Should I take in a large sullie from friend?

[BrinnANDTorts]

Okay so today I went to Southlake Middle School where my aunt works to give my rats to her science teacher who keeps TONS and TONS of animals with the help of the kids.
(Came home with a blue tongue skink unexpectedly)
He also need to rehome a four year old male Sulcata that is about a foot long. Not too too big
I kinda want him...
I just was wondering if I bought cheapo heavy bricks from lowes for the wall ( I would stack them high and heavy) if that would be enough.
I live wayyyy wayyy out in the country so I have more than enough room
How big of a shed would I have to build him :/
I have a carpenter for a Grandfather that can come down from Mississippi and build him something real real nice but until then what could I use . Its getting cold here in Texas and I want him to be comfy...
What if I bought a very , very large dog house and put a heat blanket in it and a basking light
The problem with that is I don't have a way to keep him locked up in it at night away from predators
Any suggestions would be amazing because I don't want to commit until I know I will have everything ready

 

[ascott]

Perhaps you can add a simple hinged on door that you can use as a ramp then pull up and latch closed for the night?

 

[BrinnANDTorts]

Perhaps you can add a simple hinged on door that you can use as a ramp then pull up and latch closed for the night?

amazing idea !!! Thank you ))
Any idea on about how large the dog house should be? I know it should have a bottom to keep him off the cold (possible wet and mucky) ground
Will he poop all over the blanket if I put one in there ?
Heck will he poop all over the dog house ?

 

[Tom]

I use slumpstone blocks, but regular cinder blocks will work just fine too. You can also use railroad ties, landscaping logs or plywood with 2x4 posts. With the plywood/post method you can just stick the pressure treated 2x4s 18-24" in the ground and leave 16" above ground. Then you get a standard 4x8' sheet of plywood and cut it into 3 16"x8' long pieces. This way you can get 24' for every piece of plywood. You can run another 2x4 along the top of each section for support and to make it look nicer if you want.

For a night box, a 4x4' x2' tall one will work great. The more sealed and insulated you build it the less you will spend on electricity and the more comfy and warm he will be. This is Bert's box. These pics are old. Since these pics I have added a lockable door flap/ramp on hinges, replaced the door flaps with thicker, better vinyl, removed one of the two pig blankets, added an overhead radiant heat panel, and added a 1.5" thick piece of foil backed insulation to the ceiling. Its really working well now. Keeps him in the 70's even when its below freezing.

If you really want to go deluxe, here's my bigger box. All the walls, the floor and the ceiling are sealed and insulated. This one uses very little electricity. You could build a smaller version of this pretty easily. Or just go big, since we all already know that you are just going to keep getting more and more tortoises.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-The-Mother-of-All-Tortoise-Boxes#axzz1j7b7mpzz

 

[BrinnANDTorts]

Tom I want your huge tortoise box !
What kind of plywood did u use ? And for the frame and insulation ?
I can build that no problem (ive become a kinda good builder now )
I had an idea after seeing all that poop haha
Is there a way to add two large floor drains to the bottom of it and have the button raised up off the ground a little so when I need to wash it out I could just grt the hose and power wash it and let all the nasty water and such drain out the drains and onto the ground beneath ?
Also I remembered another big thing ... What is the best way to protect the pen against dogs ? I live way out so We just have random dogs running around and they can't have access to him.
I was thinking posts stuck into the ground with wire wrapped around them and secured to the posts some how.
It would have to be like four feet tall wouldn't It ?
Are posts and wire cheap ? They dont have to be fancy posts
Also is it an absoultely necessary that I have a block buried in the ground ? Would he really dig out :/ how do u bury a blockage

 

[Tom]

I used 3/4" ply for the floor and 1/2" everywhere else. I think they call 1/2 inch 15/32 now. The insulation is 1.5" and its sandwiched between the layers of plywood. The insulation comes in 4x8' sheets and I use a razor knife to cut it to size. The frame is all 2x4s and 2x2s.

Don't worry about the poop. I just use a rake and scrape it all out the door. You won't need drains and you won't need to hose it.

I don't know about your dog problem. Posts and hog wire should work. How about chain link? I'd have a polite talk with the neighbors about keeping their dogs off of your property. If they failed to do so, their dogs would start to disappear when they ventured on to my property. But that's for you to decide. A determined dog can easily hop a 6' fence, or dig under it. Dogs are probably the number one, non-human, enemy of captive tortoises.

My block just rests on the ground. I don't bury any of it. Around two times a year one or the other of them will try to start digging a hole. I just pull them out, fill in the hole and put something large and heavy in that spot for a while and that's the end of it for another 6 months. When you buy your block, get some 1/2 blocks too. This will allow you to stagger the rows for added strength, and they will help you in the corners too. I think you saw my recent thread. Three blocks high contains my 70 pound adults just fine. If the day comes when I get 100-150 pounders, I will probably have to build something more solid, like the post/plywood method, and get a real 10x12' shed and modify/insulate it for tortoise purposes.

 

[Laura]

i live out in the 'country ' too.. our property is completely fenced.. keeps ours in and others out..
I dont lock my torts up at night.. they put themselves to bed..
I like the idea of Loafing sheds. Tuff shed makes them.. you could copy it..

 

[BrinnANDTorts]

Ugghhh dumb dogs ! I don't have the heart to shoot them though.
This is going to be a problem...
Im pretty sure a chain link fence will keep them out. If not I will have my dad shoot them. The only problem is this German shepard that hangs out here a lot that We like because he protects the house.. I can keep him out though(he is old and not bright at all ) Just take extra work a nice tall sturdy fence. Is it okay for part of the fence to be our house ? We have a brick house

 

[Tom]

I think its fine to incorporate buildings into the enclosure design, but with a few caveats. With brick you should be fine, but with drywall covered in stucco, you'd need to protect the house somehow. You also have to worry about them digging and disrupting the foundation. This has not been a problem for me, but it has been for some. I like building around houses because the tortoises can get shade or sun year round. Mine have warm spot up against the buildings for winter, and on the other side they have cool shady spots for summer.

I sure hope nobody has to shoot any dogs. I was thinking more along the lines of capture and removal.

 

[ripper7777777]

I say do it, what have you got to loose and if you don't you'll kick yourself later.

You can also use Airsoft guns to scare away pesky dogs, if they have heavy coats, thick fur, Red Ryders work from a distance.


Disclaimer: I don't want anyone to think I'm into harming Dogs or Cats, but when I'm protecting my animals I will use a plastic BB to run off the unwanted animal and I have been shot so I know what it feels like.

 

[BrinnANDTorts]

I think I will take him in I sent a text saying that I want him and the guy is nice enough to hold him till we get everything ready
Whats the easiest way to get posts into the ground to make a fence ?
is there any way to make a fence without having to shove posts into the ground lol
no matter what I think the fence needs to be like five feet tall

 

[Tony the tank]

It depends which type of fencing your planning on using...if its stockade fencing then you would need to dig down a few feet and use cement... For that you can use a hand post hole digger... Could be rough going... If you are strong and have someone to help..You can use a gas powered post auger... This makes the job a lot easier and very quick..( you can rent them)

For chain link..material is cheap.. But labor intensive....

Another alternative would be coral fencing for a pen..You can use 5 or 6ft length of rebar.. and drive them into the ground every 4 or 5 feet.. Then fasten the board to the rebar..

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Another setup I use up north... Are dog kennels..here in Ma..you can find 10x20ft kennels for short money on CL buy two or three and connect them..

 

[ShadowRancher]

Congrats, good luck on your build! Have you thought about maybe a motion sensor? You can get them with the usual lights and with speakers...my grandpa uses Metallica to scare deer out of the kitchen garden might work on dogs

 

[Tom]

Ana, what if all the wild animals around my place are all used to Metallica already?

 

[BrinnANDTorts]

Should I just rent a trencher ?
Or a one man auger ? Or both?
What kinda posts should I get ?

I thought about using a electric fence but I think they r really expensive and Idk it just sounds kinda dangerous.

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Congrats, good luck on your build! Have you thought about maybe a motion sensor? You can get them with the usual lights and with speakers...my grandpa uses Metallica to scare deer out of the kitchen garden might work on dogs

That's pretty much hilarious lol
I think I'm just going to build a fence with a tencher and one man auger
I'm just not sure on what kinda fence I should do

 

[ShadowRancher]

I know, my family is pretty much hilarious.

You could go to Lowes and give them you specs...they would tell you what you need to use and how to use. Tell them up front you are shopping around for prices and don't want to buy anything yet so you can go home and, well, shop around The nice thing about them though is they usually are the cheapest.

 

[BrinnANDTorts]

I'm probably going to buy big rolls of chain link fence and the posts that go with it from lowes
Rent a one man auger (any body know where I can do that lol )to dig the holes for the posts
I am going to reinforce bottom of chain link some how... Any one have an idea of how ?
Then just build the big shed Tom linked me too
The only problem is electricity now... How do I get electricity to the shed ? I don't know if its going to be an option to put it right next to the house..

 

[ShadowRancher]

I guess to reinforce the bottom you could use wood (boards or stops of particle board). Drill 2 or three hole in two stacked boards along the center then put them on either side of the fence and bolt them together.

I don't know if you're any good with electricity but you could put a free standing outlet on a stake out there (they actually sell those, it's what runs my koi pond pump) preferably outside the fence or on a blocked corner of your tort shed or if you are really really careful and run it through PVC you could use a heavy-duty indoor outdoor extension cord, depending on how far you need to run the electric. The second option is the Red Green duct tape approach and should be approached with caution...basically it's what my grandfather would do

 

[BrinnANDTorts]

How does a free standing outlet thing work ?

 

[jaizei]

If there will be a shed, then you really don't need the free standing outlets. What type of timeline are you looking at with all this?

The second option is the Red Green duct tape approach and should be approached with caution

If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.

Keep your stick on the ice.