Jemimas summer-house

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Tarajane77
Posts: 50
Joined: 26 Jun 2020, 20:26

Jemimas summer-house

Post by Tarajane77 » 17 Feb 2021, 22:07

Hello ladies,

It's Jody from Wirksworth (Jemimas hooman slave).
I hope you are all well, and your shell - babies are fab.

I'm not inquiring about Jemimas death stare or her overall ungrateful attitude, but her summer enclosure.

So in the next month I'm getting the builder in to build her a walled enclosure. I know it's to be south facing, and the floor will need to be secured due to digging (even though Jemima has never dug in her life, she walks like a spider in rollerskates if her feet get mucky). So will paving slabs to cover the base, then soil above this be both secure AND sufficient enough drainage wise for the soil?

Also there will be no hide compartment in as my angel (devil) will not be left out overnight and she will gladly vegetate in the hide as she is BONE. So for shelter I'm intending to put wine boxes in, one with a uv permitting pane as a roof and the other as it is...obviously removing the one with a PVC lid in the height of summer.

I am having a secure lid attached to her walled pit so my princess is all padlocked safe. Would you recommend a uv permitting pane incorporated into the lid as i intend the lid to be wood and fine wire mesh. I'm worried the mesh might inhibit the suns rays but don't want any furry friends squeezing their guts in without it.

So as usual a plethora of questions.....picture of her ladyship to drool over. Enclosure type intention incuded, but I'd have mine a least 8×4ft.

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Thankyou[attachment=0]749018a950b370b32573ae6e8a514336.jpg[/attachment]
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Jody K

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Nina
Posts: 2003
Joined: 16 Mar 2017, 11:22

Re: Jemimas summer-house

Post by Nina » 18 Feb 2021, 11:21

Hi Jodie,

Ahh, Spring can't be far behind when thoughts of outdoor enclosures come into our heads! Well done for getting a head start.

Re Drainage. I think sufficient drainage with paving stones and soil on top depends on your soil and if there is sufficient space between the paving stones to let water drain away (if you are on clay it will drain more slowly than on sand), but that could work. The other ways around preventing escaping through digging down is to bury the walls of the enclosure about a foot into the ground. That way she could dig down in the enclosure but not down and under and out. Or, what a lot of people do is to dig down a foot or so and then put a strong mesh on the ground and then cover that with soil. Whatever you do I think there should be at least 6" -- preferably much more -- depth of soil.

Another thing to remember is climbing out. And easy way to prevent this is to put a lip all around the top of the walls of the enclosure, coming inwards about half an inch to an inch so that if she does climb up the walls she can't get out (have attached two photos of tortoises climbing to show you what they can do if given half a chance).

Regarding hides -- she will want somewhere to go in the shade and rain, so your wine box without the UVB lid should provide that, or I have a nice decorative grass called Carex 'Frosted Curls' which sort of sprawls over like a fountain and they like to shelter under that in the rain. Here's what it looks like, but I always have extra and could send you some if you want. https://www.mypalmshop.com/carex-comans ... urls-2-ltr
As long as she has somewhere to shelter out of the rain and out of the hot sun she will be fine. And the wine box with the UV pane might be nice for warming up when it's a bit cooler.

Regarding the covering (you obviously won't need the lip that I mentioned above if you have a lid). If the mesh is really, really fine then yes, some light and UVB will be blocked out. I'm not sure how fine your mesh is, but I would use one with the largest holes, but sill small enough to keep out beasties. I just found this photo of a very nice looking enclosure which has a lid but still seems to let lots of light/UVB in: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/4e/75/d5 ... f86bb9.jpg And it might be a good idea to have part of the lid hinged, so that you could raise some of it easily to get inside, etc.

I think your enclosure is going to be fantastic! Can you post progress and result photos -- people would love it (and will probably steal your ideas, or use you as their inspiration)!

Nina
And here are two photos to remind people of how well tortoises can climb:
[attachment=1]Tortoise climbing fence.jpg[/attachment][attachment=0]Tortoise climbing wall.jpg[/attachment]
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Tarajane77
Posts: 50
Joined: 26 Jun 2020, 20:26

Re: Jemimas summer-house

Post by Tarajane77 » 20 Feb 2021, 22:27

Thankyou Nina for your always kind and helpful advice. Of course i will post pictures once finished.

Take care and stay safe xx
Jody K

Tarajane77
Posts: 50
Joined: 26 Jun 2020, 20:26

Re: Jemimas summer-house

Post by Tarajane77 » 20 Feb 2021, 22:44

When the enclosure is done i would LOVE some of the carex, and would cover all postage costs Nina x
Jody K

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Nina
Posts: 2003
Joined: 16 Mar 2017, 11:22

Re: Jemimas summer-house

Post by Nina » 21 Feb 2021, 08:37

No problem, Jody -- just let me know when you want them, as I usually have loads of it that seeds itself in the enclosure and will be happy to send you some.

Nina

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