Where Frank lives...

[Ashmash]

And Frank after a soak and getting vaseline on his shell.

The dome structure in his enclosure is an old satalite dish flipped over and covered in grass. We plan on planting grass on top. He has 3 small cactus plants in there and a pine tree. Hopefully we will plant a few more trees in there soon. Will a lemon tree be ok to plant up there? What would be some good trees to plant? How does it look? How can we improve?

 

[terryo]

All that for Frank??? Wow...it's huge. You could plant a few Rose of Sharron trees. They love the leaves and flowers.

 

[Candy]

Why do you put Vaseline on his shell?

 

[Ashmash]

Thanks for the help! Yup. It used to be a goat pen, but we haven't had goats for a long time and it was perfect when Frank came to live with us! Will those trees take full sun?

Candy, I read about using it to keep the shell in good shape and it's made from all natural stuff so it wont harm him in anyway.

 

[kimber_lee_314]

What a lovely place - lucky tort. Please rethink putting vaseline on his shell. Even though it makes it look pretty, it's not very good for them.

 

[Ashmash]

How is it not good? It's %100 petroleum Jelly. There's no added color, fragrence, or irritants. It's hypo-allergenic and non-comedogenic. It's not to make him look pretty but to moisturize his shell. He was pretty dry and flakey before I put it on. This was the first time and I only used a thin layer and don't plan on using it very often. Please tell me what's wrong with using it and I'll stop. I'd like to know why it's not good for him.

 

[kimber_lee_314]

How is it not good? It's %100 petroleum Jelly. There's no added color, fragrence, or irritants. It's hypo-allergenic and non-comedogenic. It's not to make him look pretty but to moisturize his shell. He was pretty dry and flakey before I put it on. This was the first time and I only used a thin layer and don't plan on using it very often. Please tell me what's wrong with using it and I'll stop. I'd like to know why it's not good for him.

I think this article explains it pretty well:

http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/bath.html

 

[Madortoise]

Frank has it made.

 

[Tom]

First of all, I'm thrilled to see a tortoise in a giant outdoor pen. Woo Hoo!

I concur with skipping the stuff on the shell. They don't need it and its not good for them.

It looks like your pen is made of hog wire or something similar. Every tortoise I've seen will rub themselves raw on that sort of material. Tortoises are like little bulldozers. In the wild they just push and shove their way through the brush. If they can see through something, like chain link or hog wire, they don't perceive it as a barrier and just keep pushing against it all day long. It looks like the weeds are grown up around the bottom of your pen right now, providing a visual barrier of sorts, but if the weeds die down in summer, you might have a problem. If its working for you, that's great. Just keep an eye out for "perimeter patrol" and excessive rubbing of the shell, legs or face. If you start to see this, you may need to put a visual barrier of some sort around the bottom 12" or so.

Love the recycled satellite dish. Great idea. When you get a hot day, later in the year, please throw a temperature probe under there and tell us how hot it gets, or how cool it stays, with the grass on it. I might try to find a way to copy what you've got going there.

Thanks for sharing your pics. I wish they could all have a pen that size.

 

[Yvonne G]

Actually, "petrol"eum jelly is quite drying. So you are defeating your purpose in applying it. One thing that the tortoise trust article doesn't touch on is the fact that dirt and debris cling to the "greasy" shell and the tortoise runs the risk of over heating.

A long story so you can benefit from my experience:

When my family and I moved from town to a house in the country on 5 acres, we brought our 5 desert tortoises with us. This was many, many years ago, before I had the 'net and was able to do research...way back in my ignorant days. The 5 acres was not fenced, but my husband made a nice section for the tortoises out of T-posts and hog wire. The wire was stretched quite taut and was down to the ground.

One by one I lost my tortoises. I never could figure out how they disappeared. There were no holes and it was too tall to climb.

Years later, when I had gained more tortoise experience, I realized that the tortoises pushed under the fence. Even though it was taut, with no give to it, a small animal, close to the ground, can push against it and end up on the other side.

It would be a good idea to place a bunch of 1x12 boards all along the bottom so the tortoise can't see out. This makes him not want to push and get to the other side.

What a good use for an old satellite dish! We gave ours to the bird rescue and they use them as roofs for their aviaries. But on the ground with grass growing on it is very inventive!

Frank is quite lovely (not sure if that's the correct word for a manly man of a tortoise). Desert tortoises are still my very favorite tortoise. They, along with the Actinemys marmorata, are so people oriented. You'd never know it was a wild animal. They just seem to have no fear of people at all.

 

[Ashmash]

Ok, thanks for the info. I had read about the vaselin from this site and so I just wanted to know why not to use it. I wasn't trying to be rude, I just wanted an explanation. Thanks!

I will deff get the boards up asap. Last year we just tried to watch him really closely for and rub or things like that around the fence.

I will try to remember about testing the temp under the satalite this summer. A gopher destrpyed Frank's old tunnel about a week ago so now he's been living under the dish. I plan to get started planting the grass, trees, and other stuff soon. Thanks for all the help!

 

[Yvonne G]

Well its a wonderful place for a desert tortoise to live. He won't even feel like he's a captive with all that room to roam! You're so lucky to have so much property that he can roam.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Plant as many Rose of Sharon as you can, also day lillies are a favorite of my tortoises, and when the season comes around plant squash plants not for the veggies but for the flower. I feed the blooms to my tortoises so much we never get around to any actual squash. And Roses. My tortoises love Rose petals. I also second what Yvonne has told you about blocking the bottom of the fence from view of the tortoise. Desert tortoises are my very favorite, they are shy and yet personable... you are fortunate to be able to keep one...

 

[kimber_lee_314]

Ok, thanks for the info. I had read about the vaselin from this site and so I just wanted to know why not to use it. I wasn't trying to be rude, I just wanted an explanation. Thanks!

I will deff get the boards up asap. Last year we just tried to watch him really closely for and rub or things like that around the fence.

I will try to remember about testing the temp under the satalite this summer. A gopher destrpyed Frank's old tunnel about a week ago so now he's been living under the dish. I plan to get started planting the grass, trees, and other stuff soon. Thanks for all the help!

You weren't being rude - we're always glad to help each other. You have one lucky tort!

 

[Ashmash]

Thanks everyone! I've already talked to my boyfriend about getting the boards up. He's actually the one who rescued Frank, but since my family had the property he came to live with us.

Is a lemon tree ok to plant up there? What else can I plant besides the rose of sharron, day lillies, and squash?

 

[Yvonne G]

"They" tell you that fruit isn't good for desert tortoises, however, I went to a lady's house because she found a tortoise and wanted me to pick it up. Her backyard held about 8 or 10 citrus trees of different types, plus around 10 desert tortoises that she's had for many, many years. She never harvested the lemons, oranges, tangerines and grapefruit, and they just fell on the ground. The day I went there the tortoises were chowing down on the fallen fruit. I asked her if her tortoises were ever sick or if she ever lost one and she said she'd had them for many years and had never taken one to the vet or had one die. So, in my opinion, if you want a citrus tree, go ahead and plant one. But if it were in my tortoise habitat, I would pick up the fallen fruit.

You can also plant cactus and succulents, gazania, and toss all kinds of veggie seeds out there (except tomatoes and egg plant). A willow tree is always pretty, and edible too.

 

[Tom]

Plant as many Rose of Sharon as you can, also day lillies are a favorite of my tortoises, and when the season comes around plant squash plants not for the veggies but for the flower. I feed the blooms to my tortoises so much we never get around to any actual squash. And Roses. My tortoises love Rose petals. I also second what Yvonne has told you about blocking the bottom of the fence from view of the tortoise. Desert tortoises are my very favorite, they are shy and yet personable... you are fortunate to be able to keep one...

Sorry to divert the thread, but, Maggie, are pumpkin flowers good too? One of our neighbors at the ranch is a several hundred acre pumpkin patch. They also grow gourds and squash of all kinds right there. The owner's have invited all the neighbors to take as much as we want in exchange for running off baddies at all hours. Its a good trade as we don't want pumpkin thieves around us anyway. When the pumpkin patch owner realized who we were and that were buying the pumpkins from him anyway, he invited each of us to help ourselves, while they were still over in the patch. Very nice family. Anyhow, there are thousands of delicious looking flowers every year, but I didn't know if they were safe or not, so I've never fed them.

 

[Ashmash]

Im soo excited! My boyfriend came over today and we found an old picket fence gate that fit perfectly onto Franks pen where the old gate (that wasn't attached for good) used to be and now it has an aborable gate!!! I'll try to get pictures soon. Depending on how the wood looks when it's dry I might paint it, but it's deff getting a cute sign w/ Franks name on it! we put screen on the back and a log type thing on the bottom so no one's getting in or out.

 

[Ashmash]