# good size for sulcata out door enclosure?



## bigjohn (Sep 26, 2013)

So next year my family will be moving to our new home what would be a good size enclosure for two adult sulcatas maybe 3 plan on maybe getting another later on?









Here's fat stuff and little dude who it will be for


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## tortoise5643 (Sep 26, 2013)

This is a good thread to ask this. I am soon adopting another sulcata, I was wondering how big of a cage I need for him?
Note he is an adult


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## Yvonne G (Sep 26, 2013)

the words "cage" and "adult sulcata" should NEVER be seen together in the same sentence. An adult sulcata needs to have a whole yard all to himself, never be put in a cage. 

My Dudley's yard is appx. 32' x 72' and he makes use of the whole area. There is only a very small portion at the far end that I ever have to take the lawn mower to. Dudley weighs about 110lbs. If the yard were much smaller, he would soon eat the grass down to the dirt.

When I first got him at 35lbs, his area was about 8' x 72' and he used it all.

John: If it's at all possible, give your sulcatas the whole back yard.


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## Tom (Sep 26, 2013)

My adult sulcata pen is 7000 square feet. I'd like it to be bigger.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-38788.html


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## bigjohn (Sep 26, 2013)

Yvonne G said:


> the words "cage" and "adult sulcata" should NEVER be seen together in the same sentence. An adult sulcata needs to have a whole yard all to himself, never be put in a cage.
> 
> My Dudley's yard is appx. 32' x 72' and he makes use of the whole area. There is only a very small portion at the far end that I ever have to take the lawn mower to. Dudley weighs about 110lbs. If the yard were much smaller, he would soon eat the grass down to the dirt.
> 
> ...


Ok thanks youwe will be moving on 2.5 acres of land with plans to expand later on since there plenty of land out side of were will be so just trying to start plans on a good size place for them


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## tortoise5643 (Sep 26, 2013)

*Re: RE: good size for sulcata out door enclosure?*



Yvonne G said:


> the words "cage" and "adult sulcata" should NEVER be seen together in the same sentence. An adult sulcata needs to have a whole yard all to himself, never be put in a cage.
> 
> My Dudley's yard is appx. 32' x 72' and he makes use of the whole area. There is only a very small portion at the far end that I ever have to take the lawn mower to. Dudley weighs about 110lbs. If the yard were much smaller, he would soon eat the grass down to the dirt.
> 
> ...



I will have him out in my 1 acre yard a lot. However I have a pool and I am very worried about him drowning. Would this be a problem? Does he know not to go into a chlorine pool or drink it?


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## Tom (Sep 26, 2013)

tortoise5643 said:


> I will have him out in my 1 acre yard a lot. However I have a pool and I am very worried about him drowning. Would this be a problem? Does he know not to go into a chlorine pool or drink it?



You will need to block off the pool.


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## tortoise5643 (Sep 26, 2013)

*Re: RE: good size for sulcata out door enclosure?*



Tom said:


> My adult sulcata pen is 7000 square feet. I'd like it to be bigger.
> http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-38788.html



How many torts are in that pen?


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## Irish (Sep 26, 2013)

A back yard, maybe with fortified fencing, and something to keep him from knocking stucco off the walls?


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## Tom (Sep 26, 2013)

tortoise5643 said:


> Tom said:
> 
> 
> > My adult sulcata pen is 7000 square feet. I'd like it to be bigger.
> ...



At one time there were seven, now there are four. I gave some to a friend. Its all green once the winter rains return.


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## Laura (Sep 26, 2013)

40x40 minimum. with lots of grass. and what is an adult? size?


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## bigjohn (Sep 27, 2013)

Laura said:


> 40x40 minimum. with lots of grass. and what is an adult? size?



Really not sure Im guessing around 14-16 inches mine are only 10 and 4 inchesbut i have seen so many different growths about sulcatas hard to say for sure everyone has there opinions there own experiences with there own tortoises


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## Tom (Sep 27, 2013)

Females are adults and able to reproduce at 17-18". Rarely, they can produce fertile eggs a little smaller than that. I've heard as small as 15", but that is not the norm.

Males are able to reproduce at around 14", although they may start "going through the motions", when they are smaller sometimes.


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## bigjohn (Sep 30, 2013)

Tom said:


> Females are adults and able to reproduce at 17-18". Rarely, they can produce fertile eggs a little smaller than that. I've heard as small as 15", but that is not the norm.
> 
> Males are able to reproduce at around 14", although they may start "going through the motions", when they are smaller sometimes.


Thanks Tom good to know.


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## DeanS (Sep 30, 2013)

tortoise5643 said:


> This is a good thread to ask this. I am soon adopting another sulcata, I was wondering how big of a cage I need for him?
> Note he is an adult



How big is your backyard?!?!


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## lkwagner (Sep 30, 2013)

My concern is the size difference between the 2. Your planning on keeping them together? I would definitely separate them in the yard. The one is so much bigger and will be a bully and tortoises don't do good in pairs anyways.


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## bigjohn (Sep 30, 2013)

lkwagner said:


> My concern is the size difference between the 2. Your planning on keeping them together? I would definitely separate them in the yard. The one is so much bigger and will be a bully and tortoises don't do good in pairs anyways.



Oh no i plan to have them separate till the smaller one gets to a much bigger size maybe 10 or more inches bigger i was just trying to plan way ahead . So say if my ten inch sulcata is 17 inches and say my 4 inch is say 14 inches if i give them plenty of room would there still be a problem if so i can easily separate them


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## Tom (Sep 30, 2013)

It is likely that there will be a problem. Male+female=problem. Male+male=problem. Female+female= maybe a problem, but maybe okay. Time will tell.


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## bigjohn (Sep 30, 2013)

Tom said:


> It is likely that there will be a problem. Male+female=problem. Male+male=problem. Female+female= maybe a problem, but maybe okay. Time will tell.



In one of your post on this thread you mentioned you had at one time 7 in your 7000 square foot pen are they all female male mix? Because Im planning on making one maybe that big also .did you have any problem with them ?


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## Tom (Sep 30, 2013)

One male and six females. Usually a group with one mature adult male and several females will get along just fine. The two males had to live on opposite side of the ranch. One all alone, and the other with the girls. At one point I swapped the males. If the two males even saw each other from a distance they would try and smash through anything in their way to go kill the other one. These were two siblings that grew up together and lived in peaceful harmony until the smaller one started hitting maturity. Then one day, the peace was over and they had to be separated forever.

Just know that if you put a male in with some females, you will be up to your elbows in eggs every year, and a large percentage of your current free time will be spent tending to eggs and the resulting hatchlings. Then you will have to find homes for your hundreds of annual hatchlings. Think long and hard before you go down that road. It is much easier to just have a lone male or a small group of females that all get along. It is astounding how fast you go from having a few large tortoises to becoming a full on baby tortoise producing factory. Each female lays from 24-30 eggs on average, and they they normally do this 3-4 times a year. One year we had a mild summer and my females just kept laying clutch after clutch all sumer long. Each one laid 8 clutches that year. I went through POUNDS of calcium supplement, trying to keep up with them and their egg production. I had literally hundreds of babies. It wasn't fun.


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## tortoise5643 (Oct 1, 2013)

*Re: RE: good size for sulcata out door enclosure?*



DeanS said:


> tortoise5643 said:
> 
> 
> > This is a good thread to ask this. I am soon adopting another sulcata, I was wondering how big of a cage I need for him?
> ...



Lol it's 1 acre. However what had happened was that my friend found a 50lb sulcata (I know that's not adult) and if she couldn't find the owner she was going to give it to me. However she found the owner. So it was a bittersweet ending.


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## bigjohn (Oct 2, 2013)

Thanks tom something to think about i already spend 2 to 4 hours each day taking care of pets i already have barely have time to go mess around with my rides in garage plus having to find homes for all those babies Im sure not every one will know how to care for them properly


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