Box Turtle and Tortoise Discussion :: Eastern or 3 toed?

[jenaero]

Moving them outside is impossible. I live in an apartment now. Even so, around here you can't trust the kids not to take off with them anyway.

[reptilegrrl]

WHen isyour lease up? Can you look for your next apartment to have a balcony or patio?

We live in a duplex with a private back yard- during our last apartment search, some kind of private outdoor space was our priority. Before we didn't have any.

[jenaero]

I just moved in April so the lease isn't up til next April.

[reptilegrrl]

Ah, bummer. I hope you can get a place with outdoor space then.

[jenaero]

It's definetly something I'm going to take into consideration. Just wondering how to make an outdoor enclosure that's not hideous. By the time all the predator proofing is done they end up looking awful

[reptilegrrl]

I made mine out of coroplast. It is basically a coroplast box, with about 6 inches of mulch inside, and plants growing in the mulch. If it is going to be on a patio, this is a great setup because it requires no digging. The sides are about two feet tall.

I fastened the sides of mine together in a weird way but if I had it to do again, I would have just made holes in the sides and laced them together with cable ties or some kind of plastic cord. Coroplast comes in several colors and it is very durable. Mine is blue because that is what I had around, but I wish I had made it out of green, now, because that drak blue sticks out like a sore thumb in the back yard! The next one will be green! You can also put planters around it to camoflage. I don't think mine looks awful, but it's not very pretty, either, and it's not supposed to be: my priority was Rex's comfort.

For little turtles, a top made out of PVC and chicken wire would work to keep predators off.