New outdoor turtle enclosure!

[ferretinmyshoes]

I finally have a yard (bought a house)! So I finally can get all my turtles back outside where they belong. Colorado really likes rock landscaping...it's pretty inconvenient when you need something else to go there instead. First you have clear all the rocks. Omg there were so many rocks...





Laying the bricks for the wall. It's up against the house to help retain heat on the cooler days and gets the most sun all day long.





Buried the dripline hose, planted a few new plants and mulched it all!


All done! Just waiting for some of the groundcover plants to come in and the raspberry bushes to come up.



Some of the happy inhabitants





Had to rearrange some of the turtle houses...little escape artist!

 

[kinyonga]

Looks amazing ferrit......turtles must be loving it!

 

[Montium]

Box turtles are major climbers lol

 

[jannb]

Wow Dayna! It looks fantastic! You did a great job.

I have a question for you about Teddy. Do you think when he's older I'll be able to free range him in my house in the evenings and nights after he spends hours outside in the mornings and afternoons?

 

[Lathis]

Between Teddy the Adorable Tortoise and this amazing garden... How have I lived this long without a tortoise in my life????

 

[laurie]

That looks like a perfect home for your turtles. They have a lot of room but are contained, that is the best of both worlds.

I know what you are saying about rocks. This house had fist sized river rocks on all four sides of it when we bought it. I knew we would be dropping money there as soon as spring arrived.

 

[absolutbill]

What a great looking turtle enclosure and such hard work that you put into it. As long as your crew doesn't learn to jump I think you'll be just fine!

 

[xraygirl]

So cool!! I bet those are some happy little guys!

 

[FlChamMom]

So very cool- turtle paradise!

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Thanks all! You definitely have to plan carefully for any possible escape routes. The wall is tall, steep and slightly inclined inward even at the one corner. The other ends are curved. So once the houses were moved away from the wall it is pretty escape-proof so far. And they've been loving it! I portioned off a little bit for my star tortoise too. Now he just needs a heated house for the cold nights to be out there all the time since he's a more tropical species.

Jann - I sometimes let them cruise around the house in the winter before they could be outdoors. Otherwise they have the biggest under the bed Rubbermaid storage boxes with plants and dirt and hides that they live in before they had their outdoor digs. It's easy for them to find secret hiding spots, even in rooms where you wouldn't think there'd be any!

Lathis - you're missing out!

 

[carol5208]

That looks awesome Dayna! Do you worry about any type of predators? They are very lucky to have you as their owner!

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Fortunately not many predators as I live on a corner and can't have a privacy fence due to HOA restrictions. So it's a higher visibility area and none of my neighbors have seen any raccoons of other wildlife in their yards. The crows could take away little turtles but the hatchlings are still in a box with a protective screen cover for that reason. And as long as food isn't left in the turtle garden overnight it won't really attract anything. Fortunately the dogs have that part covered - they're the clean-up crew.