Give your torts as much space as possible!

Talka

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I guess it seems obvious, but until now I had my tortoise in 6 sq feet because that's all I had room for. He spent most of the day sleeping.

Now, I'm no carpenter (in fact I can't even hammer a nail straight), so I bought a couple of those pre-made houses and doubled the space my Sheldon has to live in.

His behavior has changed completely. In his old house, he hadn't touched lettuce in months and refused to eat anything but mazuri. This week he ate any green thing I put in front of him! He's been digging more and has been sitting under the lamps more too!

It's like he's a new man!

So yeah, just cause a 5 inch tortoise technically can live in 5-6 square feet doesn't mean you should do that!


sheldon house!.jpg
 

BILBO-03

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That's great he/she is doing better!!!
Are you using a zoo med tortoise house?
 

leigti

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I connected two of those together also. It worked great. It works even better if you take the solid covers off each and and replace with plexiglass, take out the dividers. This allows more light and walking space. Put in some plants as site barriers and it works out really well actually. It gets a little more space for your tortoise. For people who have small spaces this can be put on a 6 foot table and then you still have all the storage underneath it.
 

Talka

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I connected two of those together also. It worked great. It works even better if you take the solid covers off each and and replace with plexiglass, take out the dividers. This allows more light and walking space. Put in some plants as site barriers and it works out really well actually. It gets a little more space for your tortoise. For people who have small spaces this can be put on a 6 foot table and then you still have all the storage underneath it.
I could probably manage doing that on one of the covers. He actually likes to sleep in the dark room on the right, though. He's always enjoyed dark places, maybe he's a bit moody!
 

Talka

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That's great he/she is doing better!!!
Are you using a zoo med tortoise house?
Yep, two of 'em glued together. I'm so bad at building things that I actually panicked the full 24 hours that wood glue was setting. I was shocked and relieved when it held together perfectly.
 

leigti

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Yep, two of 'em glued together. I'm so bad at building things that I actually panicked the full 24 hours that wood glue was setting. I was shocked and relieved when it held together perfectly.
Connecting two of them together was my first official project also. It was interesting. I've graduated a little bit now and built my tortoise and enclosure where it can walk up the ramp and a cross over to the other part of the enclosure. Still not pretty but functional.ImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1475967213.762392.jpg
 

Talka

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That's clever! Sheldon would SO try to climb out of the bridge though. He loves heights and he never gives up once he decides to climb.
 

sibi

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That's clever! Sheldon would SO try to climb out of the bridge though. He loves heights and he never gives up once he decides to climb.
What you can do is put a metal netting in the shape of a dome over it so that there's no accidents. What species of tort do you have?
 

leigti

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That's clever! Sheldon would SO try to climb out of the bridge though. He loves heights and he never gives up once he decides to climb.
You could put some kind of cover over it.ImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1475973704.578322.jpg
The only part that's not covered is the very top, I could use plexiglass or chicken wire or whatever if I wanted to but my tortoise hasn't tried to climb out of it. Had to get the dog in the picture too :) she like sleeping in that room because it's warmer. She's 15 years old and needs all the heat she can get for those old bones. There are definitely prettier ways to go but when you have a limited building skills you do what you can.
 

Gillian M

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A wonderful enclosure. Your tort is so lucky to have all that space.:D
 
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I actually got a tort because I had an aquarium and wanted something other than fish. I soon after joined the forum and learned she needed a 4x8' space minimum. She is on her third enclosure and third set of lighting, but I think I finally nailed it.
 

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