Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My update is, that my project failed. I started laying out the PVC and the area of the pen was just too big and the PVC bowed. But, with that said, I did accomplish another project. Since I can't have a lid on the large pen, I reconstructed a new, beefer night pen.

I bought a 12-foot by 1-foot tall by two-inch thick section of pressure-treated wood and cut it into four sections and built a new pen, complete with new lid. This thing is so tough compared to the little temporary pen I made out of scrap wood. It came out very nicely. My plan is to hibernate the boxies in it so I can know where they are and not have to worry about predators. Here's a picture of how it came out. You can also see the bench I built to the right. It's getting a lot of use; I can sit and watch the Eastern juvies or watch my hummingbird/butterfly garden to the left of the night pen.

My PVC pen had lots of legs-I had no trouble making it 12 feet long by 4 feet wide with T's every 2 or 3 feet- but your wooden pens looks great and safe and strudy! Great job and I'm sure you'll get years out of it's use

I always tell people-even in my book-to use the materials you are comfortable using-wether it's wood, cement blocks, rocks-just think of making it strong and predator proof. Tess

Curtis,
that night pen turned out sweet. Next year I plan to put cinder blocks around my shallow garden pond, to be used as a weekend days vacation pen, since putting them in it during the weekday would not be feasible with my schedule. Could you post recent pics of the open pen, I believe you posted a pic this spring. Tomorrow I will try to take some pics of my garden pond and my pens so you can see how the plants filled out this summer, they look totally different now than they did this spring.
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Jeff Benfer
1.0 cinnamon pastel Python regius
1.1 pastel Python regius
1.1 mojave Python regius
0.3 normal Python regius
1.3 Terrapene carolina thriunguis
2.3 Terrapene carolina carolina
4.1 Kinosternon baurii
1.1 Malaclemys terrapin terrapin
2.2 double het albino and anerythristicThamnophis sirtalis parietalis
1.0 anerythristic Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis
2.3 Iowa snow Thamnophis radix
0.2 het Christmas albino Thamnophis radix
1.1 double het cherry erythristic, albino Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis
1.1 melanistic Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis
2.0 66% het snow Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis
1.1 triple heterozygous for amelanistic,carmel, and stripe Pantherophis guttatus
0.1 anerythristic motley Pantherophis guttatus
0.1 butter p.h. stripe Pantherophis guttatus
0.1 carmel stripe p.h. amel Pantherophis guttatus
0.1 amelanistic p.h. carmel,stripe Pantherophis guttatus

Sure thing.

I just took these this morning. Where I have the pen is such a great spot for a turtle pen. Notice how it gets full sun early in the morning and then from about 10 until noon it gets dappled sunlight and then the rest of the afternoon is shaded, which is key for all turtles and even more so living in Texas.

The first pic is the 3-toed pen, which is just housing Rusty, my male 3-toed. It's a little more sparse than the Eastern's side, but I've found he seems to prefer it that way. When I had a few more plants and things, he either tore them out or grazed them to the ground. So I think I'm going to find another big stump and re-mulch and call it good. Although knowing me and my gardening itch, I'll probably plant a couple mature hostas when they go on sale here soon.

The Eastern's pen is the second pic. It has done exactly what I wanted this year: I provided plenty of hide spots as well as plants to give them security and interest. Once the fern and the hostas fill out in the next year or two, it will look great. I think I may move things around a little bit this year, but for the most part I'm pretty happy with it. I may add a couple mature hostas in there too though.

Curtis,
Those pens look perfect, I couldn't agree with you more they that is the perfect set-up as far as the sun. Mine pens are in a pretty good location too but lack the dappled mid-day which is ideal, the back side of my house faces northeast, so they get sun all morning untill about 11 then shade, then also the easterns pen gets a few hours again in the late afternoon after the sun clears the house on the west side, my 3-toes pen is more on the east end so they don't get the late afternoon sun but they do get all morning. Seems like my 3-toes like to be out in the open a lot more than the easterns too. The 3-toes walk around in the open and prefer to dig into the sandy soil end at night rather than hide under log, were the easterns aways hide under logs and only look comfortable walking in the area where I have a lot of vegatation, I guess that reflects there natural habitat preferences. I will try to get some picts tonight, I got busy yesterday and didn't get around to it.
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Jeff Benfer
1.0 cinnamon pastel Python regius
1.1 pastel Python regius
1.1 mojave Python regius
0.3 normal Python regius
1.3 Terrapene carolina thriunguis
2.3 Terrapene carolina carolina
4.1 Kinosternon baurii
1.1 Malaclemys terrapin terrapin
2.2 double het albino and anerythristicThamnophis sirtalis parietalis
1.0 anerythristic Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis
2.3 Iowa snow Thamnophis radix
0.2 het Christmas albino Thamnophis radix
1.1 double het cherry erythristic, albino Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis
1.1 melanistic Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis
2.0 66% het snow Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis
1.1 triple heterozygous for amelanistic,carmel, and stripe Pantherophis guttatus
0.1 anerythristic motley Pantherophis guttatus
0.1 butter p.h. stripe Pantherophis guttatus
0.1 carmel stripe p.h. amel Pantherophis guttatus
0.1 amelanistic p.h. carmel,stripe Pantherophis guttatus

You described my 3-toed perfectly. He would rather dig his own holes and burrow in leaves than get under a log. And it's FAR more common to catch him walking around the pen, sunning in the open, etc. than hiding out like my easterns. Once they've eaten or been in the pen for an hour or so, they go hide out under a log or stump until it gets dark. It really is a privelage to have two different sub-species to notice their differences.

Turned out GREAT! Did you drive a long screw sideways into each sides of the posts? I did-it's so there will be no sifting and I can even sit on the fence-for a few minutes, lol! Tess