Jack Green
Member
So I am wondering what age should I put my sulcata in a 10' by 10' foot enclosure outdoors?
Age for outside enclosure
- Thread starter Jack Green
- Start date
It's not so much age as size.
If the weather is good enough and the enclosure secure from predators then you have a few years before your Sulcata bulldozes down the sides of a 10' x 10' in search of whatever it is that takes their fancy.
I am not a Sulcata expert but I suspect that you should wait until your Sullie is a couple of years old.
Not sure what you are asking. Even hatchling should get outside time in limited doses. An hour or 2 at a time. Increasing as they get bigger. By 8 to 10 inches most move them out permanently with a heated night box.
Jack Green
Member
I'm asking at what age should I move my sulcata to a permanent outdoor enclosure
As Jodie and I said, it's size not age.
She says 8-10 inches (that's straight line shell length)
Jack Green
Member
Ok thank you both I appreciate the helpful responses.
Speedy-1
Well-Known Member
Speedy is outside all day , he comes in at night because I don't have his night box done ! He is about 7 1/2 to 8 inches . He is about a year and 8 months . Here is a pic to reference !
Jack Green
Member
That's a beautiful tortoise he looks very well fed. I think once my tortoise hits 7 inches then I will put him in the enclosure so about in a couple months!
Speedy-1
Well-Known Member
He is a little "porker" he gets weighed tomorrow , you will be surprised at how fast they grow !
Its not age, its size. Some of them are large enough to live outside in one year. Others take longer to grow to that size for a variety of reasons. Everyone has different preferences for this, but it is not an "event". It is a process… Let me explain:
If someone were to take a sulcata that had been raised only indoors and then one day, at a given size, just put it outside permanently, it would be quite a shock.
Here is how I do it:
Babies go outside for an hour or two a day, followed by a soak on the way back in.
As they gain size I leave them outside longer and longer, but always bring them back inside to sleep in their warm, humid closed chambers.
Once they are 5-6" I will leave them outside most of each day, weather permitting. 10x10' would be good for one this size.
Once they hit 8-10" I will start leaving them in their heated boxes outside overnight, but I try to move them out in the middle of spring. If your 6" sulcata has a growth spurt over summer and reaches 9" by fall, I would still keep him inside in a large enclosure and not move him outside until April of the next year. At this size you will need something much larger than 10x10'. I prefer at least 30x30 for an 8-10" sulcata, and bigger than that would be better.
