Letting Henry ( my sulcata) in back yard to live

Cary

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I want to make habitat for Henry in my back yard kinda wooried about the digging there is a old garden with plenty of dirt and room for him to dig. The garden is 15ft long 4ft wide about 2ft deep. Once i figure out how to put pics on here i will until then id gladly take advice about letting henry out in the wild lol. Thank you
 

Yvonne G

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Hi Cary and welcome!

There are a few things to consider first. Henry will test the fence, so make sure it's a sturdy one. They don't just dig to be digging. They dig to make a burrow or home under ground. If he can see daylight under the fence, yes, he will dig at that spot to escape, so make sure the fence sits firmly on the ground with no spaces under it. He'll need plenty of shade to be able to get away from the sun.
 

Tom

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I want to make habitat for Henry in my back yard kinda wooried about the digging there is a old garden with plenty of dirt and room for him to dig. The garden is 15ft long 4ft wide about 2ft deep. Once i figure out how to put pics on here i will until then id gladly take advice about letting henry out in the wild lol. Thank you

Hello and welcome. What size and age is Henry?
 

Big Charlie

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Sulcatas dig if it is too hot, to create a burrow so they can escape the heat. If you provide a cool area for him, misters or a pond, he probably won't dig. Charlie hasn't dug in the last 3 years or so, other than a small depression to lie in.
 

Debbie S

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I live in Southern California and have my Sulcata out pretty much year round. We do need to build a heated enclosure for the coldest months but during the summer, he takes shelter in a kids sandbox that we cut a hole in. (he is almost too big for this now as he sometimes carries the top on back throughout the yard). When it is really hot, we put a shade umbrella next to it. good luck - it is fun watching them roam around.
 

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Tom

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I live in Southern California and have my Sulcata out pretty much year round. We do need to build a heated enclosure for the coldest months but during the summer, he takes shelter in a kids sandbox that we cut a hole in. (he is almost too big for this now as he sometimes carries the top on back throughout the yard). When it is really hot, we put a shade umbrella next to it. good luck - it is fun watching them roam around.

Hi Debbie. What part of Southern CA are you in? Different advice for Hermosa Beach vs. Palm Springs.

They need a heated night box year round. We have some pretty cold nights in Spring and Fall, even when the days are warm. This is a tropical species and they should not be left out in the cold at night. Something like this:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/another-night-box-thread.88966/
 

Debbie S

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Hi Debbie. What part of Southern CA are you in? Different advice for Hermosa Beach vs. Palm Springs.

They need a heated night box year round. We have some pretty cold nights in Spring and Fall, even when the days are warm. This is a tropical species and they should not be left out in the cold at night. Something like this:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/another-night-box-thread.88966/
I live in Laguna Niguel. He is pretty much outside 24/7 except when temp drops below 60 or so. Then we bring him into our 4 season room and put heater in it. He is so big now that we don't want to do that and are looking at building a heated enclosure. thanks for the pictures - I will show to my hubby who is pretty handy but needs a "vision".
I had read on many sites that they need shelter only if temps fall below 50 and in those situations then need a heated enclosure around 70 degrees - is that not good?
thanks for your advice!
 

Big Charlie

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I live in Laguna Niguel. He is pretty much outside 24/7 except when temp drops below 60 or so. Then we bring him into our 4 season room and put heater in it. He is so big now that we don't want to do that and are looking at building a heated enclosure. thanks for the pictures - I will show to my hubby who is pretty handy but needs a "vision".
I had read on many sites that they need shelter only if temps fall below 50 and in those situations then need a heated enclosure around 70 degrees - is that not good?
thanks for your advice!
They can survive with temperatures of only 70 degrees but they can't digest their food unless they get heated up to 80. So if your winter night box doesn't heat him up enough, he won't be able to eat. Before I improved Charlie's nightbox, he wasn't getting warm enough and he would stay inside his nightbox for days at a time. Now that it is better heated and insulated, he comes out every day in the winter, no matter how cold it is, because he can warm up enough when he goes back inside.
 

Tom

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I live in Laguna Niguel. He is pretty much outside 24/7 except when temp drops below 60 or so. Then we bring him into our 4 season room and put heater in it. He is so big now that we don't want to do that and are looking at building a heated enclosure. thanks for the pictures - I will show to my hubby who is pretty handy but needs a "vision".
I had read on many sites that they need shelter only if temps fall below 50 and in those situations then need a heated enclosure around 70 degrees - is that not good?
thanks for your advice!

Like so many other things with this species, no, that is not true.

According to Tomas Diagne, who founded the African Chelonian Institute and lives over in Senegal, there are two seasons over there in sulcata land. "Hot." And "hotter." There is no winter and there is no 50 degrees at night, or highs of only 70 during the day. A "cold" winter day over there will still see the high 80's and most days are near 100 year round. That is why they live underground over there. Sulcatas can survive the low temperatures you describe in some circumstances, but many also die in those circumstances. Its too cold. This is even more of a problem in your area due to the cold clammy beachy weather. May gray and June gloom do not make for good conditions for a tropical tortoise from a hot sunny climate. Cold winter nights are even worse for them.

In summer when our days are near 100 every day, I set my thermostats to about 75 because things don't usually cool down much. During colder winter spells when days stay in the 50's or low 60s, I up the night box temps to 86, so they always have some place to go warm up.

The link I posted above is one way to do it and that will work for a single sulcata. Here is another way to do it, and the second link is an exploded view, that will help your husband visualize it even better.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/my-best-night-box-design-yet.66867/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...g-of-toms-night-box-with-exploded-view.97697/
 

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