used to his garden and feeling safer. :) And the terra cotta dish in the back to the far left is full of fresh water, FYI. ;)

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Here's the first blossom this year of his native Geranium. I just bought another native Geranium from the Wildtype Nursery but I'm not sure if it will bloom this first season. I just love the color of this one though!!

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It closes at night. :)

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My Spiraea has a ton of buds this year, so safe to say I kept it alive! I expect some pretty pinkish flowers this summer.

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Another shot of the garden. There's a native rose bush in the back and a giant hollyhock in front of that (to the left of the flamingo). The monkey flower (Mimulus ringens) has exploded this year (in front of the flamingo). :) I have lots of aster varieties too; I just love the blue-purple flowers they have!

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Stevie's really been making use of his house too. He's learned that it provides some excellent shading and cooler temps!

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Here's his shady spot from this morning. At one point, he had his legs out and yawned like he was about to nap. :p

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And here he is by my rock collection. I think he's really enjoying himself outside and is getting better at trying new foods. Although he's been particularly crazy about dandelion this year!

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Oxalis

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Temps are in the mid-90s for the past week. Utilizing Ikea's "bed canopy" to provide Steve with some shade from the heat. He loves to hide in that corner of the enclosure. He's been getting some showers from the hose too.

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terryo

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I love you little Russian and his beautiful garden. Every pet store I go into I see some poor Russian sitting there in such terrible conditions. The are very common here and sold in all the pet stores. I always wish I could rescue one and make a home for him. Your tortoise is so lucky to have such a wonderful garden to live in. You did an amazing job.
 

Oxalis

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I love you little Russian and his beautiful garden. Every pet store I go into I see some poor Russian sitting there in such terrible conditions. The are very common here and sold in all the pet stores. I always wish I could rescue one and make a home for him. Your tortoise is so lucky to have such a wonderful garden to live in. You did an amazing job.
Awww, thanks! I noticed the Petco by our house has stopped selling Russian tortoises, thankfully. They do a horrible job in maintaining their temps and humidity, there's clearly not enough space for them there, and they feed them some horrible food-dyed pellets that look like dog food (but you wouldn't feed to your dog)! :confused: Poor little guys... Maybe someone complained -- I hope so!
 

Oxalis

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this is beautiful! gives me ideas for next spring :D

my little guys NEED an outdoor badly
I recommend looking into native Vermont plants and cross-referencing that list against what's considered safe tortie food on The Tortoise Table. That was how I determined what plants would work best for my yard. In the process, I learned that we have a couple Michigan native Hibiscus species, and Opuntia cactus! :)

Here are a couple sources to get you started:

Gardening with Vermont Native Plants: http://vcgn.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/nativeplantgardeningsummarylistfinal.pdf

Native Plant List for New Hampahire, Maine & Vermont: http://www.plantnative.org/rpl-nen.htm
 

KaitlinKeefe_

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I recommend looking into native Vermont plants and cross-referencing that list against what's considered safe tortie food on The Tortoise Table. That was how I determined what plants would work best for my yard. In the process, I learned that we have a couple Michigan native Hibiscus species, and Opuntia cactus! :)

Here are a couple sources to get you started:

Gardening with Vermont Native Plants: http://vcgn.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/nativeplantgardeningsummarylistfinal.pdf

Native Plant List for New Hampahire, Maine & Vermont: http://www.plantnative.org/rpl-nen.htm


thank you so much that's such a great idea
 

Oxalis

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Just taking a few minutes of my homework-filled day to upload a few older photos... Here's the native rose in Steve's garden when it finally bloomed. It's since finished now, but my miniature rose is still going. :)

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Here's some of the crazy hollyhock blooms. The biggest stalk here is about 4 feet tall. There's a light pink one blooming now.

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Here's the entire garden maybe about two weeks ago. The big hollyhock stalk behind the door has now reached the garden ceiling (that's about 8 feet tall)!

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Here goes little Stevie, running past his Campanula!

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The Hibiscus syriacus in the back of the yard has bloomed, so Stevie got a flower as a treat. Lucky little cutie! :p

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Oxalis

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Here are some photos of Stevie out enjoying his garden earlier this evening:

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I just did a bit of weeding (finally!), but as you can see, everything's growing pretty darn well this year (despite a lot less rain too). Clearly the evening primrose has taken over and it's hogging a lot of space. A lot of that is my fault because I haven't pulled any of it to give the others some room. :rolleyes: Amazingly, one of the asters is reaching up for the sun behind a bunch of primrose. Who knows—maybe it will be a little stronger from that competition. They're both native plants anyway. ;)

Also: my native Hibiscus moscheutos has some buds and is about to bloom!! Photos SOON!
 

Oxalis

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Here's Stevie, out and playing in 90°F+ heat! Silly tort! Today is very hot and humid but Steve doesn't mind at all.

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Here are those Hibiscus moscheutos buds, which I hope bloom soon. They are the "Luna Red" variety and should be the size of dinner plates! :eek: They were very lovely last year made great tortoise treats.

hibiscus_buds.jpg
 

HappyHermanns

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Here's a photo of our new outdoor enclosure and garden for Steve. It's 8 feet x 12 feet. As a tip: I did find that the wood was much cheaper from the outdoor gardening section rather than the lumber section of the hardware store (they're fencing planks from Lowe's). As of now, we have the walls up and some of the dirt put in. I'll have to get a bit more dirt, and then I have a couple bags of manure that can go in when I start planting. I have a small list of plants that I know Steve loves, but feel free to add any suggestions! Cheers to a new growing season (at least here in Michigan)! :tort:

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:<3: My amazing boyfriend put together the walls so he got me the best tortoise Mother's Day gift!!! :<3: I will post more photos as our garden grows! :)

I love it! We have been trying to get a dog crate finished for them but things happen and we have to put it off :( we are definitely doing something like yours next year!
 

Oxalis

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Awesome!

I've had one open about once a week these past couple of weeks.
Boy, do our guys LOVE them!! It is so fun to watch them "dig in"! :<3:
Very cool! The flower didn't quite open all the way, but it was still about the size of my Russian tort! ;D
 

Oxalis

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Good thing I got some photos in the sun yesterday; it's quite cloudy now. Tortie and flower comparison:

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Lots more buds!!

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And another cute tort photo:

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Here's the entire garden now. The evening primrose is out of control! Steve loves eating the flowers as they fall to the ground. We're excited to plant the seeds from it in other places in our yard when it's done flowering. :)

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