Newsletter and making an outdoor Turtle Enclosure

I've just finished writing an article about making an outdoor turtle enclosure. While I write about making reptile cages and spend some time investigating designs and trying to come up with ideas, looking at other ideas etc. It had not occurred to me to write about an enclosure I built in my own backyard.

I built it bout 3 years ago to house our snake-necked turtle, Shelley. She had been living in a heated aquarium and it just looked to small to me. The water was filtered but even so we had to remove the gravel every month or so and thoroughly wash it, drain the tank and put it back in. It was quite a chore and my children, whilst they tried to help, were young when we started and it was not something I ever looked forward to. It was a fairly functional cage but when I thought about it, these turtles were native to the area and should survive happily outside all year round. The best part was putting some live fish in the tank and watching her go nuts trying to catch them. They generally only lasted a few days. She was pretty darn good at catching them by being sneaky and using her snake-neck like a snake striking to snare them unawares.

Shelley has since thrived outside. It does get cold in winter but she essentially shuts down and we rarely feed her during this time. She submerges herself for long periods of time and is reluctant to show herself.

During the warmer months we feed her every couple of days, depending on the weather. You really notice her when the weather is warm. After a feed she will get out of the pond and sun herself on the rocks to help aid digestion.

The cage itself is quite large and allows us to put other reptiles in there during the day, like the blue tongues and the bearded dragon. The snakes wouldn't work - to good at escaping - but the lizards love it.

There are a number of plants in the pond so she can hide herself and for the lizards there is some tin sheet, logs and some low lying plants to conceal themselves with. There is also some bird netting over the top to stop predators like foxes etc. The enclosure is large enough to sit on and it is quite a nice garden decoration. People who come over always want to go and have a look inside at Shelley and whatever else may be in there.

I wrote and article on how to build an enclosure like it for the newsletter and it has a number of pictures of Shelley and the whole enclosure. I was quite pleased at how they came out. If you would like to view the article, it can be found here. The newsletter can be found here.

One of my cage plan purchasers sent me an email the other day with photos of his cage. He as done a nice job of it. Originally he had only a small log but as he had a jungle carpet I suggest he put in a larger log for the snake to sit on. I was pleased when I saw the snake happily sitting on the new branches he put into the cage. There are some nice shots of the cage and the snake here. Rob has really done a great job with the fake walls and the cages is a credit to him.

I'm also currently revising the book and hope to have a new version out within a month or so. I've designed a really nice arboreal cage that is easy to make and has a full frontal viewing area. I'm also putting the finishing touches on a simple to build stand (no cupboards but very functional) and nearly finished a section on making glass vivariums. Looking forward to finalizing all of these sections and adding them to the book. I hope that when it is all done it will be something that herp keepers will want to have.