Building an outdoor enclosure in florida

[Schmoozbt]

I'm almost afraid to ask, but I'm looking for some feedback/advice. I would like to house my 2 year old Sulcata outdoors full time. I copied Tom's box, but made it half sized since it's only for 1. I'm hoping the pen will be good for about 1 year but the box should be good indefinitely, I hope.

 

[xirxes]

If that is your sulcata pictures in the box then your whole setup is good for a year, the overnight hot box probably only good for 3-4 more years.

My 2 year old is 14" and would cross that whole enclosure in 5 seconds flat. You will want to give your little sulcata as much of that grass as you can within the year.

Maybe clear out many obstructions to give as much room to roam as possible, and deck out your box just like toms and you have a good start!

 

[teresaf]

Your sulcata is very pyramided. He needs more humidity if you want to stop that. Is there a way to set a sprinkler system on a timer to sprinkle his yard area several times a day? Perhaps @Tom has suggestions on how to fix his box to be a humid hide.... I haven't built one before. If he progresses this way he'll be a waffle before long. This pyramiding is why he isn't larger as a two year old could be. His shell is growing up instead of out. If you were able to iron out the bumps (visualize this)to make them flat his shell would be physically larger. See pics. One pyramided and one pretty perfect.

 

[Schmoozbt]

If that is your sulcata pictures in the box then your whole setup is good for a year, the overnight hot box probably only good for 3-4 more years.

My 2 year old is 14" and would cross that whole enclosure in 5 seconds flat. You will want to give your little sulcata as much of that grass as you can within the year.

Maybe clear out many obstructions to give as much room to roam as possible, and deck out your box just like toms and you have a good start!

Thank you for your feedback. I'll take a year for the enclosure. We are looking to move next year to a place where I can make a much better pen.

 

[Schmoozbt]

Your sulcata is very pyramided. He needs more humidity if you want to stop that. Is there a way to set a sprinkler system on a timer to sprinkle his yard area several times a day? Perhaps @Tom has suggestions on how to fix his box to be a humid hide.... I haven't built one before. If he progresses this way he'll be a waffle before long. This pyramiding is why he isn't larger as a two year old could be. His shell is growing up instead of out. If you were able to iron out the bumps (visualize this)to make them flat his shell would be physically larger. See pics. One pyramided and one pretty perfect.

The first 1 1/2 years she (only a she because of the name: Sophia) was kept on an open table. It wasn't until I found this forum that I found out about the humidity requirements. Since then, I have been working on getting her outside where the humidity in central Florida is over 50% almost every day and soaking her 2 times a week. The rain keeps the ground moist and If we don't have rain I wet the entire pen. Hope that will be enough to stop the pyramiding.

 

[wellington]

How big is she? She should be around 8-10 inches before living outside full time. It's hard to tell from the pic, but she looks very small. 50% humidity probably won't stop pyramiding. If she is under the 8-10 inch mark, I would house her inside with 80% humidity and just give daily outside time. With the daily outside time, you won't need a UVB light for inside. A regular incandescent bulb will work to keep day temps to 80 and a che for night time temps, if added heat is needed.

 

[Redfool]

Please be watchful with a concrete block enclosure. My redfoots pen is also cb. They walk the perimeter often scraping their carapace against the sides and abrading it. Had to line it with vinyl siding. Partial cover with shade cloth will also give your tort the option of cover or sun and can still be watered through it. Always watch for fire ants and raccoons. Outdoors is better than any indoor for older hardened torts.

 

[Tom]

I'm almost afraid to ask, but I'm looking for some feedback/advice. I would like to house my 2 year old Sulcata outdoors full time. I copied Tom's box, but made it half sized since it's only for 1. I'm hoping the pen will be good for about 1 year but the box should be good indefinitely, I hope.

What size tortoise are we talking about?

What are the dimensions of your night box?


Please don't be afraid to ask your questions. We are all here to help. No one will ridicule you or insult you. The whole community won't stand for that. We are all here to help and offer our opinions based on our experience. Even though it might not be what you want to hear sometimes, it might be what you need to hear other times.

Our goal is to help you have a healthy tortoise and happy tortoise keeping experience. We get nothing in return except some new friends and some tortoise conversation with other tortoise nerds around the world.

 

[Redfool]

Since building my outdoor 30 x 15 pen, I have redesigned to round out the corners. It keeps them moving