Summer quarters

[Ehaley]

Until I get a new privacy fence put up (a tortoise proof one no worries) I decided to give the girls a bit of an escape from indoors. its only 96 square feet but they do have a Mullberry bush growing in it. So sun, shade, a hide box and a few pools and they are loving it ( i am doing a bit of a mud pit in the back for them as well.. Any other suggestions

 

[Ehaley]

The girls have never bullied each other, I know its coming but I had Tilly for years and we ended up with Morty who was a rescue from a house fire, They have been chummy since the first day after quarantine ended. I would normally house them apart but they really do enjoy hanging together. If I see bullying ever start up I am more than prepared.

 

[Ehaley]

I have a bucket of washed river stones in the ready, just in case I need to keep the water level just right or to fill in the spill way narrows from one pool to the other.

 

[Tom]

Nice looking enclosure. I love the pond. I want to make something like that for mine, but it is beyond my level of expertise. Can you give me a little tutorial on how you did it?

 

[Ehaley]

Nice looking enclosure. I love the pond. I want to make something like that for mine, but it is beyond my level of expertise. Can you give me a little tutorial on how you did it?

Oh there is nothing to it really. Get yourself a few bags of cement and a few bags of sand. Figure out the shape you want ( you can use your garden hose or string as a template for shape) and use a shovel to dig around the outline. Now you can dig it out at the depth you feel most comfortable with. Remember that youre going to pour about 2 inches of cement after you lay down a layer of sand. Dig the hole and level it out pack/tamp the sand in hard with tamper or a brick if you like. Then mix the cement ( read the instructions on the bag ) and pour. I didn't use any tools apart from a shovel to dig out the hole , as well as to mix the cement and shovel it into the hole. I used my hands ( use rubberized gloves) to shape it. Give a little more at the top and slope it away from the pool so mud or dirt doesn't fall in on rainy days. Keep it shallow but if you do go deeper you can always level it out with river rock/ pebbles. If you do one like mine make sure it's wide enough and shallow along the narrows to accommodate your torts shell and if it for whatever reason flips over in it. I am not using a filter or pump on this one. It's basically a big watering bowl I can use a push broom on to get the water out and a scrub brush to clean it before refilling.

You can also YouTube making a pond and then follow suit apart from the depth ha.

 

[Markw84]

Oh there is nothing to it really. Get yourself a few bags of cement and a few bags of sand. Figure out the shape you want ( you can use your garden hose or string as a template for shape) and use a shovel to dig around the outline. Now you can dig it out at the depth you feel most comfortable with. Remember that youre going to pour about 2 inches of cement after you lay down a layer of sand. Dig the hole and level it out pack/tamp the sand in hard with tamper or a brick if you like. Then mix the cement ( read the instructions on the bag ) and pour. I didn't use any tools apart from a shovel to dig out the hole , as well as to mix the cement and shovel it into the hole. I used my hands ( use rubberized gloves) to shape it. Give a little more at the top and slope it away from the pool so mud or dirt doesn't fall in on rainy days. Keep it shallow but if you do go deeper you can always level it out with river rock/ pebbles. If you do one like mine make sure it's wide enough and shallow along the narrows to accommodate your torts shell and if it for whatever reason flips over in it. I am not using a filter or pump on this one. It's basically a big watering bowl I can use a push broom on to get the water out and a scrub brush to clean it before refilling.

You can also YouTube making a pond and then follow suit apart from the depth ha.

This issue is cleaning. My tortoises immediately drag dirt into, and deposit waste (poop) into any new fresh water they can find!! Clean water last less than 30 minutes! Now a larger amount of water will dilute the "dirty" to levels taking longer to reach "intolerable" but the larger amount of dirty water then needs to go somewhere without flooding the area. You say you use a push broom to empty. Have you had this setup in place in another application before? Can you comment on what you did with the dirty water? Not sure if I want to simply redistribute possible parasite eggs in the same area building up levels in one area. That is my biggest concern. How have you found that works for you?

Sounds like a drain like @tortadise shows he is installing in his watering ponds might work if you have a place to drain the water away from the enclosure???

 

[Ehaley]

Use a Python siphon system and run the hose into a 5 gallon bucket or far enough away from your enclosure you'd feel safe is the answer to that

 

[Ehaley]

Also remember this is just temporary outdoor housing. The reason I kept the cement thin is so I can break it up and remove it when the yard is open to them once again. I would never leave them in just 96 SQ feet when I have a whole yard I can open up to them. But yes valid point on sweeping potential wastes back in the surrounding area.