Do you let your giant sulcatas roam the house like a dog would?

[Via Infinito]

My Titan is still very small, only hitting 522g at 1.5 years old.
But I was thinking, in a few years if he gets big, where would I put him. Luckily I have a moderate sized garden he can graze on, but would you guys let them in the house? Do they knock and destroy furniture?

Humidity and temperature is not a concern indoor or outdoor because I'm in a very very tropical region.

 

[madbad]

 

[Kristy1970]

View attachment 240456

LOL --- Tooo Toooooooooooooooooooo Funny! Daisy does that over everything in her path at 101 grams. Can't imagine her in the house... unless you need a demolition crew

 

[Bambam1989]

I have no intention of letting my tort roam my house, for multiple reasons.
1. There are just to many things that he could eat that he shouldn't. Carpet, lint, I use cleaners when I mop that may make him sick. If I drop something like a rubber band he may eat that.
2. It's harder to control temps at floor level. It may be 70f at chest height but heat rises and the floor will be several degrees cooler.
3. Yes they can be destructive on furniture and even walls. They don't seem to understand that they won't fit between the chair and coffee table for example.
4. I don't want to be cleaning tort poop and pee off my floor every day.
I know some people do it but I think it is an accident waiting to happen.

 

[wellington]

It isn't a good thing too do. Very dangerous for the tort.

 

[Len B]

When your tortoise gets big I bet you wont want it wandering around inside your house. You'll See in time.

 

[NorCal tortoise guy]

I don't not even a little these are not house animals for all the reasions listed above and more! They just seem to want to be outside it's what they are made for!!

 

[Kristy1970]

Yeah, mine hates her under the patio perfect temp/humidity enclosure (3 x 5 - I think).. she is only in it at night... during the day we put her in a safe chicken coup … temps here have been in the high 90's with humidity between 70 and 95%. She is only 3 inches and 101 grams, but has had a taste of the good life. I really feel bad having to keep her in the enclosure, but it's for her safety. We did have her in the house, but family had to move in due to issues and now they are gone, we have our house back, but it's easier to keep the temps and humidity perfect under the patio than in the office.

 

[madbad]

Should have captioned it: "Here's Johnny!"

Ehh, Hindsight.

 

[Via Infinito]

View attachment 240456

I SPIT OUT MY DRINK!

 

[ascott]

My Titan is still very small, only hitting 522g at 1.5 years old.
But I was thinking, in a few years if he gets big, where would I put him. Luckily I have a moderate sized garden he can graze on, but would you guys let them in the house? Do they knock and destroy furniture?

Humidity and temperature is not a concern indoor or outdoor because I'm in a very very tropical region.

How fun would that be to have a tort roaming the house...getting behind the tv and walking through all of the wires and cables....walking behind a table and bringing it along with him when he walks out...yes, it does happen....lol...I would be fun to be able to do this, but it just is not good for the tort nor the house....

 

[ascott]

View attachment 240456

I knew a guy once that had a tenacious Bulldog who did this exact thing...came right through the laundry room wall and was waiting in the house (what was left of the house) with such excitement...like, hey, where have you been....lets play....

 

[Big Charlie]

No way! Tortoises are very destructive. Do you have any idea how much poop a 100 pound sulcata produces? Can you imagine that mess on your carpets and floors? Would you let a horse inside your house? I like my furniture, and I want it to stay clean and in good condition. A tortoise let loose indoors would try to eat everything it found, and most things it would find wouldn't be food.

Charlie creates enough destruction outdoors! The garden furniture gets dragged around and knocked over. I try to hide the scooper and broom I use to clean up after him on the patio where he can't get to them, but he always manages to knock them down. He has broken so many sprinklers.

Today Charlie humped a large bag of manure that was on the patio for 45 minutes! It was bad enough hearing that grunting through the window.

I don't want Charlie to ever figure out there is an indoors. If he did, he might bulldoze his way right through the door.

I used to have a pet rabbit I let run around the house. After too many messes and chewed cords, I moved that rabbit outdoors. He was happier, and I was happier. It was a win-win.

 

[TriciaStringer]

I knew a guy once that had a tenacious Bulldog who did this exact thing...came right through the laundry room wall and was waiting in the house (what was left of the house) with such excitement...like, hey, where have you been....lets play....

Yes, we are putting in a new hall closet because our Great Dane was home alone when a thunderstorm came through. He dug into the wall in our hall. He helped us find a lot of dead space in there. Hall closet has been framed. Just need to Sheetrock it and add shelves and a door. Storage!!!!

 

[TriciaStringer]

We are in the process of building heated night boxes for ours. Past winters, Sweetheart was kept in our bathroom. We came in this past winter to find an artistic mural made exclusively out of poop covering the entire floor. I heard my husband scream and knew immediately what Sweetheart did. So glad that this winter our bathroom will be tortoise free. Sweetheart will be much happier too.

 

[Via Infinito]

Guys, if you don't mind.... can I see the amount of poop that your giants make?

 

[Big Charlie]

Guys, if you don't mind.... can I see the amount of poop that your giants make?

Here's a picture of his nightbox when we went away for a weekend. The nightbox is 4 feet by 3 feet. This is only the poop he produced overnight, not what he did during the day.

 

[Yvonne G]

No way, Jose! When Dudley pees, it's gallons! No way I want that in my house. Besides that, he has a wonderful, large pasture to roam. I'm sure he much prefers that to cold linoleum or fancy carpet!

 

[Jay Bagley]

Here's a picture of his nightbox when we went away for a weekend. The nightbox is 4 feet by 3 feet. This is only the poop he produced overnight, not what he did during the day.View attachment 240979

Wow!! Going to overstate the obvious here, but that is a lot of poop. I can't wait to show that picture to my daughter, and remind her... she had to have a Sulcata.

 

[Lokimc]

I guess we are very lucky so far! Sully moves chairs around and tries to get under the couch and likes to roam the perimeter walls (and scratches them) but he doesn’t chew anything and he’s never peed on the floor or carpet. We put him in a warm bath and he does his business, which we then flush down the toilet in batches (thankfully we do not pay for water). I am retired so I can keep a pretty good eye on him and he has a fairly regular schedule of voiding, eating, exercise and sleeping. He discovered sex a couple of years ago but thankfully only does that in his bath. When he weighs 50lbs and is too heavy for me to pick up he will go live with our son in Texas. I really wish we lived in the country though with at least an acre because he loves to roam around outside and graze and I get tired of being out with him after 2 hours.