Lovin' the daily sunshine ! A few questions ~

newCH

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Hey all,
Well for about 1 week have been putting Sheldon in his outdoor enclosure for
the entire day. I have been bringing him inside in the evening for his soak & his wet
Mazuri & then he puts himself to bed.
He has previously visited his outdoor enclosure just for a few hours at a time.
Here is the outside, no exactly pretty but is predator proof.
20150425_084653.jpg
It's a 4ft x 3 ft dog crate with the added half inch flooring panel with tarp lining and covered with half inch mesh. It has 2 large bags of cypress mulch inside, 2 six inch
flower pots & a plastic stool for hides plus 2 clay water bowls.
20150425_084942.jpg
it was hard to get the entire interior in the pic, but for my little guy it seems ok, yes ?
My question is that being outdoors seems more stilmulating to him, like he seems more reptile like ! The head moves around more, he seems to notice the wind and how the palm trees above him break up the sunshine. I water down the mulch inside
in the am plus I can tell he walks thru the water bowls. He has been eating great like always and one day he ate less only because he ate cuttle bone that day. He chomped all around the edges ! I plan on adding more fake plants, I dont do good with live plants.
So, Is this why when I read peoples posts about their torts hate being inside, because they know they love it outside instead ! ?
 

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ascott

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Hey all,
Well for about 1 week have been putting Sheldon in his outdoor enclosure for
the entire day. I have been bringing him inside in the evening for his soak & his wet
Mazuri & then he puts himself to bed.
He has previously visited his outdoor enclosure just for a few hours at a time.
Here is the outside, no exactly pretty but is predator proof.
View attachment 127411
It's a 4ft x 3 ft dog crate with the added half inch flooring panel with tarp lining and covered with half inch mesh. It has 2 large bags of cypress mulch inside, 2 six inch
flower pots & a plastic stool for hides plus 2 clay water bowls.
View attachment 127412
it was hard to get the entire interior in the pic, but for my little guy it seems ok, yes ?
My question is that being outdoors seems more stilmulating to him, like he seems more reptile like ! The head moves around more, he seems to notice the wind and how the palm trees above him break up the sunshine. I water down the mulch inside
in the am plus I can tell he walks thru the water bowls. He has been eating great like always and one day he ate less only because he ate cuttle bone that day. He chomped all around the edges ! I plan on adding more fake plants, I dont do good with live plants.
So, Is this why when I read peoples posts about their torts hate being inside, because they know they love it outside instead ! ?


Very nice to set him up for outdoors during the day...and hey, they tortoise does not care how GQ his digs are...just that they offer all he will need to make use of during the time he is in the spot....I would personally offer some earth type substrate in the enclosure on top off that wood stuff (I personally worry about the wood stuff splintering off into the tort or ingested) and it appears that the sun moves and provides sun spots as well as shade...good job...when the warmer time of the year sets in--maybe set up one of those inexpensive misters to part of the enclosure to offer a spritzing... I mean, I see you are in Florida and bet the humidity overall is good....but a nice spritz from time to time in the hottest part of the day will likely be appreciated...oh yeah, lovely little tort by the way...
 

newCH

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Thanks Ascott for your kind word and advice . I will have my husband do something for water spritzing. It is pretty humid in So.FL, so thats good.
So will Sheldon hate coming inside now that he's had a taste of being outdoors ?
 

lismar79

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Mine seems to love outside more which she should lol. Do you have any real plants in there for him to munch on?
 

Lyn W

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My leopard has been quite restless indoors since he had his taste of the great outdoors during an unusually warm and dry spell in Wales. Trouble is our weather here is so varied, our temps are back down to 0'C tonight and its been wet and colder today so the ground temps were too low to put him out. So poor Lola is going to have to make do with his MVB until the weather picks up again. (I really must change his name now I know he's a male)
 

newCH

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So.FL
My leopard has been quite restless indoors since he had his taste of the great outdoors during an unusually warm and dry spell in Wales. Trouble is our weather here is so varied, our temps are back down to 0'C tonight and its been wet and colder today so the ground temps were too low to put him out. So poor Lola is going to have to make do with his MVB until the weather picks up again. (I really must change his name now I know he's a male)

Oh, but Lola is such a cool name, it has character !
 

newCH

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Mine seems to outside more which she should lol. Do you have any real plants in there for him to munch on?
No, no real plants. Honestly, I am bad with real plants, plus white
flys come thru. I focus on keeping the tort the tort alive & happy.
I prefer fake plants for now. Maybe when Sheldon is bigger I will
try real plants.
 

Lyn W

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Oh, but Lola is such a cool name, it has character !
Yes I thought so when I thought he was a she and I've kept it because of the KInk's Lola, but not sure if sounding like a transvestite tortoise does much for his street cred - so may give him something a bit more butch sounding!
 

newCH

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Yes I thought so when I thought he was a she and I've kept it because of the KInk's Lola, but not sure if sounding like a transvestite tortoise does much for his street cred - so may give him something a bit more butch sounding!
Aww, keep the Lola name (he never has to know !)
That's what I tell my family that Sheldon's outdoor enclosure
looks like Alcatraz, but as long as it's good on the inside, he never
has to know !
 

ZEROPILOT

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New CH, I'm in 33322. If you are ever able, give me a call and come on over. I've got lots of RF things going on. I'll show you how to set up really decent and inexpensive Florida proof pens.
 

newCH

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Hey ZeroPilot,
I know your close by, I'm in 33186, so thats like 40 min south of you.
When talking about enclosures, I mostly content with that I'm willing to not
put little Sheldon at any risk.
He is on a table, because while he's little, I wont put him on the ground.
I've seen big & little snakes in my yard, oppsums, cats & even a peacock, not to mention other predators. So I am super cautious.
My preferred location is actually behind his current location in the area of the yard partioned off for my pets. I need to dissasemble what is there
currently. That was going to be my job this weekend, but I took a nasty
slip and fall Thurday am. I fell backwards on my back and head.
Good thing for Aleve ! Told my husband not to worry all the bones are
still connected ! Good thing I have a hard head. I am taking it easy till
the soreness goes away. No heavy lifting.
In the future I would like a walk in enclosure. With concrete pavers
across the entire bottom. I know you did that also, even though redfoots aren't diggers. But here I've seen baby snakes living mulch on the ground,
so I want the concrete barrier no matter what.
Also I saw your pics with your mist system.....what is the humidity like where your at ? Can't be much different than here I am thinking. Sheldon is surrounded by 3 bodies of water. Our pool, the neighbors pool and the huge canal behind our houses. Another reason for a strong enclosure !

Thanks for the invite, I do have to admit though that people tease me for being sheltered. I am one of those people could stay in my little corner
of the suburbs for the rest of my life. Matter of fact, I even joke when I see the Broward county sign, that I feel like a tourist now !

It's good to know that other redfoot people live in the area. I tried to pick a tort that would love south florida. Sorry this got so long !
 

Lyn W

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Hope you are feeling better newCH
 

newCH

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Hope you are feeling better newCH

Thanks Lyn W, I realized later there was nothing with friction to stop me, barefoot, water & tile floor.. It all happened so fast. Every day I feel a bit better, thank goodness.
 

Tidgy's Dad

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Sorry to hear about your fall newCH.
Hope you make a speedy recovery.
Alcatraz? Or Stalag Luft 16?
Still it'll keep the predators out.
Like it.
 
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