We have a 5 year old horsefield tortoise, who so far has lived only inside in the custom built enclosure we made him. See pics. We are in the NW of england where temps in spring/summer months range from maybe 5-25degrees. (5 at its coldest in night in spring).
We currently put him outside just on warm days in a rabbit run to keep him safe.
We are now having our whole garden redone and will be trying to build an enclosure into the plans. Currently I am thinking of making him an enclosure in the corner of the garden like in this video here -
(at about 1 min 30 ) they show making a cinder block enclosure and covering in dirt to create a cave.
I can easily create this in the corner of the garden and then allow him free roam of most of the garden, where we are having raised sleepers which would keep him safe from roaming too far.
However my worries are what about any heating? Should I be putting something in the enclosure, a light/heatpad or something, if he is sleeping out there at night will it not get too cold? Is there some kind of temperature monitor I can get for the cave that can link to google app or something? Also do I need to think about netting/cover for all the area from cats/rats or whatever.
I have looked at many of the pictures and see some have very simple enclosures like a cold frame (we could put one of these in the corner of the garden easily) others have very impressive built sheds. Budget isn't really an issue. I think I prefer the cave type enclosure and things to look more natural if possible. Allowing him free roam of the garden is also preferable.
Other notes
He currently has a funny hibernating schedule at the moment, only hibernating about 4 months, this last year he hibernated from Dec to about March but the previous year hehibernated from Sep to Dec, so its slowly shifting.I assume this is because he has always been inside for most of his time and he doesnt know when are the good times of year.
We currently put him outside just on warm days in a rabbit run to keep him safe.
We are now having our whole garden redone and will be trying to build an enclosure into the plans. Currently I am thinking of making him an enclosure in the corner of the garden like in this video here -
I can easily create this in the corner of the garden and then allow him free roam of most of the garden, where we are having raised sleepers which would keep him safe from roaming too far.
However my worries are what about any heating? Should I be putting something in the enclosure, a light/heatpad or something, if he is sleeping out there at night will it not get too cold? Is there some kind of temperature monitor I can get for the cave that can link to google app or something? Also do I need to think about netting/cover for all the area from cats/rats or whatever.
I have looked at many of the pictures and see some have very simple enclosures like a cold frame (we could put one of these in the corner of the garden easily) others have very impressive built sheds. Budget isn't really an issue. I think I prefer the cave type enclosure and things to look more natural if possible. Allowing him free roam of the garden is also preferable.
Other notes
He currently has a funny hibernating schedule at the moment, only hibernating about 4 months, this last year he hibernated from Dec to about March but the previous year hehibernated from Sep to Dec, so its slowly shifting.I assume this is because he has always been inside for most of his time and he doesnt know when are the good times of year.