# permanent outdoor enclosure for Hermann's?



## ayrgrn (Apr 15, 2020)

Hi,
I'm planning on making a permanent (or semi-permanent) outdoor enclosure for my 1yr8month old Hermann's tortoise and need some advice/guidance on what to do if anyone would be willing?

I've looked at some other threads on outdoor enclosures but they all seem to be on adult torts but not many for Hermann's. I have a plot of land in my garden where I will be putting the enclosure, which is 3.5' x 8'. if I built the enclosure this big would it be too big? bearing in mind my tort is only 7cm in length?

At the moment, mid-April, this spot is sunny from around 11am - 6pm. is this okay?

(also might be worth mentioning that I live in Wiltshire, UK)

In terms of keeping him outside at night, I've been looking at nightboxes and cold frames.
I could make something like this: 









Gardenline Natural Wood Cold Frame


Find Gardenline Natural Wood Cold Frame at ALDI.




www.aldi.co.uk





My dad has some clear perspex but I don't know where he got it from or whether it lets in UVB. Does all Clear Perspex let in UVB light? or is it just some specialised types?

Could I make a small wooden dog-house-type structure with a CHE on a thermostat inside instead of the coldframe?

I know these are a lot of questions but I want to keep my tort in a safe and healthy environment. it's my first time trying to keep a tort outside so I want to do my best 

*A lot of my posts don't get any replies which is annoying and I don't know why, but I would really appreciate some guidance on this, and any links to other threads that apply to a baby Hermann's outside enclosure would be great also. thanks a bunch! *


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## Yvonne G (Apr 15, 2020)

I don't keep Hermanni, but I know with the ones I do keep, we don't put them outside permanently until they're three or four years old.

3.5 x8' seems a good size to me. In my opinion, it can never be "too big."

Sunny from mid day until early evening is good! 

I love that cold frame, however, I think the baby should be brought in at night for the next year or so.

So, in my opinion, the baby should be put outside for a couple hours daily and not permanently until he's three or four years old. But let's wait and see what Hermanni keepers have to say about it.


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## ayrgrn (Apr 15, 2020)

Yvonne G said:


> I don't keep Hermanni, but I know with the ones I do keep, we don't put them outside permanently until they're three or four years old.
> 
> 3.5 x8' seems a good size to me. In my opinion, it can never be "too big."
> 
> ...


Ah okay, I didn't know that about their age, so that's good to know!

Thanks


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## Tom (Apr 15, 2020)

I agree with Yvonne. They shouldn't live outside full time until they are a little bigger. At least 4-5 inches.

The issue is that your climate isn't suitable for this species. This being the case, we need to offer a little help in the temperature department. Here is one way that I've worked out to do this here, and I think this would work well where you are:







This was built for two Chersina angulata which have similar temperature requirements to your hermanni. You could make yours with a single door and no divider, and you also might not need the water tubs. I use them because my humidity is extremely low here.

The mini radiant oil heater in the back is controlled b a thermostat. In early spring and late fall, I have it set to keep ambient night temp in the box at around 16C. Cool, but not so cold that they want to hibernate too early. During the day, the heat lamp kicks on and warms everything up, while also giving the tortoise an area to bask if it wants to. We've had rain, overcast and cold weather here for the last month. Very unusual for us this time of year, but it didn't matter a bit to my tortoises. They have a warm retreat, a way to get warm and function on a cold ugly day, and a reasonably warm, very safe place to sleep every night. During hibernation time, the box is unplugged. During our hot summers, with 37C+ daytime highs and 16C nights, the box is unplugged. In your climate, you'd probably want to run the equipment all year, except during hibernation.


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