Hello from Southern CA

[wanderingsonoran]

Hello fellow tortoise lovers.

I live in Southern CA and I would like to design a secure outdoor space for my baby Sonoran desert tortoise. My soil is sandy clay and unfortunately filled with organic material and springtails. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to add to my soil to make it more desert-like and to discourage the insects in an enclosure? Would adding decomposed granite be a good idea?

Additionally, I have many ravens and outdoor cats in the area. Any advice on how to build a pest proof enclosure would be much appreciated.

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate this forum and have enjoyed reading the stories of others.

 

[Yvonne G]

One of my very favorite tortoises!! I'd love to see pictures of him.

Welcome!

 

[Ray--Opo]

Welcome, how big is your tortoise. Until my sully was 2 years old I kept him inside. When I took him outside I was never more than 5' away from him. Because of the hawks. If your tort is a baby,I would raise him in a enclosure in the house for the first 2 years.

 

[Tom]

Hello fellow tortoise lovers.

I live in Southern CA and I would like to design a secure outdoor space for my baby Sonoran desert tortoise. My soil is sandy clay and unfortunately filled with organic material and springtails. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to add to my soil to make it more desert-like and to discourage the insects in an enclosure? Would adding decomposed granite be a good idea?

Additionally, I have many ravens and outdoor cats in the area. Any advice on how to build a pest proof enclosure would be much appreciated.

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate this forum and have enjoyed reading the stories of others.

Hello and welcome.

Outdoors full time is bad for baby tortoises. Desert-like conditions, or at least our perception of what that means is fatal to them.

Please read through this info at least a couple of times. There is a temperate species care sheet at the bottom, and DTs were a primary focus in my mind when I wrote it. Almost all of the babies of this species die every year because people house them all wrong, and misunderstand how babies live in the wild. Then, a large number of older ones die from dehydration related issues because people give terrible advice on how to house them.

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[TammyJ]

Hi there and welcome to this great forum! I am glad you found us. Please follow the advice and help on the care sheets so your little one will thrive in your care! Looking forward to seeing some pictures!

 

[wanderingsonoran]

Welcome, how big is your tortoise. Until my sully was 2 years old I kept him inside. When I took him outside I was never more than 5' away from him. Because of the hawks. If your tort is a baby,I would raise him in a enclosure in the house for the first 2 years.

Hi. Thanks for your reply. He will be 3 in September. His shell is 4" length by 3.5" wide. He lives in an inside enclosure that is 4' by 2'. I only leave him outside for a few hours (carefully monitored) on weekends and from 5-6 pm during the week after I work. I have created an outdoor space with grasses and native plants, but it has no top to it. I worry most about ravens in my area. I'm thinking of creating a chain-linked fence area with top. Just wondered if anyone else has done the same and what substrate they used. Looking forward to helpful posts.

 

[wanderingsonoran]

Hi there and welcome to this great forum! I am glad you found us. Please follow the advice and help on the care sheets so your little one will thrive in your care! Looking forward to seeing some pictures!

Thank you so much. I will take some pictures and post.

 

[Tom]

Hello fellow tortoise lovers.

I live in Southern CA and I would like to design a secure outdoor space for my baby Sonoran desert tortoise. My soil is sandy clay and unfortunately filled with organic material and springtails. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to add to my soil to make it more desert-like and to discourage the insects in an enclosure? Would adding decomposed granite be a good idea?

Additionally, I have many ravens and outdoor cats in the area. Any advice on how to build a pest proof enclosure would be much appreciated.

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate this forum and have enjoyed reading the stories of others.

I thought I would add more to my last reply...

In our warm sunny climate, what works best for babies is keeping them mostly indoors in a closed chamber type enclosure. Its nice to have a well designed outdoor enclosure too, but I only use that for an hour or two at most during favorable weather, and only a few days per week at most. I then always give the baby a warm soak when I bring it back inside and put it back in the indoor enclosure. You can make a nice sunning enclosure out of a large kiddie pool from Walmart, or you can build something with a 4x8 foot sheet of plywood for a bottom, 12-18 inch tall sides, and a hinged lid with welded wire or hardware cloth to keep the baby safe from predators. You can use the same substrate as what you use indoors for this one.

Once the tortoise reaches around 5-6 inches, birds won't be an issue, and you can protect the tortoise from rats, dogs, raccoons and other nasties, by locking it up in a temperatures controlled night ox every night, or letting it burrow in summertime.

Just be aware that most of the care info found for this species is old wrong info. I have been caring for DTs since I was a teenager back int he 80's. I've kept them every which way you can imagine. I have started dozens of hatchlings with every method you could find, and over those years, I have seen first hand what results you get with each method, with multiple individuals. When I get them soon after hatching and use the methods I mentioned above, they thrive, grow and live long healthy lives. Most of them come to me after being housed all wrong with the usual internet info, or vet recommendations, and they are very dehydrated and look like beef jerky. I have been able to save all but one, who was just too far gone by the time I got it. Don't dry out your baby, and do NOT follow the typical advice from the AZ government site, or the CTTC sites. That advice is usually fatal for babies, and its to good for adults either.

Babies in the wild do not expose themselves to hot, dry, desiccating conditions. They find or make little humid areas to hide out in and avoid predation. Keep your baby on damp substrate, soak it every day, offer a humid hide in the enclosure, and keep up at least moderate humidity along with the correct temperatures.

Regardless of what anyone thinks happens in the wild, I have done countless side-by-side experiments with clutch mates of several species, including this one, over many years, to see what ACTUALLY works best in our captive environments. Indoors most of the time, with short occasional outdoor excursions in the right type of enclosure, is the BEST way to do it according to the health and well being of the tortoises.

Questions are welcome.

 

[Tom]

Hi. Thanks for your reply. He will be 3 in September. His shell is 4" length by 3.5" wide. He lives in an inside enclosure that is 4' by 2'. I only leave him outside for a few hours (carefully monitored) on weekends and from 5-6 pm during the week after I work. I have created an outdoor space with grasses and native plants, but it has no top to it. I worry most about ravens in my area. I'm thinking of creating a chain-linked fence area with top. Just wondered if anyone else has done the same and what substrate they used. Looking forward to helpful posts.

We were typing at the same time!

Where in CA are you? I don't need the address, just a general idea. Very different advice for Palm Springs vs. Redondo Beach.

I just use the native dirt wherever I want to put the pen. If your area get's hot summer weather, then I highly recommend starting a burrow for your tortoise in an advantageous area. Doing it on safe chemical free untreated grass is a great way to do it for a baby the size of yours.

Be vary careful of any store bought plants. They are grown with systemic pesticides that remain toxic for a year. Grow your own plants from seed, or get cuttings from long established plants.

These cages are sold at Tractor Supply for chicken coops, but they make great tortoise enclosures for little ones if you put a visual barrier around the bottom:


Here is another way to do it:


Or this:

 

[wanderingsonoran]

One of my very favorite tortoises!! I'd love to see pictures of him.

Welcome!

Hello and thank you for your response. Here is a picture of my little Melvin.

 

[wanderingsonoran]

We were typing at the same time!

Where in CA are you? I don't need the address, just a general idea. Very different advice for Palm Springs vs. Redondo Beach.

I just use the native dirt wherever I want to put the pen. If your area get's hot summer weather, then I highly recommend starting a burrow for your tortoise in an advantageous area. Doing it on safe chemical free untreated grass is a great way to do it for a baby the size of yours.

Be vary careful of any store bought plants. They are grown with systemic pesticides that remain toxic for a year. Grow your own plants from seed, or get cuttings from long established plants.

These cages are sold at Tractor Supply for chicken coops, but they make great tortoise enclosures for little ones if you put a visual barrier around the bottom:
View attachment 356915

Here is another way to do it:
View attachment 356916

Or this:
View attachment 356917

This is great. Thank you so much. I live in the Ventura County area. Is that black area a dog pen? Great idea. That's exactly what I wanted to do.

 

[wanderingsonoran]

We were typing at the same time!

Where in CA are you? I don't need the address, just a general idea. Very different advice for Palm Springs vs. Redondo Beach.

I just use the native dirt wherever I want to put the pen. If your area get's hot summer weather, then I highly recommend starting a burrow for your tortoise in an advantageous area. Doing it on safe chemical free untreated grass is a great way to do it for a baby the size of yours.

Be vary careful of any store bought plants. They are grown with systemic pesticides that remain toxic for a year. Grow your own plants from seed, or get cuttings from long established plants.

These cages are sold at Tractor Supply for chicken coops, but they make great tortoise enclosures for little ones if you put a visual barrier around the bottom:
View attachment 356915

Here is another way to do it:
View attachment 356916

Or this:
View attachment 356917

I should have read before I posted. I see now it's a chicken coop- what a great idea! I'll check that out. Thank you so much for your info.