Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So I've excavated a large section of my backyard in preparation for a nice outdoor pen for my russian.

Question is, what materials do I use?

I definitely want her to be able to dig somewhat, so I need to sink about a foot or so of wall under the ground with about a foot or so above ground.
Unless I want to rebuild every couple of years, I'd have to use a treated wood. How bad is treated wood? I understand people are afraid of arsenic leaching out of the wood (although from what I understand, they now use a copper compound).

Also, I think I HAVE to have it mostly wood (at the very east, the top half above ground) so I can attach doors (with hardware cloth or something similar ro allow light in of course).

And I dont think there is much else I could use for the lower (underground) half of the walls either...cinderblocks and cement would probably be a problem as during the winter, frost heaves would pretty much destroy the entire thing.

Any thoughts on using wood? Ways to avoid leaching? Rotting of untreated wood? etc...

Also, I was going to use hardware cloth in the bottom of the pen to keep her from digging her way out. How well will this work? I've seen some people use chicken wire, but i'd think that stuff would rust out in only a few months considering moisture levels or dirt and the thickness of the wire...

Anyone out there have some links to some good pen building sites?

I used pine lumber and treated it with some kind of Thompson's wood protection. I keep 3 adult russians in an 8'x8' pen with a hardware cloth framed cover. I keep a juvenile russian in a 6'x3' pen, too.

Where I live there is a lot of clay in the soil. I put the boards down about 6-8". I also have a wooden hut in the pen. The tortoises never try to dig out, although the tough soil would slow them down.

I think if you give them a place to hide and plenty of room to roam, the tortoises won't try to dig out. I think putting hardware cloth at them bottom (is that at ground level, or under a foot of soil?), is overkill.

But it could be the soil where you live is very soft and easy to dig up. I wouldn't put the hardware cloth anywhere near the surface, as the torts could injure themselves digging into it.

I'm looking at around 5'x10'

It would be a foot or so underground...

Well, my soil is pretty tough, but the hardware cloth would also be to keep burrowing animals out...expecially rats and the like...

Bill's Box Turtles site [www.billsboxturtles.com] has directions for outdoor enclosures for boxies that would, I think, be suitable for most tortoises.
I am unable to "get" to it at the moment. Don't know if Bill is having server problems or my system is acting silly!
He uses a non-wood product, coreplast, plastic signage board, a picture of which is in the link.
[http://www.turtletimes.com/Forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=7109]
Bill also has a video to show, step-by-step, how he constructs these.
Might give you some ideas!
Good luck!

depend where you live (obtainable issues) but my fav materials at the moment are composite plastics: EON (canadian), FIBERON (us) or just go online for cp! they cost twice your best redwoods or cedars but likely will outlast all (but our torts i supposed!)many parks and recreations instutions are (SLOWWWWWLY!!) upgrading their playgrounds with these materials...last words on them treated woods at this age and time; why would people want to do with anything that has "CANCER" in their backyard ? (Government warning: please read label carefully!)

If you decide to use this type of wood, make sure to seal it VERY well with several coats of polyurethane.