General Care Discussion :: outdoor time

[scriabin]

There's a nice yard out where I'm house-sitting and I thought it might be good to give them some sun...

I tried putting them in a tub with a little water in it, some rocks to climb out on, and a shady area and quickly realized this is a bad idea - the temperatures kept climbing and I had to continually add cold water and eventually bring them back in within the hour.

What's a better way to do this? I don't want to just let them run free because the yard is huge and there is no gate, so a neighborhood dog could come by any time.

What do other people use? A cardboard box? a playpen? chickenwire? I'm guessing it's important to always give them access to water, even if they're only out for an hour, right?

And what about temperature parameters? Yesterday it was 100 degrees - at what point is having them outside just not a good idea?

Thanks,

Jonathan

[scriabin]

Here's what I've come up with in the last 30 minutes -

I double wrapped chicken wire around some stakes, and then lay bricks tightly around the inside to prevent digging/squeezing under - I turned a cardboard box on it's side facing away from the sun and put a water dish inside, so the dish/water will never be in direct sunlight. How does that sound?

Also, my questions for intolerably high temperatures (for air and water) still stands? Today will be 99 degrees...

[Daniel3507]

be sure and watch the entire time they are outside. im not so sure about how long they should stay. be sure and have a shaded area for them

[scriabin]

Yeah, they have a shaded water dish and some shaded grass.

When you say "watch them the entire time" do you mean keep an eye on them (i.e. can I sit nearby and read/write etc...) or do you mean literally I should never take my eyes off them? And if the latter, what am I watching out for?

[Daniel3507]

you dont have to stare at them without blinking but dont go inside and leave them there. just keep an eye on them. turtles can escape alot of things pretty easily.

[scriabin]

you dont have to stare at them without blinking but dont go inside and leave them there. just keep an eye on them. turtles can escape alot of things pretty easily.

Well, they're certainly trying. How weird for an animal with such an inflexible torso to attempt scaling a vertical brick wall...

... they're good at it too! One just made it to the top and is trying to figure out what to do about the chicken wire ... sigh ... maybe this isn't going to work - they just keep trying to climb out and falling over, that doesn't look like fun for them...

OMG... Terra just scaled 8 inches of brick and then 12 inches of chicken wire! You weren't kidding! Okay, back to the drawing board, I guess...Anyone have any suggestions? A playpen?

[untsmurf]

You can wrap the chicken wire in something (like tin foil or saran wrap) so they can't climb it. You can also look at getting a kiddie pool and putting some dirt along the bottom. Ours cost $10, the walls are harder to scale, and it makes it easier to watch them.

[steve]

I have them fenced in and I have a wireless camera trained on their setup. I used to sit outside with them, but the mosquito problem around here is ridiculous.

[spaceapple]

Maybe...you should invent a turtle leash! That would be certainly handy. ^_^