The beginnings of an outdoor enclosure for a Leopard

[Renee_H]

That is looking pretty awesome. And your dog choice is pretty awesome too. I love Danes. I've had 9 of them.

She’s a complete sweetheart! Thank you!

 

[Renee_H]

Making progress. No worries friends when I am *done* Tort won’t have access. The sides and back are cinder block walls which I will plant around and they’re definitely tall enough to prevent any climbing ability and I’ll be swapping out the large rocks to the front to make a solid barrier. Just wanted to continue to document the progress on my tortoise garden.

 

[Renee_H]

When you still have an entire wall of creeping fig to remove but you accidentally find yourself at the nursery!

 

[Renee_H]

Journal update 3,456
I’ve nearly eliminated the pile of removed creeping fig from wall #1 in the weekly yard waste bin. Once the pile is gone I will remove from wall #2 and repeat. I need to acquire a stump grinder as the roots I was unable to remove from wall #1 are sprouting and the sh*t is growing back at an alarming rate. Same for the large toxic bush I removed. Why is it when I want to keep plants alive I kill them and when I try to kill them they refuse to die?
I’ve added a low/raised bed area to grow tortoise salad and all my seeds have sprouted(this was a test run).
I have also planted hibiscus, rose, multiple safe grasses and succulents.
As I’ve planted I’ve discovered a buried plastic mesh barrier that has become a nightmare. I rake dig pull daily and I just keep finding more and more of the sh*t.
I’ve nearly completed my pondless water feature and have begun mortaring the stones and wall.
I continue to debate on the insulted box/house. DIY or hire the job out. In the meantime I’ve been watching videos on similar construction and have acquired a few necessary tools from my FIL’s garage.
I have no clue how anyone manages to obtain a tortoise and then build their enclosure I feel like I’ve encountered so many barriers to creating a safe space despite having a space and resources.
Goal is to finish by spring 2025 so that I may begin the search for my tort!
So I keep on keeping on week after week.

 

[Renee_H]

Step 1 🙈 gonna try and do this thing!

 

[Tortellini0000]

Hello and welcome.

You don't need a dig barrier for a leopard. They don't dig.

What sort of fence is the fencing company going to put up? You want something that is a visual barrier. Chain link won't work and the tort will likely injure itself on that sort of thing. Leopards aren't climbers and a 16 inch tall wall will hold them in nicely. I like to use slumpstone block stacked three high with the middle row off set with a half block for strength. This is nice because its easily moved, adjusted, or expanded, and it looks much nicer tan cinder blocks.

If you have dogs, a 4 foot tall cain link fence will keep most dogs out, but you'll need a visual barrier around the bottom for the tortoise. In this case a 12 inch tall strip of plywood will do it. You can get four 12 inch x 8 foot strips from one $20 sheet of plywood, and you can paint it a pleasant color if you like.

You can also use corrugated roofing plastic stuck vertically into the ground with a pressure treated frame around it. I'll show pics.

What do you mean a "locking top" on your fencing? Do you mean the night box? Or do you mean you are making this whole area into a giant cage? But if the latter were the case, you'd need a gate, not a locking top. Please clarify for me. What is the plan?

Also, this area looks great, but 10x20 really isn't large enough for an adult leopard. I'd recommend at least 30x30, or the equivalent. Some females will grow to 18 inches, and this area is really too small for that. SA leopards can get to 24 inches in some cases. If you are confined to just this area, would you consider other tortoise species? Any of the Testudo would fit nicely into an area this size and do well in your climate too.

You will need to ID the plant on the back wall and verify that it isn't something toxic. Though you might read otherwise, tortoises will absolutely eat toxic plants and kill themselves. Some people assert otherwise, but I've seen enough dead ones at my tortoise vet friends clinics to convince me otherwise. I think what happens is the sometimes, some tortoises will choose to not eat a toxic plant if given the opportunity. The short-sighted owner of that tortoise then erroneously concludes that no tortoise will ever eat a toxic plant under any circumstance, and loudly says so on the internet. Beware of what you find on the internet for tortoise care. Most of it is wrong.

Here are some pictures showing what I mentioned above:
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I hope these ideas help!

Here is some general tortoise info for you too:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

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Hi Tom!

Curious your thoughts on which types of tortoises would be best suited for BC Canada climate with the space available outside mentioned above? TIA

 

[Renee_H]

Step 1 🙈 gonna try and do this thing!
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Step one ☑️ does anyone else build in their front room? No? Just me 🙈 wasn’t as hard as I thought! I’ll continue onto step two next weekend!

 

[Tom]

Hi Tom!

Curious your thoughts on which types of tortoises would be best suited for BC Canada climate with the space available outside mentioned above? TIA

A small species that can be reasonably housed indoors for your long winters. Something that brumates, like one of the many Testudo species, make winter easy peasy. Something that stay up would just need to be small enough to live inside all winter. Egyptians, pancakes, stars, etc...