Heated House for Tortoises?

[NathanMorrow6]

Hello everyone, I'm 16 and I'm planning on getting some more tortoises. My room is quite small, so I have to improvise.

I plan on keeping and breeding both humid species indoors all year, and arid species with a indoor/outdoor schedule.

I live in Upstate NY, we are dry, cold, and not very reptile friendly. The species under the Testudo genus can do relatively well here though. I want to save space inside for the humid species, so I was wondering if I could build and outdoor pen for year round keeping.

My plan buy/build a shed. My first thought is too buy one of those plastic covered sheds because it's less permanent, my other idea is to build a shed with a greenhouse roof for the heating benefits with insulated sides.

For the plastic covered shed (see first attachment), I would build tortoise table style enclosures for the animals, and I would give them the obvious heating and UVB/A fixtures. Additionally, I would probably end up putting a heating device to make sure the ambient temperatures stay appropriate. Last year we had a -24 degree night so this is a must. My father uses one for his tools, and he said that they stay quite warm even in the cold.

With this idea, I have 3 large concerns. One being fire. I don't want the thing to go up in flames. The other concern is caving in with snow, but I also think that if it's warm inside, the snow will melt. And lastly, I don't want it to get too warm. A greenhouse/shed seems better for this reason as I can implement more ventilation and heating control to ensure safety.

For the shed, I would just a build a structure that has insulated sides and a greenhouse style roof. I would add in fans and such to keep the temperatures safe as well. With this, I believe that in the summer, I could move my temperate species outside, and move the humid species into the shed since it would be able to keep the humidity up.

Any help would be great. Like I said I'll have synthetic heating and such, and if I want I can cool it down to let the animals hibernate once it gets cold, but they need to be older before that. If you have experience, please let me know. A big consideration is that I'm only 16, I don't have a lot of money, and I'm moving out in 2 years, and the tortoises will probably leave the property in 4 or 6, so I know the shed is better, I'm just trying to get the most for the least amount of money with safety in mind. Thanks.

Disclaimer: I know I'm 16 and a senior in high school and getting animals isn't the best idea, with that being said I want this more than anything, and they will be taken care of.

One more thing, any trustworthy Kinyxis breeders on here?

 

[Tom]

I think you are biting off WAYYYYYYYYY more than you can chew here. I would suggest starting a little slower with a species that will do well in your climate and with your space and money restrictions. The plan you've outlined above is basically a full time job for someone. You think your parents need hours of work and all that expense when you leave in two years? I don't.

Pick a Testudo species that you like and start with one. Give it a year and see how it goes. If you like it, then make another enclosure and get one of the opposite sex. Put them together for breeding every so often and then see how things go.

 

[cmacusa3]

I agree with Tom here, No way would I let my 16 start this either. I think it's great you have some goals in mind but slow down and get ready for College next year. You have plenty of time for the tort business, go slow right now,.16 is very young for a Senior, so you must be fairly smart. Live some life before you overwhelm yourself with the tort trade..

 

[NathanMorrow6]

Oh well the breeding part isn't really the main interest, and I would definitely not get them all at once or even within the same year probably, I just want the animals and there's very little space in my room. My first thought was to start off with a Testudo species, and then possibly a Kinyxis species if I can find one, or possibly a Cuora that would be housed in my room.

The shed would have lots of space, but the animals would be housed separately for that part of the year.

I'll admit, I got excited during that post and started talking about all the plans I have, but realistically it would be 2 or 3 species all together within the time span, which would be around 12 animals for me.

I do agree with the college thing, though. It weighs on my mind that I would have all the animals, but at the same time I know nothing would make me happier. As far as the business side, I'm not overly interested. I mean I'd sell because I can't accommodate to all the animals, but my true passion is the learning part. I want to attend school for zoology, specifically herpetology.

I'll do my best to sort of take a step back and evaluate the situation as a whole with the future in mind. I've bee sitting on the idea of expanding my collection for awhile, and every day that I learn more it becomes more intriguing, therefore I suppose the idea has manifested itself as a complex and oversized plan through all the time. Thanks guys.

Oh, and in response to Tom, it would be asinine of me to leave my parents with that work load and expense, and I don't plan on it. I would be coming home to take care of the animals, and the most that would be happening is my dad doing the feeding some days, which he would quite enjoy. I would just be moving out because well I'd be too old to live at home. And then, once I move further away, the animals would be coming with me.

 

[NathanMorrow6]

Oh and another thing that I should mention is that I have a tortoise, I'm not just going to buy a bunch. I've cared for a Horsfieldii rescue for awhile, and I realize that it's an easy species to care for, I just thought I should mention that.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Nathan:

Here in Central California, is doesn't get as cold as where you live, but our nights do get down below freezing. I provide for my tortoises by having built them (each species) an insulated and heated shed. Here's where my 110lb sulcata lives:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/dudleys-rebuild.111350/

All the tortoises are free to come and go out of their sheds as they wish. When it's too cold, they don't stay out very long.

 

[NathanMorrow6]

In response to Yvonne cause I don't know how to use the mobile version

Those are awesome. Thank you for the response. I like the design. I think that the singular insulated enclosures would actually be a lot less expensive to build than one central shed for all of them, and I plan on moving to a property for my animals in a few years so the less expensive the better as I'm not building permanent enclosures.

Do you have any issues with ventilation?

For heating, do you think a few 100 watt heat bulbs on a thermostat will do the trick? It would be full blown winter here, so I'd have to make them structurally sound enough to withstand snow.

The only thought I'm having is that when I open the enclosure (for feeding, cleaning, etc.) it'll make the animals cold. As I said, they'd be Mediterranean (Testudo), so they can handle cold to an extent but I'm not sure how far that goes. That's why a insulated shed with enclosures in it seemed best since it provides sufficient ambient temperatures.

I'm thinking if I did single outdoor enclosures, I'd do them built into the ground 1 or 2 feet, and then make an insulated wood enclosure with a fold-back shed style roof.

If you have a better idea, please let me know. Also, if you think I'm testing fate by considering singular outdoor enclosures, let me know. Thank you.

 

[Yvonne G]

Ventilation hasn't been an issue for me. I've had some of these sheds for over 6 years and they work just fine for me. The pig blankets send up heat into the air, and besides that, I have a 250 watt red brooder lamp hanging from the ceiling. The light hangs down about 3' from the ceiling, so there's no danger of burning the tortoise's back.

My sister lives in Oregon and they get snow in the winter. She has a professionally manufactured shed for her tortoises that she added insulation to. It has a doggy door for the tortoises and a human door. She has never complained of the inside getting cold when she opens the doors.