suclata tort yard

[Turtleboogers]

My dad got me a tort for christmas about 8 yrs ago-his name is elvis
And he is a bit bigger than a dinner plate.
5 yrs ago I got a hatching still had his egg tooth! Now he's the size of
A tea plate or so.
Now that my guys are getting bigger they need a yard out side normally
I set them free in my yard and sit back in a lawn chair with an eye to the sky
As we live in the country and I don't want a hawk to take off with one.
I need advice on what to use for their yard-i heard chain link is useless when
They get bigger-also that rail road ties aren't good.
Any advice would be wonderful
Thanks

 

[Turtleboogers]

Okay so I miss informed I've had elvis for 5 yrs and pat for around 4ish
Sorry!

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi "Turtleboogers" (May we know your name?):

Welcome to the forum!!

If your tortoises are that big, I doubt you have to worry about birds carrying them off. Is your backyard fencing secure? Can the tortoises escape the yard? I vote for just letting them have the whole back yard. Just bring them in at night, or make sure they're inside their house at night.

 

[Tom]

I like slumpstone or cinderblocks. Stagger and stack them 2 or 3 high and you are good to go. They are like giant, heavy legos. You can move them around and reconfigure them as much as you want. Or at least til you wear out your leather gloves moving them. If you use existing solid walls (not chainlink or anything see through, as you already noted), you can make the enclosure even bigger.

Railroad ties should work fine too. Stagger them and drive some rebar through the ends to hold them in place.

IMO bigger is better, especially for sulcatas. They need lots of room to move. I like Yvonnes idea of just using the whole yard. I have 5 acres and mine march all over the whole property all day long.

 

[Stephanie Logan]

Hi Turtleboogers,

What a great username!

You need to show us some photos of your Sulcata brace in their current environment, and if you post some of the potential outdoor pen there are many Sulcata veterans on here who will give you advice and ideas for creating an ideal micro-climate.

Here's one way to post photos: http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-5245.html , and welcome to the forum!