thats a really nice enclosure man! cant wait to see your summer addition ! its funny, i used to watch your videos from like 8-10 years ago and you just popped up in my feed,...m like hey i remember this guy! hes a good keeper! anyways my point is glad you stuck with it, i still have a rather large collection but looking to downsize within the next few years as id like to focus on travel and wildlife conservation. anyways cheers!
One I raised from a hatchling (the smallest one in the shelter) that has an absolutely perfect shell. Two of the three came to me not specifically as rescues per-say, but had been raised in a greenhouse up north that caused UV deficit potentially caused pyramiding. There's also some thought that abnormal shell shape might be related to high percentage subspecies blood. At one point there was several subspecies of aldabran, that have since been mixed together or have gone extinct. One of those subspecies supposedly had a shell shape that mirrors the most pyramided looking individual here (the one outside the shelter). But that's more speculation then anything else, and since moving down here, I've done extensive veterinary screening on those animals over time and both have markedly high calcium levels from when they first came in and seem to be showing signs of healthy shell growth now.
I'll have to do an update video, but in the summer the shelter acts has a cool refuge, and with the partial dirt floors, each tortoise has dug out their own little "wallow pit" both in the shelter and outside of it.
That is beautiful! Lucky Torts!!! I want to know, where did you get the big water dish? Always looking for stuff they cant tip and big enough to get in to cool off in the Arizona summertime. I finally found a washing machine pan that works, as the little kid pools are made too thin now. But would still like a dish like that for my Sulcatas.
This is two concrete mixing bins, with one bin screwed down to a rectangular frame made of landscaping timbers. The other bin nests inside the bin that is screwed down so it can be easily removed, swapped out, and cleaned. They make some of these bins even larger than the ones I used, that could easily accommodate all but the absolute largest adult sulcatas.
The the best back yard DIY I’ve seen tbh
thats a really nice enclosure man! cant wait to see your summer addition !
its funny, i used to watch your videos from like 8-10 years ago and you just popped up in my feed,...m like hey i remember this guy! hes a good keeper!
anyways my point is glad you stuck with it, i still have a rather large collection but looking to downsize within the next few years as id like to focus on travel and wildlife conservation.
anyways cheers!
That really is the ultimate tortoise shelter!
Update on the enclosure please
Did you rescue these guys? I was just surprised by the pyramiding after seeing such a cool enclosure
One I raised from a hatchling (the smallest one in the shelter) that has an absolutely perfect shell. Two of the three came to me not specifically as rescues per-say, but had been raised in a greenhouse up north that caused UV deficit potentially caused pyramiding. There's also some thought that abnormal shell shape might be related to high percentage subspecies blood. At one point there was several subspecies of aldabran, that have since been mixed together or have gone extinct. One of those subspecies supposedly had a shell shape that mirrors the most pyramided looking individual here (the one outside the shelter). But that's more speculation then anything else, and since moving down here, I've done extensive veterinary screening on those animals over time and both have markedly high calcium levels from when they first came in and seem to be showing signs of healthy shell growth now.
Hey I love the shelter but maybe you can make a hole in the shelter for a cooler place for them!
I'll have to do an update video, but in the summer the shelter acts has a cool refuge, and with the partial dirt floors, each tortoise has dug out their own little "wallow pit" both in the shelter and outside of it.
That is beautiful! Lucky Torts!!! I want to know, where did you get the big water dish? Always looking for stuff they cant tip and big enough to get in to cool off in the Arizona summertime.
I finally found a washing machine pan that works, as the little kid pools are made too thin now. But would still like a dish like that for my Sulcatas.
This is two concrete mixing bins, with one bin screwed down to a rectangular frame made of landscaping timbers. The other bin nests inside the bin that is screwed down so it can be easily removed, swapped out, and cleaned. They make some of these bins even larger than the ones I used, that could easily accommodate all but the absolute largest adult sulcatas.
That’s sick! How long did it take you?
Where did you find that plastic that was used for the entry door?
Do you still need to remove the poop daily?
this needs to be bigger