Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Baxter the 3-toed boxie I rescued in early April has been steadily improving. He will now eat snails, worms, slugs, and a variety of fruit--no greens yet, but I'm working on that. He even ate some cantelope from my hand. He still isn't very active, but I spoke to a local woman who keeps and rescues boxies, and she said it could take up to 6 months for him to decompress, so to speak.

We will be moving next month, which of course will cause him a little more stress, unfortunately, but we will be on a property with one acre, which means that eventually he will be able to have plenty of room to roam. In the meantime, I need to put together an enclosure that will work until probably next spring (I do plan to hibernate him this winter, assuming his health seems OK in the fall and he clears his vet check). Is there any reason I couldn't use a large galvanized stock tank? It would work perfectly until I could build him a permanent enclosure. Thanks for any advice.
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Sohni

0.1 Baja de L.A. Rosy Boa
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.1 Rubber Boas
1.0 Leopard Gecko
0.0.1 Hermann's Tortoise
0.0.1 Marginated Tortoise
1.0 3 Toed Box Turtle (rescued)
plus my kids' herps:
0.1 California King Snake
1.0 Mexican Rosy Boa
0.1 Leopard Gecko

Hi Sohni,

A galvanized stock tank should work, but I would recommend looking at the Rubbermaid stock tanks. I bought a 300 gal version which I use for my RES. They are also much cheaper than the Gal. tanks. I think I paid roughly $150.00 or so for mine.

Ian

Hi Ian,

Thanks for the info. I didn't know the Rubbermaids are cheaper, so I'll check those out. I was going to look at galvanized ones today. I'll actually need two, one for Baxter and one for my yearling tortoises, so cost is certainly a factor!
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Sohni

0.1 Baja de L.A. Rosy Boa
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.1 Rubber Boas
1.0 Leopard Gecko
0.0.1 Hermann's Tortoise
0.0.1 Marginated Tortoise
1.0 3 Toed Box Turtle (rescued)
plus my kids' herps:
0.1 California King Snake
1.0 Mexican Rosy Boa
0.1 Leopard Gecko

This may or may not be an issue, but metal does have a tendency to get very hot when in the sun, which could create a bad situation. Just food for thought.
Stephanie

I use one for my aquatic but I have a overflow hole so
that it doesn't fill with water. In the case of box turtle
it could drown them quickly in heavy rain...

Linda

Whatever I use, I plan on putting plenty of drain holes in. Actually, I was hoping I might be able to find a leaky stock tank from somewhere, since it doesn't really matter if it holds water or not.
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Sohni

0.1 Baja de L.A. Rosy Boa
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.1 Rubber Boas
1.0 Leopard Gecko
0.0.1 Hermann's Tortoise
0.0.1 Marginated Tortoise
1.0 3 Toed Box Turtle (rescued)
plus my kids' herps:
0.1 California King Snake
1.0 Mexican Rosy Boa
0.1 Leopard Gecko

I looked at some stock tanks today, both metal and poly. A 6' diam. metal one is $175, a slightly bigger poly one is $270! I might be able to find some slightly cheaper, but that's quite a bit to pay for something temporary. Any ideas on what else I could use? It has to be something I can make a lid for to keep predators out.
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Sohni

0.1 Baja de L.A. Rosy Boa
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.1 Rubber Boas
1.0 Leopard Gecko
0.0.1 Hermann's Tortoise
0.0.1 Marginated Tortoise
1.0 3 Toed Box Turtle (rescued)
plus my kids' herps:
0.1 California King Snake
1.0 Mexican Rosy Boa
0.1 Leopard Gecko

Cinder blocks (concrete blocks) are cheap and portable, and readily available at home center stores. Also check out chain-link fence gates for lids.
You wouldn't have to mortar the blocks, just stack them slightly off center so there's a slight overhang to foil any climbers. Two rows high did it for us last summer when we had a temporary resident who had to be kept in solitary.
Not the most attractive choice, but all components are reusable.
Stephanie

That actually might not be a bad idea. I have a 5' x 8' chain link kennel panel already. It's a little heavy, but I might be able to figure something out to make it easier to lift. I'll probably still have to put him in a wading pool for a couple weeks, but those are pretty cheap.

Thanks for the idea!
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Sohni

0.1 Baja de L.A. Rosy Boa
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.1 Rubber Boas
1.0 Leopard Gecko
0.0.1 Hermann's Tortoise
0.0.1 Marginated Tortoise
1.0 3 Toed Box Turtle (rescued)
plus my kids' herps:
0.1 California King Snake
1.0 Mexican Rosy Boa
0.1 Leopard Gecko

another simple, cheap and workable option is the 18" vinyl coated decorative mesh found at home depot. That is what we used for our enclosure. Used 2' wooden stakes at 2' intervals with black or matching green zip ties to attach. We also used the 4" steel edging for a base. Worked out really nice and has held up fine for 18 months and counting. The vinyl coated wire helps avoid turtles damaging legs, head or claws and we went with a 1" by 3" mesh where the 1" is wide and 3" tall slots which also helps reduce the risk of injury. I think home depot sells the wire in 50' rolls and also the stakes. They were called survey stakes and sold dirt cheap in bundles.

Good luck!

I used a snapset pool to make a temporary indoor enclosure.

It was an 8' diameter pool with 24" sides. The pool was about $15.00.
The sides are flexible. You will need to fill it up part way with dirt or the sides will collapse in.
I am not sure how you would put a lid on it... but it is a very inexpensive way to create a large amount of space.
Shari