Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am currently renovating my outside tortoise pen. I am looking to make a few small "watering holes". They would have to be easy to get in and out of. What would be the best thing to make these small ponds for the torts out of? Should I use plaster pairs, or a plastic tub, or what? Thanks

~Walter~

using a flower pot saucer - plastic - comes in different
sizes. The bottom is wider than the top, like a very
wide very short volcano, from Wal-mart.

using a lid from a container box. Bordering everything with
rocks made for easy entrance and overflow drainage. You still
need something you can lift and dump out (where? yuk!) when
it gets filled with poop soup. This is an old pic when my
sulcata was smaller. I don't keep standing water in his
enclosure now, mainly because there's nothing that would actually
hold him, and still be liftable when filled with dirty water.
Instead he gets hosed down a lot (in the summer) and is
allowed to make mud scrapes in certain areas of the yard.
I also have a large (designed to store X-mas wreaths) plastic
container that holds him, but is too high for entrance/exit,
so I put him in it for a while and he likes it, then when he's
ready to get out, I lift him out.
Depending on your tortoises size, you can look at all the
trash can lids, container lids (you may have to buy the entire
container just to get an appropriate lid) it's hard to find
something they can get in and out of safely. You have to keep
sanitation in mind so it has to be practical to keep clean.

Thanks, I think I amy try that.

a water heater pan, BUT in plastic. The metal one may leak metals
into the water. I tried this for a day and got rid of it as
soon as I heard that was a possibility.

Thanks, I will probly try that. Where can you get one of those, at the hardware store?

~Walter~

something like "Home Depot" or "Lowes", go look back in the
water heater section or just ask. I'm a Building Inspector
so I'm always around new construction/renovations and keep an
eye out if I see an idea I could use.

Thanks for all the help.

I dig a hole of the desired size and configuration, cover with a piece of pool liner, and fill it up. Very easy to clean or move or modify. I have a 150 gallon tub for feeder goldfish, into which I run water continuously at a slow rate. A garden hose runs from a hole a couple of inches from the top rim of the tub, into the tortoise pond, keeping the pond topped up and relatively fresh. Works well for three sulcatas in the 50-75 lb range.