Hi, Pamela and Grant in Florida

pamelakbc

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2 grown female eastern box turtles
5 baby box turtles found in yard, 1 year old now and very healthy

2 red-footed tortoises

We live in northeast Florida, Jacksonville, we are trying to figure out how to bring the tortoises in during the coldest months. This is north Florida, so January and February can get down in the 30s. We have a room we can use but we are trying to figure out how to handle the poops (and pees). This morning, I came up with the idea of putting disposable baby diapers on the tortoises. Has anyone ever heard of, or done this. Any suggestions welcome.

And to KRB1093 Oct 4 posting regarding baby box turtles, have you tried the pets communities under Craigslist in different places, maybe some here in Florida. Turtle lovers, esp S. Florida, have big yards and would probably be interested. There are services that ship animals, not sure what the name is. Google it. Check Craigslist/communities/pets in Jacksonville, Gainsville, Orlando, Miami, Tampa etc. Good luck.
 

pamelakbc

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Dudley (red foot) looking on while babies get bath and feeding.
 

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wellington

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Hello and Welcome:). I wouldn't recommend diapers, so unnatural for a tortoise. You can lay plastic down over the flooring and then a good substrate like coconut coir over that. The Boxies and RedFoot should not be housed together though, for so many unhealthy reasons, incase you are housing them together. They could stay in the same room, but not in the same enclousre,
Nice looking tortoises.
 

Yvonne G

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We sometimes use disposable diapers when shipping tortoises, but it's not a real good idea to have them live in them. You are encouraging infection and shell rot by doing this.

What most of us do is build a shed of some sort, from dog house size clear up to tool shed size, insulate it and provide heat for it. If you build a big enough shed you can compartmentalize it and keep your species separate.

My tortoises all have outdoor, insulated and heated sheds. They still come and go on their own, and when they get cold, they go back inside the shed.

Or if you don't want to be a carpenter, buy a shed and insulate it.

Here's my leopard tortoise shed:

leopard shed.jpg

I'm caring for two RF tortoises for a Forum member and they live outside in the summer, but they don't have a heated shed, so when the weather turns cold I bring them up onto the car port where I've built them an insulated cinderblock enclosure:

dr causmonaut-1.jpg

The outside dimensions are 4'x8', but it's a little smaller than that inside.

dr causmonaut-2.jpg

Go to our Enclosure section. Jacqui put together a bunch of pictures from our members and you'll find it at the top of the Enclosure section. There are plenty of ideas out there.
 

Grandpa Turtle 144

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Hello Pamela welcome to the TFO from AZ , USA . I have a room in my house and it stays 85degrees
Year around I put my torts in big tubs for the 90-120 days of winter hear in AZ. And then they go back out side in the spring .


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bouaboua

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Hello and Welcome to the forum.
 

Jabuticaba

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Hello and welcome!


May
THBs: Darwin & Merlin
Aussies: Dax, Vegas, & Cricket
IG: @AUSSOMEAUSSIES
 

johnsonnboswell

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For the cold months they can live indoors in tubs with a soil substrate.
Or they can hibernate outdoors. Two months of temps in the 30s is something they can handle if they are prepared. They would be in hibernation in the low 40s anyway. If your temps fluctuate, they'd go up & down. You can either leave them out & adjust your feeding schedule, bring them in and out as weather permits, or bring them in for the winter when temps fall below 50.
 

Grandpa Turtle 144

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Their RF might but my pancakes , Egyptions , and leopards won't last well in AZ mild winters .


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