Instructions for Outdoor Winter Housing for Sulcata - Please help!

[Reira Evenstar]

So, this isn't actually an issue this year or for a couple years, but I am trying to get all the information I can. I will be getting a Sulcata hatchling very soon and already have the indoor enclosure all set up and I understand it. I am learning about how to successfully keep my tortoise outside in my back yard. I am super stressed. I have seen and read ALL about the heated tortoise houses and sheds for winter, but the issue is....I've never built anything in my life, I don't understand how to at all, and I don't know how to set this up with electricity safely (other than building it on the back porch in the corner next to the outlet), and how to safely warm my tortoise for winter. I live on the Gulf Coast of Florida. During November, December, January, and some of February it is coldest. Right now in October it is low 60s at night and 80s during day. We may have a handful of nights/mornings where it gets below freezing in December and January. Usually it will be around high 30s, 40s, 50s during "winter". I have no idea what to do. What I am hoping for here is someone very patient who can give me VERY detailed step-by-step instructions on how to manage this for my tortoise and pretend I am the stupidest person alive Then I will be able to do it. I have no tools, materials, etc, but I have a Lowe's down the street! Please help me get ready for my Sulcata!

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome.

Do not feel bad. All of us started right where you are now. The first few things I built were not pretty. Time, practice, and good instruction helped me to get better.

I don't feel like I can be much help across the country, but I'd be happy to talk you through it on the phone if you can't find someone local to come show you what to do. Handyman? Friend or relative? Neighbor maybe?

 

[Reira Evenstar]

I was considering a handyman. I know there are sites where you can post your project and those that can do it respond. I'd still love as much detail as possible of course to help with that. And I'd love to do it myself I just have a fear of harming my tortoise that I know I'm going to love like a child. At our last home, we had a box turtle that had moved into our yard and lived there. He was a joy to watch march across our yard in a rain. During winter, he would stay in a knot in an oak and never move for months. Scared me to death. I left him be since he was wild and I figured he knew what he was doing. He always started moving again when it warmed up.

 

[Tom]

I was considering a handyman. I know there are sites where you can post your project and those that can do it respond. I'd still love as much detail as possible of course to help with that. And I'd love to do it myself I just have a fear of harming my tortoise that I know I'm going to love like a child. At our last home, we had a box turtle that had moved into our yard and lived there. He was a joy to watch march across our yard in a rain. During winter, he would stay in a knot in an oak and never move for months. Scared me to death. I left him be since he was wild and I figured he knew what he was doing. He always started moving again when it warmed up.

There is a thread where a member did a computer breakdown of one of my boxes and captured every last detail perfectly. I will look for it.

I found it:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...g-of-toms-night-box-with-exploded-view.97697/

 

[Tom]

So, this isn't actually an issue this year or for a couple years, but I am trying to get all the information I can. I will be getting a Sulcata hatchling very soon and already have the indoor enclosure all set up and I understand it. I am learning about how to successfully keep my tortoise outside in my back yard. I am super stressed. I have seen and read ALL about the heated tortoise houses and sheds for winter, but the issue is....I've never built anything in my life, I don't understand how to at all, and I don't know how to set this up with electricity safely (other than building it on the back porch in the corner next to the outlet), and how to safely warm my tortoise for winter. I live on the Gulf Coast of Florida. During November, December, January, and some of February it is coldest. Right now in October it is low 60s at night and 80s during day. We may have a handful of nights/mornings where it gets below freezing in December and January. Usually it will be around high 30s, 40s, 50s during "winter". I have no idea what to do. What I am hoping for here is someone very patient who can give me VERY detailed step-by-step instructions on how to manage this for my tortoise and pretend I am the stupidest person alive Then I will be able to do it. I have no tools, materials, etc, but I have a Lowe's down the street! Please help me get ready for my Sulcata!

To back track a little bit… Most people come here after they have already bought the tortoise and most of the people out there breeding and selling sulcatas start them all wrong. A large percentage of them die weeks or months after purchase even when the new owner does everything right. I hope we can help you avoid this horrible fate. Please read these two threads BEFORE you buy. They will explain what goes on and what questions to ask of your breeder.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/hatchling-failure-syndrome.23493/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-incubate-eggs-and-start-hatchlings.124266/


Then these will help you set up your new little guy:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

 

[sibi]

I live on the gulf coast of Florida too. Yes, those months are the closest, and your sulcata will need a warm, humid outdoor enclosure. For now, you'll have some time to prepare and save for that project. When you get your hatching, you can have a closed chamber, like the ones Tom built for his hatchlings. You'll be so lucky to have him walk you through this. The question I want to ask is do you have the resources to, say, hire a handyman? Cause if you can work out something with a handyman, you can buy the materials Tom suggests, and your handyman can build it for you. Then, when the sulcata gets bigger (about a year later) and you've saved enough money, you can use a 10' x 12' shed, pay an electrician to put in two dedicated outlets, and get a handyman to install insulation and walls. Once you've got that, the rest is easy. Use the same heater, bulbs, lamps, heat blanket you used when your tort was a baby. It took me 3-4 years to save and insulate two sheds for my 4 sulcatas. Tom can give you more ideas that could save you some money. Follow his instructions and you'll be fine.

 

[Reira Evenstar]

Thank you for this! You can never know too much. I want to do everything right.

 

[Reira Evenstar]

Tom, I really enjoyed your thread about the nighttime box you built (I am reading through a lot). That is definitely what I want to make. I will definitely have to hire a handyman :-o

 

[sibi]

Here's what I just bought. I hired an electrician to put in two dedicated outlets, a handymen to insulate the shed, put in cement walls (Durock), paint, and waterproof the floor. The cost was almost 4k. Now, that's a lot by most members standards, buy I had saved and was able to do it within a weeks time. This shed is for my female "special needs" tort. She's spoiled

Forgot to post the pics. Will do it now.

 

[sibi]

Forgot to post the pics. Here they are:

 

[Yvonne G]

I'm old and it's hard for me to open a lid, lean in and pick up poop. I'd much rather be able to stand upright and go inside to clean up. So I built this for my sulcata (I'm an old lady with no carpentry skill, but was able to do most of it by myself with a little help from a couple Forum members):

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

 

[Big Charlie]

We hired a handyman. We built it on the porch so we could already use the outlets there. My shed is only 4 x 4. I think I followed Tom's ideas. It is just a heated night box. I'm in California. I think our temperatures are similar to yours. I don't think your tort will need as elaborate of a house as those who live in colder climates. With a hatchling you have plenty of time. Charlie didn't move outside permanently until he was 5.

 

[jojay327]

Just finished this for my big guy. It was very easy. Good luck and if you have any questions let me know.

 

[Reira Evenstar]

Thank you everyone so much for your replies!!! I have given it much thought and due to my concern over outdoor care for my sulcata, I've decided to get a Russian or Greek instead (which I was planning on doing when me sulcata moved outside). I feel like I can much better care for one. I'm a bit disappointed but I think it's best!