Small Outdoor Enclosure

[Instinct]

About a month ago I was looking at all of your amazing outdoor enclosures thinking to myself, "I really want to make one of those for Darwin".

Well, I took a stroll around the yard and found what I think, is the perfect spot. It's an old flowerbed that hasn't been touched in about a year, completely overgrown and filled with creepy, deteriorated garden sculptures.

Since I still live in my parents home, I asked for their permission to dig it up and turn it into a lovely little garden for Darwin. They agreed and told me that as long as I payed for the supplies I could do whatever I wanted with the little piece of land.

It is a 2ft x 20ft strip. Not very wide but then again, I just have a Greek so he should be able to turn and move about just fine.

Here are a few photos of the untouched plot.



You can kinda see the old, rotten pieces of wood that outlined the previous garden. Had to pull those out, which wasn't easy!



You can really see how long the plot is. Goes up the whole side of the garage. (Which is only used for storage, no cars)

Started pulling out weeds, throwing down organic soil and rushing back and forth to Home Depot to get some garden fencing and stone bricks. This is what we have so far.



I added the little bench, but my Dad decided to throw in some large rocks and some turtle/tortoise sculptures. I'll have to think about if I want them in there or not.



Last view of the other side, I have the stone bricks on the side and the garden fencing in the front. I tested it's weight and it is very sturdy. Although, I do plan on staying near the enclosure whenever he is out as I know other animals could easily get in.

Just needs his edible plants in there and I think we are good to go!

 

[Yvonne G]

Wow, that was a lot of hard work. Good for you. Have you put him out there yet to see if he can climb over the fence? It doesn't look very high to me. But a beautiful spot! Great job.

 

[wellington]

Your tort will love that spot. Don't make it too comfy with that bench, I think your dad is getting a different idea then a tortoise pen Some plants and a sunken water dish and a hide and your good to go. I like the rocks and tort statue, breaks things up for your tort. Don't forget to share picks when it's complete and he is enjoying it.

 

[Chinque]

Great job! Your tort will love it!

 

[SpdTrtl]

Oh I love when they get to play outside!

 

[Jacqui]

Good job! I can so easily envision it all planted up and filled with tortoise furniture (water dish, hide, feed dish, ect). You should be proud of yourself. Like you said, it's going to be a place where he can only be out with supervision, but boy is he ever going to have fun out there ... and so will you watching him on that nice looking bench.

 

[theelectraco]

Looks good, as long as you are supervising as mentioned. The fencing looks easy to climb if a tortoise really tried, so keep an eye on it.

 

[Instinct]

Thanks guys! It took awhile to get that area cleared out.

Yvonne, the fence is about a foot high. Looks a lot smaller in the photos but I think it is just the angle. I set Darwin in the area for a bit today to see if he can escape, he tried pushing the fence down (didn't manage) but did not attempt to climb. If the weather is nice tomorrow I'll take him out again for another fence test.

My dad is such a nut. He has all these plans for the garden, none of which are very appropriate for a tortoise.

 

[DeanS]

I hope that side of the house gets at least a couple hours of direct sunlight...

 

[Instinct]

I hope that side of the house gets at least a couple hours of direct sunlight...

Oh yeah, it is the sunniest area of our yard.
When the old flowerbed used to be there, we would have trouble keeping the plants alive as the sun just cooked them.

Darwin however, won't be out that long. He will be provided a shady area in case he gets too hot and only will be out if I am there to supervise him.

 

[mike taylor]

Let your dad put the turtles in there he may start helping on the buy-in end LoL

Sent from my C771 using TortForum mobile app

 

[lynnedit]

That is going to be a great spot! You can tweak it as things go along to add/subtract hides, etc. That is so good for your tortoise.

 

[Instinct]

Thanks everyone!
Just ordered some seed packets, I know I'm behind, but I can get those started as soon as they get here. I'm also keeping an eye out for already mature plants to add to the enclosure as the little seeds might take a while to grow.

Took another fence test today. This time he did try to get over it, could only get so high before he toppled over on his side. Tried about three times before he got bored and walked away to see the rest of the garden. I'll still be supervising him when he is out though.

Brought the camera out with me to take a few photos of him. He only stayed out for about half an hour today as the garden isn't very exciting yet.

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[stinax182]

wow, darwin is beautiful! what color! I've got to say the best plant for shade would have to be hastas. they sell them in bags in the garden section of Walmart or lowes already growing...you just have to plant the roots. they are very hardy and provide a lot of cool shade. they're like umbrellas so it's easy for torts to hide under them.

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[wiccan_chicken]

Wow! May I ask what species Darwin is? I want to say Golden Greek but I am inexperienced with tort species. Beautiful, BEAUTIFUL tort, and I love your innovation for the garden! Makes me wish I wasn't moving out in a year so I could use more than a kiddie pool, but ah well, sun is sun no matter how you get it right?

 

[Tyrtle]

Cool. You know what? I had tried that same fencing initially. Our rather small Russian torts mowed it down in no time. Just wasn't strong enough.