Well, it's not really a pen, it's a pool, and it's not for my Tortoise, it's for a pair of Mud Turtles I'm getting next week. But the Mud Turtle forum is so gosh darn slow I thought I'd have better luck here. I figure whatever works good to cover an outdoor Tort pen would work for a Turtle pool too. The turtles are in a kiddie pool and currently are not covered. The guy who owns them has never had a problem with predators. However, I have a female (spayed) house cat. She sits in the window and has attracted the attention of some local male cats who have homes but their owners let them out. They hang out in my yard and cry up at the window at my cat. They probably would not go after the Turtles, but why take the chance? What are some possible things I could use to cover the pool so that I could still look in and enjoy the turtles, but they'd be safe from the cats? I don't live near any woods and don't have raccoons, although there are skunks in the area. Not sure if skunks bother turtles? I was thinking of chicken wire, hardware cloth, or something along those lines, but not sure if they would rust in the rain and the rust could get into the water? What do you guys use for your outdoor pens?
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Lyns Lair
Frogwatch USA
WNY Herpetological Society
0.1 Cat (Mia)
4.2 Ferrets (Wolf, Shadow, Verdell, Sullivan, Boo, Peach)
1.0 Carpet Python (Bear)
1.0 Malagasy Blonde Hognose Snake (Wilbur)
1.0 Yellow / Everglades Rat Snake (Pumpkin)
1.0 Russian Sand Boa (Fang)
0.1 Normal Corn Snake (Mysty)
1.0 Anery Corn Snakes (Suezo)
1.0 Banded Water Snake (Ripley)
0.1 Golden Greek Tortoise (Sunshine)
1.0 Green Iguana (Norbert)
1.0 Whites Tree Frog (Trevor)
2.0 Solomon Island Eyelash Frogs (Chompy & Gimli)
1.0 AFT Gecko (Cocoa)
5.5 Leopard Geckos (Trouble, Scooter, Simba, Firenze, Teddy, Mystique, Freckles, Dotty, Zipper, Twister)
...unless you want to cover up the entire kiddie pool which requires building a cage out of hardware cloth/chickenwire/plastic screen of some sorts...what you can try and depend on the size of your pool is to make an island (for basking/nesting) and surround the pool with spikyplants to deter them cats but again, they are excellent hopper so the cover would be your best bet.