tortoise outdoor pen

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vh24

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hi,
i want to learn how to make a safe and cozy outdoor pen for my tortoise. i live in Oakland CA and want to keep my tortoise, Barbosa, outdoor. i tried for 3 weeks in an outdoor pen we made with basic fences (like garden fence). i put him outside around 9 am and take him back inside around 4 or 6pm. he seemed blooming of hapiness, and eating a storm of lettuce. however, this past friday, he escaped his pen. i was very worried. we found him the next morning walking joyfully around the patio.
please give me details on how to build/buy safe cozy pen for Barbosa
thanks so much
from Barbosa and his owner.
 

Yvonne G

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First of all, Vh24,

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to the forum!!

What kind of tortoise is Barbosa? It helps us to give you information when we know what kind of animal we're dealing with. For instance, Russian tortoises climb very well, and dig like gopher! But I'll give you some generic ideas:

Cinderblocks make a very sturdy, yet easy to build habitat. You can use the side of your house or garage for one side of the pen, then make the other three sides by stacking up two cinderblocks all around the area of the pen. If you have a climbing type tortoise, you should cap off the corners of the blocks. They climb very good in corners. If you have a digging type of tortoise then you need to lay down some wire along the front of the cinderblocks to inhibit the digging.

Tell us a little bit more about you and your tortoise and we'll help as best as we can!

Yvonne
 

terracolson

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Why dont you take a picture of the fence you have, and then we can make improvement suggestions for it.
 

tortoisenerd

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Welcome to the group! That's great you want to make a safe enclosure for your tort. Looking forward to more information so we can assist. We love pictures! Any pictures of your current enclosure and tort will be helpful.
 

chadk

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Yes, more details please!

In one of mine, I took some wire mesh and stapled it along the inside of the fence about 6 inches up. It goes down to the ground, then 90 degrees out and away from the fence about a foot. To hold it down, I just used a bunch of the soil and rocks I dug up when setting up the pen. I like digging holes and making mounds and areas to explore and get exercise. With the soil covering the wire, they may come up to the fence and decide to dig, but then they hit the wire and have to stop. Also make sure to cover the top. At least give it an edge that makes it hard to get over. They can climb better than you might think. And pay special attention to the corners. Cover those for sure. A full list would be ideal, but not alway practical.
 

Jacqui

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Welcome! Glad you so quickly found your escape artist. As said before, knowing the type and age of your tort will help with ideas. Be sure to check out the enclosure thread, too. It has some great ideas.
 
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