Can my tortoise be away from home?

[KeithTheLeopard]

Hi, I have a 1 year old leopard tortoise, I go back and forth between my mom and my dads house and I recently set up a second enclosure for him at my dads. Initially, he lived at my moms in a 20 gallon tank, and I gave him the exact same set up at my dads. I’ve heard that with some turtles and tortoises they get depressed when brought a certain mileage away from home, and I’m really concerned he may get stressed, I don’t want that to happen obviously but I was just wondering, since it’s the exact same setup, will he still know it’s not home and get stressed? I don’t want him to die and I’m very worried. Please help me.

 

[AgataP]

I would be depressed in a 20 gallon tank ?

Possibly post pictures of the enclosure.
I would say mix the “old” substrate so the smell is familiar. Also an enclosure without see through walls would be beneficial. The tortoise would not see the outer space changing.

 

[Mrs.Jennifer]

How great of you to be concerned about your tortoise. It is difficult for people, let alone tortoises, to continually acclimate to different surroundings. How often do you and your tortoise have to switch venues?

 

[Tom]

Hi, I have a 1 year old leopard tortoise, I go back and forth between my mom and my dads house and I recently set up a second enclosure for him at my dads. Initially, he lived at my moms in a 20 gallon tank, and I gave him the exact same set up at my dads. I’ve heard that with some turtles and tortoises they get depressed when brought a certain mileage away from home, and I’m really concerned he may get stressed, I don’t want that to happen obviously but I was just wondering, since it’s the exact same setup, will he still know it’s not home and get stressed? I don’t want him to die and I’m very worried. Please help me.

Best to leave the torts in one place.

Also a 20 is much too small even for a tiny hatchling. Give this a read:

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[KeithTheLeopard]

I would be depressed in a 20 gallon tank ?

Possibly post pictures of the enclosure.
I would say mix the “old” substrate so the smell is familiar. Also an enclosure without see through walls would be beneficial. The tortoise would not see the outer space changing.

Ok thanks for the advice, would a cement tub or something of that nature from the hardware store be better?

 

[KeithTheLeopard]

How great of you to be concerned about your tortoise. It is difficult for people, let alone tortoises, to continually acclimate to different surroundings. How often do you and your tortoise have to switch venues?

I go every other week, that’s why I was concerned, but I don’t know if he can tell he is away from home or if he doesn’t really care.

 

[KeithTheLeopard]

Best to leave the torts in one place.

Also a 20 is much too small even for a tiny hatchling. Give this a read:

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

Wow!! I just finished reading and some of the things said are so eye opening, my tortoise had a bit of a rough start from the beginning, Considering where I bought him, at first he was doing ok, then I noticed something was off and I took him to the vet and the vet was very rude and acted like I hurt him on purpose when that was NEVER my intention, he’s getting back on the right track and Im still doing as much research as possible. The vet gave me a crappy, 2 page care sheet that just lead to more problems and I’ve been getting really discouraged trying to find things that would help him, after I couldn’t even trust the vet to give me correct advice! I’m so glad that you recommended this to me, because now I have targeted exactly what I am doing wrong! Thank you so much! I was always told by EVERY website and vet that my problem was over misting his tank, and now I see what the real problem was all along! I’m going to do my best to get him a better enclosure, if I wanted to buy the correct one for him, where could I find it and what would it be called specifically, also could I see more pictures so I can figure out if building one would be easier? Thank you so much, I finally have hope that i can use the right methods without second guessing myself because sooo many people have given me the wrong advice

 

[Tom]

Wow!! I just finished reading and some of the things said are so eye opening, my tortoise had a bit of a rough start from the beginning, Considering where I bought him, at first he was doing ok, then I noticed something was off and I took him to the vet and the vet was very rude and acted like I hurt him on purpose when that was NEVER my intention, he’s getting back on the right track and Im still doing as much research as possible. The vet gave me a crappy, 2 page care sheet that just lead to more problems and I’ve been getting really discouraged trying to find things that would help him, after I couldn’t even trust the vet to give me correct advice! I’m so glad that you recommended this to me, because now I have targeted exactly what I am doing wrong! Thank you so much! I was always told by EVERY website and vet that my problem was over misting his tank, and now I see what the real problem was all along! I’m going to do my best to get him a better enclosure, if I wanted to buy the correct one for him, where could I find it and what would it be called specifically, also could I see more pictures so I can figure out if building one would be easier? Thank you so much, I finally have hope that i can use the right methods without second guessing myself because sooo many people have given me the wrong advice

Most of what is out there is the wrong advice, unfortunately.

Closed chambers can be purchased from @Markw84 . He is my first choice. You can buy a nice one from Animal Plastics too, but you'll wait 5 or 6 months for it. If you need a 2x4' one quickly, Reptile Basics has them too.

 

[Pastel Tortie]

If you have the option, go with a hard-sided closed chamber from @Markw84 or one of @Tom's other suggestions.

If you need additional options for a closed chamber, take a look at what some of our members have done with grow tents. @Srmcclure uses one for her leopard tortoise.

Any recommendations for my tortoise enclosure?

Hi! I have a 2-3 month old sulcata tortoise and I recently found out his enclosure right now is WAY too small for him and I feel extremely bad. I found this bookshelf that my mom doesn’t really want anymore and I thought I could diy it into a tortoise enclosure. It is about 6ft x 3ft (not 100%...

www.tortoiseforum.org

Show off your closed chamber enclosure.

This is the one I just built...... How it look outside. How it look inside. Can keep the humidity at 90% +........ what are the floors, walls and cwiling made out of?

www.tortoiseforum.org

 

[Srmcclure]

Marks enclosures are the best of the best and i want one so bad lol. Animals plastics also has amazing customer service and will help you get everything figured out for a chamber.

My grow tents work really well as a quick cheap alternative and I love them, but the hard enclosures last longer and have less setup alterations. But there are lots of options! ?