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- This topic has 3 replies, 1 voice, and was last updated 22 years, 2 months ago by
Tom & Sharon Paquette.
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December 4, 2002 at 11:14 pm #18090
turtlenutz@earthlink.net
Attachments :This picture shows the front of the retaining wall that we used all along the base of our hillside and down the side areas. You can’t see it ~ but the wall area has been taken down for the Sulcata’s to graze down the backyard and along our pathway. That is why the blocks are stacked so high in the pic.
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December 5, 2002 at 12:06 am #18091
Tom & Sharon Paquette
The black bin in the picture is an ex-large mortar bin that is covering a bale of alfalfa that is on a dolly. We use what’s available sometimes ~ in this case with the threat of rain I threw the bin on top hoping it would work. As it turned out we got a pretty good rain come in that night and all was dry the next day. My husband left it like that for a while thinking that it would make the Sulcata’s graze the grass down quicker but it didn’t stop them ~ It only became a feeding tray for them. This is another example of “what works for one may not work for someone else”. We keep alfalfa in both our big torts pens. Many people frown on this saying it is too high of protein for them. We have not found that to be true and the growth on our torts are proof of that. They all grow at a steady pace with no pyimiding. The peaks that are on some of them where already there when we got them ~ all new growth is smooth and perfect. One reason we do not worry about the alfalfa is due to so much natural grazing that they do. We supplement their diets with treats which include roses, hibiscus, flowering maples, different grasses and weeds. The planter at the base of our hillside is all planted with the torts in mind. Our landscaping both in the front yard as well as the back is all tortoise food. I have close to 100 roses alone and will be adding the 4 new ones coming out this year! If all our torts did ~ was to sit in front of the alfalfa bale ~ then we would worry ~ but instead they nibble on it on and off and is more or less I think a treat or when they’re lazy type food. Just a tidbit of off the subject info. Take care everyone! Sharon turtlenutz@… wrote:
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December 5, 2002 at 12:12 am #18092
NICK RIZZO
Sharon, What happens when you get your occasional downpours? The hill behind you looks steep. Beautiful setup! Dom. ps, I’ll email you off list to talk about your European Ponds.
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December 5, 2002 at 1:00 am #18093
Tom & Sharon Paquette
We have both that large hill and another smaller one to the left of the yard which join ~ an L shape I guess you could call it. These homes were cut out of a hillside and the ground here is the pits!! Hard as rock and filled with them as well. There were hills that slide around here some 25+ years ago. Most were due to neighbors on the hilltops draining the water off their properties wrong. This being a concern we do keep an eye on the yards above us to be sure we do not receive any drain off from them. The ice plant and bushes on the hillsides have been there since 1965 and have never been trimmed ~ even that stuff isn’t able to grow very well as you can see by bare spots in the ice plant. The second problem people ran into was when they changed the hillsides by building improper decks up on them ~ not knowing what they were doing resulted in a couple of people waking up to a roar in the middle of the night from heavy rainfall and a section of the hill was now in the middle of their yard! The cost of putting these hillsides back up was usually not an option so they made the best of it by having an “island” in their backyard. Not something I want!! The third worse thing was to over plant the hills with vegetation that did not have a strong root system to take hold into the rocky ground. Besides all the precautions ~ we probably do our fair share of praying at times that they will remain standing! I hope that by never digging into the ground up there or making any changes we will continue to have no problems. The other good thing is these homes were “cut out of the hill” not man made and built on fill dirt. The lower part of our yard had major flooding problems which my husband corrected by re-grading the yard and putting in concrete drains with 4″ pipe which takes all the water out to the street now. I would appreciate any information on the E.ponds that you have to offer. The two hatchlings that I have are my first for this species. Thanks! Sharon NICK RIZZO wrote:
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