Yes I have him a house in the pen. Along with a swimming pool, many balls and toys. I also put a bowl of food in there. All he does is pace. He wont eat anything or play with anything. I have plenty for him to do. But all he is interested in is getting out. I hope he gets better.

My little guy!

ahh, he is sooo cute.
he looks happy in the pictures.

I think in time, your cub will get used to the pen.
just takes awhile.

when he gets older, he might end breaking the swimming pool.
at least mine did anyway. I bought them one that was heavy duty, after awhile, my bears end up breaking the edges.

if there is a way later, that you can dig a hole and put the pool inground, I think there might be less chance of him breaking him.
mine broke it climbing in and out of it.

keep me updated..

What about those large rubbermaid stock watering tanks for a pool?

lasergrl,

the pool I got for my bears was pretty heavy-duty.
"lifetime warranty" it cost about 200.00
hubby was going to bring the pool back and complain

the problem, was when my bears would get in or out, they seem
like they always hit the edge of it. which over a few years, it pretty much colapsed.

bears are extremely strong animals. mine already ripped some of the barn walls. that will all have to be reconstructed with really heavy wood, then chainlink..

they also tore off a couple pieces of chainlink panels, like is was paper
the chainlink panels are folded and destroyed now...

that is why I suggested digging a hole for a pole. but, the problem is cleaning and changing the water. a pump might help. if the pump can be hidden so the his bear can't get to it. but, if possible, some type of plug where the water can be emptied, so the pole can be cleaned and refilled.

hubby finally dug a hole, put a big container in it, then sealed it off with cement. it has flowing water like a pond would have.
we have a backhoe, so, it made the job a lot easier.

hubby started a big pond a few years ago, but, it is not holding water to have that sealed with cement would be alot of money.
so, not sure what he plans on doing now.

300 gallons isnt that big, but, they shouldnt be able to destroy these. They are designed for bulls and such. "shouldnt" anyways.

http://www.acehardwareoutlet.com/produc ... GoogleBase

If you get the pond to hold water you can get a cheap bilge pump to get the muck water out. If the pond is big enough you shouldnt have to clean it at all if other types of life start growing like algae and stuff.

lasergrl,

the rubbermaid would be good until the bear gets full grown.
if this was put above ground, it should have some type of heavy wood frame around it. bears can get pretty destructive, and are extremely strong.

bears would climb, more than a bull would.
I seen my two in action

maybe with one bear, it might work. but, the constant in and out
and pushing on the edge, would eventually crush it.

the pool we had, was actually more durable than the rubbermaid.

they are strong little buggers, or should I say, "big bugger"

It's funny to see the big cats play with the balls in the water. They are really loving it.

good idea about the ball. never thought of putting one in sybil and benny's little water pond.

the pond is spring fed, so this makes the maintenance much easier.


the little pond that hubby built, is about 4ft deep, they are still "testing the waters" they seem afraid to go in, because they don't know the depth. there is rock steps for them to go down, but, still afraid.

anyway, here are some photos I took in june of their new addition.
still have another addtion to do, this will be the one with the actual big pond.
it was started a few years ago, but, having a hard time holding the water

http://pat1647.smugmug.com/Animals/june-2010/bears/13047165_E6pgo#945015135_sGkhm

Nice set of photos of them checking the water out.