Please critique newbie CDT setup

[thatrebecca]

I'd like some feedback on our ever-evolving setup here. Eventually the torts will have run of the yard and a heated shed, but that's a few months away. In the meantime:

First pix are our outdoor enclosure for our two juvenile CDTs. This is where they are from 8am to 8pm, and hopefully 24 hrs during the heat of summer.



And here's where they sleep (we use no heat source presently. It's usually 70-75 in there at night).



All feedback is welcome. We're new at this.

 

[Maggie and Torie the Tort]

Your outdoor Tortoise enclosure look great! But I am not to judge. I am a new Tortoise owner (3 weeks now) and do not have a outdoor enclosure yet, but I do have a big flower pot on wheels that I can roll outside. I plan on doing something like yours soon. I have a baby Hermann's Tortoise so not a CDT but have read a lot about them. I hope to make something like yours soon.

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I love the plants you have in it to!

 

[Momof4]

I don't have CDT either but I think it looks great. What is the plant with the pink flowers? Is it an oleander? If so, I think they are poisonous.

 

[thatrebecca]

The pink plant is monkey flower, said to be fine on the Tortoise Table. They eat the flowers occasionally, but seem to enjoy it most as hide on warm days.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Rebecca:

Your outside habitat looks great. That should be fine for quite a while. When I bring mine in for the night I don't bother with setting up a regular habitat. I just put them in cardboard boxes and fold the flaps over. They just sleep and don't really care what the habitat looks like.

 

[thatrebecca]

Thanks for the feedback, guys! I was wondering how involved to make the overnight enclosure. Every once in a rare while they'll have to be inside during the day -- due to weather or to our schedules (leaving the house at 3pm and getting back at midnight, that sort of thing) so I wanted to make them as comfy as possible.

One regret I have on the outdoor enclosure is making the burrow so deep -- the torts love it but I literally have to lay on my belly in the dirt to pull them out from the back corners at night. Oh well, as long as the babies are happy!

 

[sibi]

I really like the curved cement block for their hide. These guys burrow? If so, aren't you afraid that they'll dig even further down? If they do, then you'll be more than just on your belly

 

[thatrebecca]

Thanks! The curved cement is landscaping border from Home Depot. Dirt cheap and it seems to keep the weather out nicely. They ARE burrowing. Every day a little deeper. If we can make it through the summer with this enclosure I'll be happy. Then we'll reevaluate we've learned come fall and see what needs to change.