Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Yesterday (May 1, 2005) my father, grandpa and I started to build 4 breeding pens. It tooks us 9 hours to build. Each pen is 5 foot by 5 foot. We used special wood, nails, hinges, and handles made so they wouldn't rust outside.
This is what it looked like before we started.

Then after cutting all the boards we put up the walls.

Here is one pen.

Then we got all of the walls built.

Then my dad came up with an awesome idea. It starts out with this.

Then we built a wooden thing with hinges so you can check on the eggs/ turtles.

Here I am checking on the turtles, and looking for eggs

Here is a closeup of what they look like.

This is what the look like before the new dirt and turtles underneath them.

Then we started to build wire covers, that wouldnt rust too keep the turtles safe from predators. First we built a frame and then put this wire over it. This took longer than anything. We put hinges and handles on them so they would be easy to lift.

Then we put it on.

Here I am again getting a turtle out.

Checking the hinges.

Here is one enclosure.

Another picture

The boards are safe to walk on, I am getting a turtle out.

Here they are.

We are still not totally finished. I still need to figure out what turtles I am going to breed (I have an idea) Then we are going to make cool signs above each enclosure that tells about the specie. We are going to put a stepping stone in each. Then the water will be awesome, I will post pictures of that when we put them in.

That looks great, but depending on the species you put in there, you might want to think about burying the sides atleasta foot under the ground, because when they burrow , you don't want any escapes. I had this happen with my first pen, and it just happened to be my favorite box turtle. Good lcuk, and let me know what you put in there! Would be great for box turtles, hermans, and russians!

J

J,
Did you find the box turtle who escaped? Last Oct. our then 45 pound tortoise put her "arm" through the wire fencing that was in front of our box turtle pen & when she did that she bent the fence so one of my box girls escaped. It happened just as the weather was changing. It rained that night & every day after that for a week. Then it when the rains stopped it was already time for all the wild boxes to go underground for winter.I didn't see any at all after that. I have no idea if she's inside our fence now or not but as I search for her, outside the fence I am not yet finding any box turtles at all. At least she's native to this area & even though she was ill when I got her & that's why I took her in, she had 15 months to rehab before she got lost.
I always hope against hope that if other people found their missing ones maybe I will too.
When I read your post, I was really hoping yours is one that was found.

PHRatz

yes, these boards should be countersunk into the ground at least a foot. there's not a land turtle or tortoise out there that won't figure out how to go under this if it's just sitting on top of the ground. for small enclosures like this I have used solid floors or wire mesh and recessed the whole enclosure beneath ground level, with drainage plumbing for run off. you also should consider this so the enclosure doesn't turn into a lake during rains.

Mick

Great enclosures! Good luck with the future babies!

Your photos are wonderful, it looks like a really nice place for turtles to live.
Thanks for sharing them. I want to see lots of pen photos as we are about to rebuild our own pen, so any ideas on building them are a huge help for us right now.

PHRatz

Great pictures! As other have suggested you need to extend something below the wallls you have made fso the box turtles won't dig under and escape. I have used chicken wire, the aluminum sheets gutters are made of, and have even lined the perimeter of the walls with bricks sunk to ground level so the turtles come up against brick when they try digging at the wall. Box turtles often lay their eggs near a wall so any hatching near the wall could dig up on the other side of the pen if you don't bury something next to the wall. I would suggest 12 inches at least. I buried my sheeting 18 inches
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Tess
Kingsnake.com Forum Host

it's Tess Cook... thanks for checking in. I've referenced a lot of good info from you and Melissa Kaplan over the years.

Mick