Tort Pen Step Five: Buried The Burrow!!

I know this doesn't look like much- but I moved this 1000 pounds of dirt three times: into the truck, out of the truck, into the pen. There is nearly 150 pounds of dirt packed into that half garbage can, which I painted tastefully in a faux stone finish before burying it...

First, the big pic:

Closer...Soon, probably after payday Friday, this mound of dirt will be totally planted in grasses and stuff.

Closest! Koko's like, "Score!! She brought us all the dirt we can ever eat!!"

Thanks for looking. I don't know how many more steps there will be!

Nanci

PS, that dumb looking board is just there till I can get some stones.

Wow! That's really cool. Great job so far. :cheers:

I'd sure like to put another 1000 pounds of dirt on it, for more insulation and to make it less muskrat-housey.

Nanci

Wow, you are doing awesome. It looks great! So this is how they mate? Like this is where they hibernate and then next year you will breed them?

Ooh! Butters was already excavating in the burrow! That's cool that they just know how to do that. (They haven't made the move yet- they just visit in the evening.)

Nanci

No- I don't want them to breed! They are CITES two- so trade is controlled. You can give away the babies- but they really belong out west, in Arizona, California and Nevada. They super-discourage breeding, because there is always a surplus of hatchlings. Captive born DTs can never be released out into the wild. I'm hoping I have two females. They wouldn't be ready to breed for maybe six more years, anyway.

Nanci

I'm hoping it gets cold enough for them to brumate. My one boxie did ok brumating outside last winter- so hopefully they will be cold enough. It gets down in the 20's, but warms up really a lot- like all winter 70's are not unheard of.

Nanci

Ohh ok. Wow, six more years. They have to be old, but I guess they live for a long time.

Ohh is that a glass of wine I see there? It doesn't look too late to me in the pictures... :sidestep:

It's five o'clock somewhere!! :cheers:

Yeah, Dave- I'll be leaving these guys to someone in my will...

Nanci

I think I'm going to put an electric wire with a solar fence charger on it- just one or two strands around the top to discourage visitors.

Nanci

Oh! And before I get that set up- coyote urine!!

(From Tortoise Trust)

Deterrents

Deterrents would be classified as precautions taken to keep a predator away from the enclosures providing another layer of protection.

Electric Fencing: In areas with a burgeoning raccoon population many keepers have turned to electric fencing as a deterrent. The purpose of the electric fence is to prevent undesired animals from entering an area. High voltage electrical impulses are applied to a "live" fence wire by an energizer. This impulse lasts only thousandths of a second but is repeated every second or so. An animal that strays into contact with the live wire completes a circuit between the live wire and the soil or earth wire (if one is installed). The result is an electric shock sufficiently unpleasant to cause the animal to move rapidly away from the fence before the next electrical impulse. Animals soon learn not to touch the live wire or approach the fence too closely. Gate clips may installed to allow the keeper access to the area being protected without fear of shock.

There are now solar powered electric fence energizers on the market allowing one to use this protection in areas away from a source of electricity. They require a minimal amount of daylight to recharge and are quite effective.

Predator Urine: Another deterrent is predator urine. This method is based upon the principal of duplicating the use of urine by animals in the wild. Predators mark the perimeter of their territory with urine as a warning to competitors and a welcome to potential mates. Potential prey animals avoid such marked territories. Coyote urine has been shown to be effective against skunks and raccoons. The perimeter of the turtle or tortoise area is "marked" with the purchased urine by the keeper.

Actually, it appears I need to put two strands of electric wire about 4 and 8", or 6 and 12", from the ground.

I took some temps in the pen tonight. It's still 92F out (gack!!) and the earth covering the burrow is 112F-114F, but inside the burrow it is a cool 84F!! I wonder if I should put another 1000 pounds of dirt on it. It's not expensive, and not really that much work.

I didn't do any more work on it today, but bought drip irrigation supplies. I'm going to run the feeder hose around the inside perimeter of the pen (it's practically already dug up!) and then run the 1/4" tubing to whatever I plant. Drip irrigation makes keeping anything you plant alive so simple by making daily watering effortless. I just need to bury 80 feet of hose from the well to the pen.

Nanci

Oh- and that 84F burrow temp was 4.5 degrees cooler than inside my house with the AC running full blast...

Nanci

That makes sense. I remember reading about houses built partly underground and covered with sods being very stable in temperature. The tort-fort is going tobe incredible :cheers:
(One of my pony-riding friends has a solar-powered electric fence to divide her pasture, if it can stop a horse it should definately deter bandits)

Yeah, I really can't imagine containing horses without electric fence. They lean.

Nanci

Hey that's coming along really nicely Nancy! I've just spent about an hour catching up on your pen threads and I think you're doing a great job! I'm looking forward to seeing the next step and filing away tips and ideas in case we should ever own a yard to set up a few torts in. I like turtles and torts but never had the space for them.

My mom's neighbor has three torts (don't know what kind... and haven't spoken to him in years) and he just let them build their own burrows in the back yard. It was cool to watch them though, and offer them fruits and veggies from the garden and sometimes rose petals.

Anyway, looking good as I said earlier and good luck with the rest of the work!

Jenn

Thanks Jenn! I hope to get the drip irrigation put in tomorrow morning while it's cool. My paycheck sucked, so I won't be buying the fence charger or very many plants this time...But I have some already, and can get something for the top of the burrow. I'm still thinking I need at least 500# more dirt.

I don't want them to dig their own burrow because I'm afraid of flooding. In the wild, they'd dig into a hillside. So in my yard, the burrow has to be above ground. Some people keep them in little dog house-type things, but I want them to have a more natural microclimate. You should have seen Koko last night. He dug so far into the burrow that I didn't think I was going to be able to pull him out to put him to bed in the house for the night!

Nanci

Jeez Nanci, quite the undertaking. You will have some happy little critters in that thing.