Things You'll Need
- 4-foot fence posts
- Horizontal fence slats
- Screws or bolts
- Electric drill
- Shovel
- Chicken wire
- Concrete (1 part cement, 2 parts sand, 4 parts gravel)
- 6-foot fence posts
- Plywood
- Waterproof tarp
- Nails
- Hammer
- Marker
- Saw
- Loam compost
- Play sand
- Food and water dishes
Instructions
Constructing an Outdoor Enclosure
Clear and prepare as large of an area as possible to serve as an enclosure site (choose an area with mostly level ground and nonsandy soil around the perimeter; at least one shade tree is preferable but not necessary). Install 4-foot fence posts at least 10 inches deep and set them with concrete. Use a drill to screw or bolt horizontal fence slats tightly to the fence posts.
Choose a site within the enclosure, in shade if possible, and dig a square hole that is 16 inches deep and 76 inches across. Line the bottom of the hole with chicken wire. Mix the concrete and pour 4 inches of it onto the bottom of the hole. Smooth it during the drying process.
Construct a square box out of plywood that is one foot high and has 72-inch sides (the same height as the pond walls, with two inches of clearance between the box and ground when centered). Place and center the box in the hole and put chicken wire against the wall. Place bricks or other heavy objects against the inside of the box to support the weight of the poured concrete. Pour the concrete between the ground and the box to form the walls of the pond. Remove the box when the concrete has dried; this should leave behind a square concrete pond that is 1 foot deep and 6 feet across.
Cut a piece of plywood that is wide enough to cover an entire side of the pond (6 feet) and tall enough to form a shallow ramp (no steeper than 25 degrees). Make sure that there is a small gap between the wood and the edge of the ground when the wood is in place; this gives you somewhere to pour the concrete into. Move the wood and use a marker to note the dimensions of the ramp on the concrete, then lay chicken wire over the bottom and the wall within that area. Put the wood back in place and lay bricks at its bottom (on the outside) to keep the wood in place when you pour the concrete. Pour the concrete and allow it to dry, which results in the completed tortoise pond (do not fill it yet).
Create a shading construct by installing four 6-foot fence posts in a square around the pond, making sure not to block off access to the sloped ramp. Use either a waterproof tarp or a piece of weather-proofed plywood and install them as a makeshift roof (use wood-staples for a tarp, nails for plywood). Construct additional shading constructs if necessary; each tortoise in the enclosure must have access to shaded areas to regulate its body temperature.
Mix loam compost and sand to form a substrate for the tortoises; use a higher proportion of sand to loam for African tortoises, around 70 percent to 30 percent (in favor of sand). Cover 60 percent to 75 percent of the enclosure with at least 2 inches of this substrate (do not cover all of it, however). Plant edible species in the nonsubstrate if you wish (a list of edible and toxic species is in the References section of this article) to supplement the tortoise's diet; grass that has not been treated with chemicals is also acceptable for the nonsubstrate areas.
Place food and water dishes in an area near, but not on, the substrate; this limits ingestion of the substrate by the tortoises. Set the dishes in the ground so the tortoise can comfortably lower its head to eat (and to prevent it from knocking over the dishes).
Tortoise Care
Measure your smallest tortoise and fill your pond so there's enough water for it to submerge its lower body, but not enough to cover its head. Clean the pond and replace the water every one to three days to keep it free of pollutants and feces.
Keep the water dish filled at all times to prevent dehydration. Place a smaller turtle in its dish or the pond if you don't see it drinking often to spur it to drink. Feed the tortoises with grasses and hay (which should ideally make up at least 70 percent of their diet) and dark, leafy green vegetables (such as collard greens, chicory and turnip greens); a tortoise thrives with a diet high in calcium and low in protein. Allow the tortoise to graze and feed as it wishes by keeping the food dish stocked at all times. Replace any uneaten food daily.
Maintain a temperature between 75 and 90 degrees for tortoises. Bring the tortoises inside if the temperature drops too low, and increase shade areas and water if the temperature is consistently higher.