Baby Sulcata Outdoor Enclosure

[pavlovk1025]

Hey I just recently bought a Sulcata on my wife's impulse at the San Diego show. We keep BPs and some geckos and stuff but nothing compares to the awesomeness of the this tort. Anyways, Here is a pic of his setup. I live in Utah and have that raised garden type thing, so I used some bricks to pen off some places for our boy/girl to run around in. I used bricks to make a little hide/house...two of them actually...but the second one was added after I took these pictures. I keep a little tupperware full of water buried in the soil with a rock in it so he can climb in and out, and he chows down on the clovers popping up + some dandelions dusted with Rep-Cal in the evenings, and rose petals too. The temps get up to 104 during the day, more sometimes..but they stay fairly cool under the brick hides because of the moist soil under there. All in all he spends most of his time hiding in between plants though.
What do you guys think? Its simple, and necessary while I gather materials to put together a tortoise table.

 

[turtletania]

wont he be able to climb those walls? Mine is only a tiny bit bigger and I was amazed at what she could climb out of.

 

[Annieski]

What a beautiful "Baby". As a temporary set-up, I think it looks great. May I suggest that you change the water dish to something a bit "more shallow". I'm not sure if it's the angle of the picture but it looks a little steep. BTW, my sister lives in Utah[SLC area]--- I am always amazed, coming from NJ, how dry 104Fis there compaired to here. Good luck with your Babe!

 

[Yvonne G]

There's really no need for a tort table. Being outside is the very best thing for your baby. I think you've done a great job on the habitat. Try sprinkling some veggie/lettuce seeds over the area too.

 

[Tom]

Enclosure looks nice, but I have several concerns for such a little baby.
1. Predators. If a bird swooped down or Raccoon or coyote jumped into the yard at night he'd be gone in a second. If you are going to leave him outside you need a secure, metal cover of some sort until he's a little bigger.
2. Temps and shade. 104 ambient is too hot for a little one, even if he has a hide. Its fine for a single basking spot, but not for an over all temp that he can't get away from. Adults can handle just about any extreme, but the babies can be quite fragile. How much of the day is that pen in full sun? Those bricks will heat up something fierce in the sun and his hide will become like an oven. Also, what are your night temps dropping to? Its still dropping to low 50's high 40's here in the SoCal high desert. Much too cold for a baby, but fine for an adult with some shelter and a pig blanket. If your night temps are dropping below 70-75, its too cold for a hatchling like that.

Your enclosure looks great as a temporary sunning/exercise enclosure for part of the day, while he can be supervised and the temps are right, but I wouldn't leave him out there 24/7. We've seen a lot of little ones not make it here on the forum even when people seem to be doing everything "right". The temperature extremes and lack of protection from predators are a matter of great concern for me in your situation. If I were you, I'd set up an appropriate indoor enclosure today, ASAP, and get your little man out of the weather extremes.

Whatever you choose to do, I wish you the best of luck and I hope you are successful. Keep those pics coming.

 

[pavlovk1025]

wont he be able to climb those walls? Mine is only a tiny bit bigger and I was amazed at what she could climb out of.

He cant actually. On his back legs, the top is till 4 inches taller than him. I dug out soil from the edges so it was deeper.

What a beautiful "Baby". As a temporary set-up, I think it looks great. May I suggest that you change the water dish to something a bit "more shallow". I'm not sure if it's the angle of the picture but it looks a little steep. BTW, my sister lives in Utah[SLC area]--- I am always amazed, coming from NJ, how dry 104Fis there compaired to here. Good luck with your Babe!

Thank you. The water dish is filled with a little bit of water and the whole thing is maybe an inch deep with 3/4" of water. He has a rock in there to climb out of the water dish if he gets in it.

There's really no need for a tort table. Being outside is the very best thing for your baby. I think you've done a great job on the habitat. Try sprinkling some veggie/lettuce seeds over the area too.

Thank you. I put some fescue/bluegrass seeds in as well as some dandelions. Should be crawling with vegetation soon. I also bought a small bale of grass hay which is a fescue/meadowgrass mix ( no alfalfa grass) that Im going to spread throughout his little area when I pick it up.

Enclosure looks nice, but I have several concerns for such a little baby.
1. Predators. If a bird swooped down or Raccoon or coyote jumped into the yard at night he'd be gone in a second. If you are going to leave him outside you need a secure, metal cover of some sort until he's a little bigger.

[/b] That is actually not a concern of mine. I live within Salt Lake City, and I have high fences around my whole yard. Were too far from any predatory birds, raccoons and coyotes to even give it a second thought.

2. Temps and shade. 104 ambient is too hot for a little one, even if he has a hide. Its fine for a single basking spot, but not for an over all temp that he can't get away from. Adults can handle just about any extreme, but the babies can be quite fragile. How much of the day is that pen in full sun? Those bricks will heat up something fierce in the sun and his hide will become like an oven. Also, what are your night temps dropping to? Its still dropping to low 50's high 40's here in the SoCal high desert. Much too cold for a baby, but fine for an adult with some shelter and a pig blanket. If your night temps are dropping below 70-75, its too cold for a hatchling like that.


Its 104 outside and the bricks becoming an oven HAS been a concern but an Accurite probe thermometer reads the inside of his brick burrow at 84 degrees, mostly due to the cool soil. I also filled half of the brick burrow with soil, to allow him to "burrow" because I find that he is always at the very back, sleeping when I see him and I think he is trying to go further. The sun hits him square on for about 2 hours, but it is still shaded under the thick plant growth on the far right side.

Night time temps we are looking at about 75 degrees, with the coldest being about 65. I understand what youre saying Tom, and I greatly appreciate the input. I do think, however, that naturally they experience a fluctuation just as anybody else in the world does. When I researched their region, I saw that some parts of their domain kick up to 100+ degrees, and Im sure the babies survive there as they do here. He actually is thriving in the week that Ive had him, and I do think he will continue to do so. I have the same train of thought in regards to my other reptiles as well; that nature and the weather dont do their best to maintain the perfect temperature gradient, and everything does just fine.


Your enclosure looks great as a temporary sunning/exercise enclosure for part of the day, while he can be supervised and the temps are right, but I wouldn't leave him out there 24/7. We've seen a lot of little ones not make it here on the forum even when people seem to be doing everything "right". The temperature extremes and lack of protection from predators are a matter of great concern for me in your situation. If I were you, I'd set up an appropriate indoor enclosure today, ASAP, and get your little man out of the weather extremes.

I appreciate the advice and the input again, and I will be working on putting together a tortoise table when I get back from New York on July 14th. I look forward to your input when I put the table together, as that is what I am most concerned about; suitable winter housing.

Whatever you choose to do, I wish you the best of luck and I hope you are successful. Keep those pics coming.

Thanks everyone for your kind words and suggestions. I look forward to being a member of the tortoise world until my sulcata digs up a hole for me to crawl into and die in 80 years.