Space (The "Rant" thread)

leigti

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At what she'll length should i move my sulcata to a bigger outdoor home he/she is 7or 8 inches long.View attachment 94123


Lol dog in the back ground
Just want opinion but knowing what I know now and if I had a Sakata and if I planned on staying in that house permanently, or at least for many years, I would build the adult sized enclosure now. Figure out how big you want it and start building it now that way you do not have to keep adding on and adding on and adding on like I have done. You can at least figure out your parameters and build a barrier, I'm sure you will have to reinforce it later :) if you were worried that it will be so big that you would lose the tortoise at the size you can always divided in half for now with a temporary barrier. But I would take that to the Sulcata section and let the experts in that species tell you more. Housing large powerful tortoises that can be destructive is definitely a specialty. Maybe see if you can see some people's outdoor enclosures in person to give you an idea, you have a little bit of time before he gets huge :)
 

Tom

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At what she'll length should i move my sulcata to a bigger outdoor home he/she is 7or 8 inches long.

As long as yours continues growing and is 8-10" or more next spring, that is when I'd make the move outside. Try to put the tortoise outside all day long in the new enclosure, weather permitting of course, all through early spring. Put the tortoise in its heated night box and let it learn to walk out on its own. Have the enclosure all built, with night box installed and thermostat set. Keep up this routine for a good month or so. In late spring or early summer, when the weather is good, just start putting the tortoise on the ramp leading into its night box at dusk. Help the tortoise to learn to walk in on its own. Keep this up until you start going out at dusk and finding the tortoise already in its box. Lock the tortoise in every night and open the door every morning.
 

Teodora'sDAD

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As long as yours continues growing and is 8-10" or more next spring, that is when I'd make the move outside. Try to put the tortoise outside all day long in the new enclosure, weather permitting of course, all through early spring. Put the tortoise in its heated night box and let it learn to walk out on its own. Have the enclosure all built, with night box installed and thermostat set. Keep up this routine for a good month or so. In late spring or early summer, when the weather is good, just start putting the tortoise on the ramp leading into its night box at dusk. Help the tortoise to learn to walk in on its own. Keep this up until you start going out at dusk and finding the tortoise already in its box. Lock the tortoise in every night and open the door every morning.
Tom, I couldnt help but to think about chickens the way you discribed it. lol similar routines. ;)
 

Tom

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Tom, I couldnt help but to think about chickens the way you discribed it. lol similar routines. ;)

My chickens have never needed help knowing where to roost. Some of my tortoises take a month or two to figure it out.
 

Teodora'sDAD

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My chickens have never needed help knowing where to roost. Some of my tortoises take a month or two to figure it out.
Must just be a northern chicken thing.. they need guidance at first but eventually get it. lol
 

littleginsu

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I feel the main problem is, if you are coming here for help, you need to be prepared to take any criticism, this goes for life in general. And if you do receive criticism, it's constructive, it's not personal, no one is saying you are a horrible person because a horrible person would know what is right and choose to not do it. You may feel like a horrible person, but that's only because you love your tortoise and realize you may have been failing them. Just take it in stride, do not get defensive and no one will get offensive.

I came upon this form by shear luck, I was not even looking for assistance, but, boy did I need it. I had been taking care of my boxie by intuition... She really likes hanging out in her water dish, maybe I should let her play in the bath tub a couple times a week, her skin looks a little dry, let me mist her enclosure... But man, I was not the poster child for good husbandry. I have probably spent close to $2k, this year alone, to make her life better. It's not cheap and it's not a feed and forget pet, either.

Anywho, my point is, this forum has a wealth of knowledge if you swallow your pride and let people help.
 

leigti

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I agree that 99% of the advice and criticism given on this forum is not personal. But I do see the occasional personal attacks. This forum has very little of them thank God . Sometimes the moderators chime in but other times it seems like the person is left on their own.
 

Tyanna

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I think what would matter most here is that you try to fix what you did wrong and improve, not use an excuse like "no space" or "no money". Everyone makes mistakes and there is always something new to learn. Ideally, it would be best if you knew 100% what you were getting into but we all know that's not always that case.

I felt like poo when I learned that my enclosure was too small, granted the day after I got my tortoise I came across this website to realize I was misinformed greatly. But the first thing I did was start building him a bigger space.
 

Abdulla6169

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My tortoise doesn't have lots of space. I am building an outdoor enclosure, but it feels too small. I feel like I just need to give him more "roaming space". Even when the space is pretty big, I just cant stand it the fact that he can roam acres per day.
 

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