Home About Me Unit Studies Family Fun Travel Recipes Contact Me

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Outdoor Enclosure for Our Russian Tortoise


A year and a half ago, we embarked on an adventure and became owners of a reptile. Darwin is a Russian Tortoise. I remember when we first got him, we dreamed about one day owning our own house and being able to build an outdoor enclosure for him. I can't believe that day has actually arrived!

My husband built an indoor enclosure for Darwin that has served us well. However, there is nothing that keeps a tortoise healthy as a secure outdoor area. Chuck and I began working on the plans for the structure as soon as we found out we were buying a house. This past weekend, my personal handyman began the huge task of building Darwin's new home. I'm not sure how many hours he spent working on it, but let's just say I have never seen him work so hard in all of the years we have been together. He spent almost his entire weekend measuring, cutting, and drilling. Yesterday came the difficult task of digging out the area we were going to put it. Below are some pictures of the process (click on a picture to see it larger).

Chuck with his little helper

the enclosure is 6 X 4



The enclosure is filled with dirt that was dug out of the ground
and then a mixture of play sand and plain top soil. This picture shows his hide.

I planted some grazing tortoise seed mix that I purchased last year.


A lid is essential to protect from animals (especially our dog Baxter).

I think Darwin will be very happy outside in his new home. Now comes the fun task of cleaning up the mound of dirt around the enclosure. *whistle*

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
 
Blog designed by Blogger Boutique using Trish H. Design's "Merry Go Round" kit.