Outstanding!
What they don't tell you about outdoor enclosures...
- Thread starter srkarpen
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Mines too- they beginned to digg, and they will keep digging until early November, when they will settle down at the ends of their burrows. I cannot let them outdoors, here winters can be very humid, rodents confirmed and abundent...
It is a little more difficult with them then with my Ibera or Boettgeri- those are larger and can be left by themselves, and being found in the same known place when digging them up for placing in controlled hibernation.
But for Horsfields... only 11-12 cm... and digging quite inconspicuous burrows, that can be totally hidden after a rain... I could easily facing the task of digging all their enclosure to find them, and even only about 20 square meters and eliminating some areas, the risk of not finding them, or finding very late after exposure to excess moisture, it's not worthy.
Just today, I confined them from the 40 sqm pen to only those 20, without any weeds, to be easier to find. The other half is still weedy and it would be a real nightmare to be forced to look for them in mud, after a rain... well, a rain is badly needed here, severe drought.
So, about mid-end October, I will confine them even more, since their need to move is drastically reduced; it is in a 1x1m pen, with a wooden board placed on a few bricks=> small "house", diggable sandy ground, leaves, vegetal compost inside, and they hide. Secure the margins, and covering overnight using blankets and plastic, uncovering during day depending on the weather. Keeping them dry means life, unlike Ibera and Boettgeri that tolerate much better the wettness.
When the real cold announces, they will not emerge anymore, and I am there to recover them for controlled hibernation too.
Denver is more suitable, but be very careful. Better fridge than outdoors, you never know what can happen and also lots of worry, work and protections etc... not worthy.
Good luck!
It is a little more difficult with them then with my Ibera or Boettgeri- those are larger and can be left by themselves, and being found in the same known place when digging them up for placing in controlled hibernation.
But for Horsfields... only 11-12 cm... and digging quite inconspicuous burrows, that can be totally hidden after a rain... I could easily facing the task of digging all their enclosure to find them, and even only about 20 square meters and eliminating some areas, the risk of not finding them, or finding very late after exposure to excess moisture, it's not worthy.
Just today, I confined them from the 40 sqm pen to only those 20, without any weeds, to be easier to find. The other half is still weedy and it would be a real nightmare to be forced to look for them in mud, after a rain... well, a rain is badly needed here, severe drought.
So, about mid-end October, I will confine them even more, since their need to move is drastically reduced; it is in a 1x1m pen, with a wooden board placed on a few bricks=> small "house", diggable sandy ground, leaves, vegetal compost inside, and they hide. Secure the margins, and covering overnight using blankets and plastic, uncovering during day depending on the weather. Keeping them dry means life, unlike Ibera and Boettgeri that tolerate much better the wettness.
When the real cold announces, they will not emerge anymore, and I am there to recover them for controlled hibernation too.
Denver is more suitable, but be very careful. Better fridge than outdoors, you never know what can happen and also lots of worry, work and protections etc... not worthy.
Good luck!
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