DD, We have no idea what to put for the cost of this enclosure.
We bought the pool secondhand for $500 and used it as a pool for 5 years or so until our kids grew up and we didn't use it much. The liner was getting worn so we came up with the idea of using the wall for the tortoise pen. It was a LOT of work digging it in and everything. The Boss used water seal on the wood (several coats). We don't get snow very often but we do get quite a bit of rain.
unchikun, Thank you. They were bought several years before the first size picture and kept inside under UV lights like the vendor told us to do. We researched more and more online and finally agreed that although they seemed healthy, they needed the sunlight to thrive. Putting them out in that pen with the constant access to sunlight and supplementing their grazing diet with Mazuri has led to some large, healthy and happy tortoises.
Nina, Thanks.
Here are some pictures from the construction. Hope they show up.
Karl H. Betz & The Boss
Digging the trench for the wall was hard on the lower back:

Once we had dug the trench deep enough, we put a base of concrete to prevent tunneling under the wall.

A comparison shot of the torts at the time we built against the trench for the wall. They start out deceivingly small.

Then we put up the wall on its base of buried concrete. It is actually bigger than some zoo enclosures that we have seen.

Once completed, all that was left was to add places to hide and things to eat.

Hope you enjoyed the construction,
Karl H. Betz & The Boss

[ Show Entire Thread ]