tortoise pen

[crayfishguy]

Hey guys, I'm thinking I need a redfoot tortoise, and I need to draw up some plans. Does anybody have plans I could use as a reference?

 

[crayfishguy]

temporary will be a kiddie pool with hides, dirt, etc, with chicken wire keeping him from getting out/ predators from getting in

 

[kittyhazelton]

Simplest plan I've ever used for any tortoise:
hardwood plywood frame & bottom. Use pieces of 2X4 on inside edge of corners and maybe along center of the sides.
4' long, 6' wide, 2' high. Silicone bottom corners to help seal, and paint interior with dry-lock to keep it from seeping moisture. I've probably built a dozen of these by now. Easy, cheap, relatively lightwieght, and you can easily fill with whatever bedding/substrate you need to.

 

[chairman]

I use stock tanks for indoor tortoise enclosures. I keep hingebacks indoors, they live in 110 gallon tanks. An adult redfoot would probably need a 300.

I've since moved to better hides, they're more or less man-made burrows constructed of thin plywood sides and top with dirt piled atop.

I make fences from decking boards for my outdoor enclosures (my outdoor tortoise also has a heated shed).

Note, redfoots can climb way better than the sulcata I have housed in this yard... keep the boards a solid wall and make them 2x the height of the tortoise.

But people far more creative than myself have put together some great ideas to work with:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-65797.html

And my favorite redfoot enclosures (definitely not mine):
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-77366.html
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-74800.html
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-72818.html

 

[crayfishguy]

I think i'm going to put chicken wire down on the dround, then put just a 4x8 rectangle of wood on top, nail/staple the chicken wire on top, then make a lid. This is after it grows out of a kiddie pool surrounded by chicken wire.

 

[crayfishguy]

Simplest plan I've ever used for any tortoise:
hardwood plywood frame & bottom. Use pieces of 2X4 on inside edge of corners and maybe along center of the sides.
4' long, 6' wide, 2' high. Silicone bottom corners to help seal, and paint interior with dry-lock to keep it from seeping moisture. I've probably built a dozen of these by now. Easy, cheap, relatively lightwieght, and you can easily fill with whatever bedding/substrate you need to.

View attachment 974160

I might do that... my only worry is the bottom rotting out...it would be outside

 

[chairman]

I think i'm going to put chicken wire down on the dround, then put just a 4x8 rectangle of wood on top, nail/staple the chicken wire on top, then make a lid. This is after it grows out of a kiddie pool surrounded by chicken wire.

That would definitely work. I'd consider using a coated welded wire instead of chicken wire for the bottom and covering it with a couple inches of dirt.

 

[crayfishguy]

That would definitely work. I'd consider using a coated welded wire instead of chicken wire for the bottom and covering it with a couple inches of dirt.

Yeah, thats what we have from keeping ducks... I just refer to it as chicken wire