Andromeda (now Marco) the Aldabra Tortoise

[Tolis]

I agree @dd33 I never let him spend the night outside. What I was saying is he doesnt want to spend the night outside during winter.

In summer time he only wants to be outside and I allow it but then theres about a month of conditioning again in the autumn to get him used to sleeping in the box again. I leave him on the ramp and he runs inside to hide from me. After about a month maybe less, I find him in his box every evening without me having to put him.

I see your point about being intelligent enough to seek the warmth, perhaps he is only using the box for shelter.

 

[Maggie3fan]

I remember when my sister's Aldabs were simply huge so getting them into bed at night became impossible. you absolutely need to train them now when they are small. In my opinion and experience they are not a very smart torts so they make it harder to keep.
@Tolis a question for you...why must you get up at dawn to let those torts out? Mine have a light in their shed that comes at the same time every day and when I feel like it I probably let my torts outm about 9 am.

 

[dd33]

@Maggie3fan did you mean to ask me why we let them out before dawn? We do that on the rare nights that we decide to lock them in now (sub 45 degree weather). The doors on our night house face east so they are accustomed to getting sunlight very early in the morning and they are usually out of the house at first light. If we don't open the doors before they want out they will attempt to break them down. This behavior is improving though.

 

[Tolis]

Hello fellow tort enthusiasts!
Just wanna share my excitement today, for the first time I have seen a giant aldabra up close and got to enter the enclosure and interact with them.
Cant wait for mine to grow up!

 

[Tolis]

The aldabra's forever home foundation is taking shape. 3x4m about 130 sqft. It will be tall enough so I can stand inside. The other 2 pics is the yard I will fence for him. I wonder if I can house a second aldabra in that 3x4... 😀 View attachment 362471View attachment 362472

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

It seems, Paphos zoo should be envy! Very impressive work! And hello from Cyprus redfoot owner!

 

[Tolis]

It seems, Paphos zoo should be envy! Very impressive work! And hello from Cyprus redfoot owner!

Thank you Alex! Glad to see our local community is growing 🙌

 

[dd33]

Is 3x4m the size of the night house or the entire enclosure? If that is the night house then it is plenty big enough to hold several adults if your weather doesn't require them to be locked in there for extended periods. Do you have enough space for them to walk around, get exercise and graze though?

 

[Tolis]

Is 3x4m the size of the night house or the entire enclosure? If that is the night house then it is plenty big enough to hold several adults if your weather doesn't require them to be locked in there for extended periods. Do you have enough space for them to walk around, get exercise and graze though?

For some reason the pics where not all attached from my phone. The 3x4m is only a night house. the entire enclosure can be seen by the other 2 photos.

 

[Tolis]

Tomorrow morning the crew will arrive to construct the night house. Can someone experienced with large aldabras please suggest the width of the entrance to be comfortable for a large male? @Yvonne G @ALDABRAMAN @Tom
Thank you!

I will also install a window to help with ventilation during hot summer months.

As far as heating goes I already have a radiant heat panel and I plan on buying more and have them suspended by the roof. I see @ALDABRAMAN has those hanging red light domes are those considered better than RHP?

 

[Markw84]

I made my doors 48" wide and 32" tall. (122cm x 81cm) That is big enough for a full grown adult giant tortoise. Here you can see a young adult (72kg) and a 4-1/2 yr old (31kg) exiting side by side. A large adult (200kg+) would use almost the full doorway.



Radiant heat panels are fairly inefficient at heating a larger area. Oil filled Radiators work much better for medium sized night houses and would probably work for you. My night house area is 12ft x 36ft and I use a 1 ton AC/heat pump with an oil filled radiator as supplemental heat. The heat pump is the most efficient way to heat and cool.

 

[dd33]

If you only have a single animal, a 48 inch wide entrance would probably be big enough for a full size adult. If you have more than one you need to plan for the one of them to park directly in the middle of the entrance and not allow entry/egress for the other animal(s). You can alleviate this by increasing the width of the main entrance or by adding a additional access point.

Roll up doors like Aldabraman used would probably be the best option for a door. If you can't use roll up doors I would suggest a dutch door type of setup. You want the opening to be as small as possible to let the animal come and go while minimizing heat loss but large enough for you to walk in pushing a cart containing the tortoise for those times when you have to retrieve him manually.

It would take a lot of radiant heat panels to heat a building that size. You should probably look a greenhouse type heater. It might not hurt to have a single heat lamp in the building. It has been suggested to me by another large tortoise keeper that the giants are someone attracted to light at night and he hypothesized that it helps attract them into the night house. I have been running a small night light at night in our night houses for the last year and I can't say if it helps but it doesn't seem to bother them. For those days when you need to move the tortoises into the house manually having a light inside the house for them to walk towards is critical if you are trying to load multiple animals inside.

 

[Tolis]

Coming along nicely 👌

It's quite big inside I can picture 3-4 adults comfortably inside.

I will install a rolling shutter door 140cm (55 inches) wide. It will be connected with my home's automation system so I can remotely operate it and have it automatically close at night and open in the morning during winter.

I will of course be checking the cameras to confirm the tort is already inside before shutting down.

Now I have to buy more torts to justify the investment 😉

 

[dd33]

Wow, looking good. I am jealous that you will have an automatic rollup door. I am not a morning person and I hate having to get up before sunrise to open the tortoise house doors.

The house seems plenty large for multiple adults. The door width might become an issue in the future but you can always address that when the time comes.

The main issue I see is the strength of the walls. If those metal studs are similar is strength to the ones we have in the US I feel pretty certain that even a small 100lb animal would destroy them. Two aldabras trying to sleep in the same corner will exert an extreme amount of pressure on the house. It is too bad you couldn't have done a cement block knee wall then build the house on top of that. At this point I would add additional fasteners to the sill plate and reinforce the interior of the walls with thick plywood.

 

[Tolis]

The bottom half of the interior walls has metal sheet reinforcement on the inside for extra robustness. I thought it was an overkill but after your comment I am relieved for the provision.

Could you please explain why would the door become an issue over time? For not making a second one?

Wow, looking good. I am jealous that you will have an automatic rollup door. I am not a morning person and I hate having to get up before sunrise to open the tortoise house doors.

The house seems plenty large for multiple adults. The door width might become an issue in the future but you can always address that when the time comes.

The main issue I see is the strength of the walls. If those metal studs are similar is strength to the ones we have in the US I feel pretty certain that even a small 100lb animal would destroy them. Two aldabras trying to sleep in the same corner will exert an extreme amount of pressure on the house. It is too bad you couldn't have done a cement block knee wall then build the house on top of that. At this point I would add additional fasteners to the sill plate and reinforce the interior of the walls with thick plywood.

 

[Tolis]

This is wherr the metal sheet was placed

 

[dd33]

Hi @Tolis, the door is plenty wide enough for a single animal or multiple smaller animals. So for now you are in great shape. If you decide to add more then the door may become too small in the future.
I think I went over this in a post above. You should plan for one animal to sit right in the middle of the door opening blocking access for the others. This issue will happen more frequently if the door faces in a direction that gets strong morning or afternoon sun.

As far as the metal on the walls goes that should help a lot. These guys are very very powerful though. Anything used to contain them should be bullet proof, or flexible enough to bend and return to shape when they press against it. They are capable of knocking over small trees, folding metal gates into pretzel shapes, ripping through wire fencing you name it.

I am not trying to nitpick your build. Just trying to be helpful and offer what I have learned.

 

[Tolis]

Hi @Tolis, the door is plenty wide enough for a single animal or multiple smaller animals. So for now you are in great shape. If you decide to add more then the door may become too small in the future.
I think I went over this in a post above. You should plan for one animal to sit right in the middle of the door opening blocking access for the others. This issue will happen more frequently if the door faces in a direction that gets strong morning or afternoon sun.

As far as the metal on the walls goes that should help a lot. These guys are very very powerful though. Anything used to contain them should be bullet proof, or flexible enough to bend and return to shape when they press against it. They are capable of knocking over small trees, folding metal gates into pretzel shapes, ripping through wire fencing you name it.

I am not trying to nitpick your build. Just trying to be helpful and offer what I have learned.

I know dd, I am posting here for constructive criticism and improvement suggestions not to flex so I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts. Please nitpick freely!

I couldnt afford 2 doors since I went with the motorized automated solution. Thats why I made it slightly larger than the suggested width. In the future if problems arise I will have to deal with them accordingly..

Today's update thermal insulation being installed

 

[Tolis]

Sunny Sunday

 

[Tolis]

Roof insulation and painting complete right on time for the rainy season.
It is shaping out to be even better than I hoped for, I could easily live in here!