Is it fine to let my tortoise loose in the backyard?

[Merilyn (Tortoise lover)]

Long story short, my tortoise hates being confined (spends hours pacing along the wall, escaped multiple times) and he seems to value his freedom over comfort (easy access to food + water). Should I just let him roam free in my backyard? There are enough weeds for him to eat; the only thing I'm worried about is water, but whenever I happen to see him, I place him in water but he never drinks it anyway.

 

[S2G]

Not loose loose you really need a barrier that will prevent escaping. Just put a terracotta plate out for water

 

[Tom]

Long story short, my tortoise hates being confined (spends hours pacing along the wall, escaped multiple times) and he seems to value his freedom over comfort (easy access to food + water). Should I just let him roam free in my backyard? There are enough weeds for him to eat; the only thing I'm worried about is water, but whenever I happen to see him, I place him in water but he never drinks it anyway.

Loose in the yard will end in his loss or death.

Make a large outdoor enclosure with everything a Russian would need, like a burrow to escape the summer heat, water, lots of shade, plants to hide in and eat, etc...

 

[Emmawilly]

My tortoise is a sulcata and he has free rein of our garden. We were happy that he was safe as the garden is fully timber fenced and has a wire fencing sink into the ground outside the perimeter. Regardless of this last week he found the only weak spot, one old fence panel at the top of the garden which wasn't as robust as the rest, which we assumed was inaccessible to him for to a large log pile which was screened off. But somehow, curious tortoise battered a way through and left a tortoise shaped hole in the fence. We found him in the next street along having wandered through several neighbours gardens. This weekend, my husband had to make a number of repairs to the fencing and ensure the top part is totally inaccessible to him. We've put concrete breeze blocks to stop him barging through the same place again, looks very ugly but at least it's safe. Could have had such a horrible end. I think we were lucky. That night it was - 1°c.

 

[RosemaryDW]

My Russian is “free” in our yard which has six-foot high concrete brick walls, a double locked gate (against humans) with next to no space to crawl through underneath, and spray foam filling the few crevices there are. She is locked up if we have to open the gate. Etc.

Our yard is teeny tiny; I can’t imagine maintaining a yard of any real size such that a small tortoise couldn’t find a way out. And even how tiny it is we “lose” her underfoot all the time.

As said above, you can make a good sized enclosure in your yard that is still safe. Tortoises always want “more” space; there has to be some compromise.

I don’t know if I’ve ever posted it but when we found our escaped Russian wandering in the street I posted her information in hopes of finding an owner. Two people in my neighborhood mailed me to say they “thought” they might have lost a Russian tortoise in their yard but weren’t sure. What? You don’t know if it’s dead or alive or how long it’s been gone? Then I guess you aren’t this tortoise’s owner!

We usually see a handful of lost tortoise and turtle notices every spring, at peak baby making time. Fortunately most escapees in my neighborhood are advertised as lost very quickly and/or the owner has definitive proof of ownership. None lost this year, I guess when you are stuck at home you keep a closer eye on your tortoises.

 

[Grace-Sophia]

I agree with an outdoor enclosure for warm days, when it gets too cold you can bring him in, but he should be out as much as possible, here in Texas my tortoises haven’t been able to get out much because of the cold, when summer comes around I am planning on getting some of those big blue hard plastic baby pools from the hardware store and diy them into a outdoor enclosure... add bedding, hide, water dish, food dish, and chicken wire on top to keep predators out, we do have a fenced in yard but my dogs and the birds around are a bit concerning, so it’s for safety reasons.

 

[Lyric]

My Redfoot loves to roam. We are in Florida so there are plenty of good days. He is allowed in our large yard with supervision because he is an escape artist. The yard is completely fenced off. That way he gets a chance to forage quite a bit. Otherwise he has his own 10ft x12ft enclosure with 2 hides, banana trees and safe plants. I use a small terracotta dish for his food and a large one for his water. When the weather gets too cold, I bring him inside. I use a pool storage box with mulch and a hide at one end. Also use the terracotta dishes for food and water. Clean up is easy.