Box Turtle Enclosure Size Question

Jroman

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Hello, I am a new poster here, but I have been reading threads for awhile... I was looking for a little advice.

My daughter is in love with turtles, and is quite excited about her older sister’s reptile pet; she is begging for a pet of her own. I am planning ahead for when she is old enough and responsible enough to raise her own pet. As I have already mentioned she love turtles, but I know water turtles are not something I want to try to tackle, so I am looking to small sized tortoises.

I would like to know the minimum inside enclosure space for an Ornate or Desert box turtle. I have read 48” x 18”, but that seems awfully small. I also intend to house the box turtle indoors for the most part. Where I live is very, very hot & dry in the summer, and very cold & dry in the winter; for this reason I am considering only species that don’t require high humidity, but if you have any other species suggestions I would be interested.


<<Now before I get a bunch of replies about how no tortoises should be kept indoors I would like to explain our situation. The climate here in and of itself is not really a reason to keep a box turtle indoors, as both Ornate and Desert box turtles live in the region (even had a young Desert box turtle in my driveway a few years ago). The main reason I would like to house the tortoise indoors is because of predators; I live in a remote rural area on multiple acres, with an abundance of predators. Not only do I have to contend with roaming packs of domestics dogs, but also birds of prey, skunks, opossums, raccoons, foxes, coyotes, bobcats, and mountain lions (yes I have seen them). I am not confident that I can make a predator-proof enclosure outside. We have had several domestic dogs break into our chicken pen. Something was even strong enough to break a metal chain-link gate which was locked, and another animal broke in the top wooden portion of our rabbit pens (we no longer keep chickens or rabbits). Needless to say there are some very large & strong predators out here. This is the main reason I don’t want to keep the tortoise outdoors 24/7, especially at night.>>

Anyway, thanks in advanced for any responses.:)
 

Maggie3fan

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I'm confused, you say box turtle? But tortoise in at night? 2 different animals. I keep box turtles in a 4'x2' tort table, a 5'x2.5' tort table and a few 250 gallon tanks. Mine have an outside pen with a water feature and because of predators all are brought in at night.
 

Jroman

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I meant box turtle, but I am open to tortoise suggestions too.

Do you bring them in every night? What about when you are out of town, or in the winter time? :)
 

Maggie3fan

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I meant box turtle, but I am open to tortoise suggestions too.

Do you bring them in every night? What about when you are out of town, or in the winter time? :)
Yes I do. In winter none of my box turtles go outside as it's simply too dangerous and cold for box turtles. I have a caretaker in case I go out of town
 

Jroman

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You know I actually have an old aluminium boat on the property... it is big. Has anyone made an outdoor enclosure from a boat, hahaha?
 

Maggie3fan

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You know I actually have an old aluminium boat on the property... it is big. Has anyone made an outdoor enclosure from a boat, hahaha?
Be hard to hold heat and humidity, and box turtles should have a water feature that they can sit in
This Eastern Box turtle loves snails, yuck
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They swim out to this board, then get on it and bask in the sun, they are really good swimmers
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I love box turtles
 
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