Well it has come to the time when one turtle pen is not enough! I will have to build a separate box turtle pen outdoors and would like to see pics of other setups. This will house 6 juvenile easterns, 2 of which were given to me and are very deformed and it will be their first season outside!
I just want to see pics so I can start thinking of ideas that will make a cool habitat. The picture is of my pen used for a juvenile redbelly turtle and a juvenile wood turtle.
For your boxie setups, what works best in terms of the pen- wood, fence, chicken wire? What did you do about lids?
I am leaning towards making the enclosure out of wood as opposed to wire/ fencing where the turtles can see out. In my experience with indoor clear rubbermaid setups, the turtles spend too much time looking out and pace when I get home.
Thanks for any ideas.
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Want to see pics of outdoor setups
Replies (9)
I don't have photos of mine, but here are a few of the things I factored in:
the wood fence is basically a picket fence with the bottom 12" a solid board,so that they can't see out, and can't get stuck in any way.
the plant material includes fruit producers, such as blueberry and mayapple, and plant material that is food for snails and slugs, such as hostas.
the pond has very a gently sloping edge, since two of my herd are amputees: if yours have deformities, making the water 'handicapped accessible' will be important.
different degrees of shade: on the hottest days mine tend to congregate in one area because its shaded nearly all day long.
a cover if they're babies: I'll be making a seperate 'box' for the hatchlings that will have the added protection.
I can't think of anything else at the moment, besides providing plenty of variety, things to walk around, things to climb over, places to hide, etc., and plan for expansion, because as they grow they'll need more room to roam, so you may start with a smallish hatchling compound that will turn into a turtle resort.
Good luck!
Stephanie
Do you have problems with wild critters, such as raccoons, getting into the pen?
Thats a good question.
I actually live 'in town', so there aren't too many around, and those that are have easier pickings with the pet food & water left out by neighbors: so far it hasn't been a problem. I am on the lookout for them though.
Stephanie
Several years ago our kids had two baby rabbits. A raccoon ripped apart the chicken wire on their coop and presumabfly ate the rabbits! I'd love to leave my turtles in their out door pond at night, butn I'm having a hard time figuring out a way to to keep the raccoon away!
I also live in an urban place, packed with houses and what seemed like no suitable habitat even for raccoons. However, I have been very surprised to see opossums and stray dogs. Plus, there are many kinds that wander around. I made lids to put on my turtle pens. I used sturdy hardware cloth and made a wooden frame around it to make it stronger. PLUS I put locks on the lids. So its both kid proof and wildlife proof.
Well,here's where I keep my Chinese Boxies.
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TurtlePimp.com
Lets Try a fullsize image.
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TurtlePimp.com
Hi All!
Here's a link to my pen that I used for about 15 years. I tore it apart this past Fall. It was over crowded and rotting. I lived in an apartment and kept it at my parents home.
I bought a house recently and now am making plans to build at least 3 to 6 pens this year in my yard. I will be using cedar which will be painted for added protection. For the lid I will use metal fence gates which can be found at Lowe's for about $30 each and put locks on them. I also plan to put wire fence underneath them so they cann't dig out or anything dig in.
This will be an expensive venture but I have a lot of wild critters around here and want to be sure they are protected. I had a bear rip down all my bird feeders and don't want him to eat my turtles!!! Watch out for pictures in a month or two of my new pens which I will post.
Here's the link to my old turtle pen, it's the last album on the site.
You're pictures are really cool!
We don't have any bears here to worry about, raccoons are the main problem. I was thinking of one of those plastic slat fences, about 4' tall, w/ something underneath to prevent digging. Could a raccon climb over that?
I can't put a cover over the area, so the only other solution to to make it a screened in porch.
