Is it possible to house an adult leopard tort inside?

Nathania

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I love my Joey and have had him for three years since he was little. But he's aprons 6-7 inches now and doesn't have much room anymore. I have a giant aquarium for him , and it's not ideal at all. He always tries to get out . Is there any way to house him in an apartment? If I could I'd move somewhere with a yard and lots of room, but it's just not an option for me. What can I do? I love him and want him to be happy.
 

leigti

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You can, but outside is always better. Do you plan on ever moving to a house? Or a place where he can be outside some of the time? You can build an indoor enclosure and also an outdoor one. @Jodie keeps her leopards inside during the winter. She has a nice set up.
 

Levi the Leopard

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Depends on what you're willing to sacrifice and how much you're willing to invest.

Jodie has 2 bedrooms dedicated to her tortoises. Can you or would you do that? She does it, I wouldn't do it. Doesn't make either side right or wrong, so you decide which side is for you. But be fair to the animal.
Because I won't house tortoises inside, it limits what I can keep. I shipped 2 leopards to warmer states because of this. Because she will house them inside, she gets to keep them but her sacrifice comes in the time, $ and space given up.

Are you willing to dedicate a large chunk of your house space? Your entire apartment patio?
Can you afford the UV lighting and the annual replacements?
Can you grow enough fibrous foods in pots to supplement the diet?

If yes, then great!

If not, then consider your other options. Some people foster out their tortoises until they move.
 

Nathania

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Depends on what you're willing to sacrifice and how much you're willing to invest.

Jodie has 2 bedrooms dedicated to her tortoises. Can you or would you do that? She does it, I wouldn't do it. Doesn't make either side right or wrong, so you decide which side is for you. But be fair to the animal.
Because I won't house tortoises inside, it limits what I can keep. I shipped 2 leopards to warmer states because of this. Because she will house them inside, she gets to keep them but her sacrifice comes in the time, $ and space given up.

Are you willing to dedicate a large chunk of your house space? Your entire apartment patio?
Can you afford the UV lighting and the annual replacements?
Can you grow enough fibrous foods in pots to supplement the diet?

If yes, then great!

If not, then consider your other options. Some people foster out their tortoises until they move.
I have a pretty good amount of space. Not two rooms, but probably enough. It's the housing and poop that I'm pretty concerned with lol
 

Levi the Leopard

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I have a pretty good amount of space. Not two rooms, but probably enough. It's the housing and poop that I'm pretty concerned with lol

Ok. Then as long as you keep him in his dedicated tortoise space, poop won't be a problem :)

Hopefully Jodie can give you good tips on how to create a large enclosure, indoors.
 

Nathania

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Ok. Then as long as you keep him in his dedicated tortoise space, poop won't be a problem :)

Hopefully Jodie can give you good tips on how to create a large enclosure, indoors.
Sounds like I'm in for a trip to Home Depot!!! I'd love to see some pics of her situation
 

dmmj

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I hate to ask but are you allowed to keep a tortoise in an apartment according to your lease? What about security deposit things like that?
 

Tom

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Gillian M

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I love my Joey and have had him for three years since he was little. But he's aprons 6-7 inches now and doesn't have much room anymore. I have a giant aquarium for him , and it's not ideal at all. He always tries to get out . Is there any way to house him in an apartment? If I could I'd move somewhere with a yard and lots of room, but it's just not an option for me. What can I do? I love him and want him to be happy.

Please post pics of your tort and the aquarium that you mentioned. Why is it not ideal? if I may ask.

And a very warm welcome to the forum!
 

wellington

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Like already said. Not having any outside time is not really fair. However, housing them only inside can be done. It needs to be a very large space. If outside time was available, the inside wouldn't have to be so large. Hopefully you can make it right for the tort.
 

Kapidolo Farms

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There was a man here and on Facebook called Chub's Leopards, he kept adult (larger race at that) leopards indoors much if not all of the year. They bred and seemed to thrive. If I recall he had three 4 x 8 panels of plywood in a "U" shape as the enclosure's foot print.

I did not re-scroll through the feed but here is a link, I think there are pictures here of the enclosure.

https://www.facebook.com/Chubs-Leopards-206914369352239/

I have seen many multi level enclosure that increase floor space without increasing foot print. At least two level would seem reasonable for even the largest leopard with a standard height ceiling.
 

Yvonne G

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If you have a second bedroom that you can dedicate a lot of the floor space to, you could work it out. I would first lay down a big sheet of thick, good quality plastic, then build a huge box on it.

If you cut plywood in half lengthwise those would be the sides. Depending upon how big you make it, you'll need more than one sheet. Let's just work with 8'x4' for the sake of simplicity, but you certainly can make it bigger if you have the space.

So 8'x4' you'll need one sheet of plywood for the floor, then two more sheets cut in half, one for the two long sides then one cut in half then in half again leaving you with two pieces 2'x4'. You'll also need some 2x4's or maybe 2x2's cut to fit for the corners...something to nail or screw your plywood to. To make the sides more sturdy, you can have 2x2's along the bottom edges (inside the box) to screw the plywood to.

You can paint this with a good quality water proof latex paint and let it air out for a week or so to dissipate the fumes. Then just add your substrate, and decorations, etc.

This is basically what I'm talking about, except she didn't paint it:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/my-sulcata-enclosure.5802/

Be sure to keep us in the loop. I love seeing things like this come together.
 
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GingerLove

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I hope that you are able to build a nice indoor space for your tortoise. I know a lot of people think tortoises should be outside, but sometimes you don't have a whole lot of choice. My tort is indoors as well. :) I think it's really nice of you to try to make a comfy place for your tort. You can potty train your tort by doing the frequent soaks, like Tom said. Mine has learned to hold her poo until the soak... which I actually didn't want her to do!
Good luck on building a tortoise room! I would love to see pictures of the progress!!
 

Yvonne G

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I neglected to address the sunshine issue. If your tortoise is going to actually live indoors, don't skimp on the UVB light. Be sure to buy a good one.
 

dmmj

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all I can say is if I was the owner of the apartment (if you are not) I would not appreciate an entire room being dedicated to an animal like that.
 

Jodie

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Hi, Jodie here. I have outdoor enclosures for 5 to 7 months of the year. I have heard of people keeping them indoors year round, but fortunately I don't have to.
If you're sure he is male at least you won't have to worry about nesting. What I have done is add insulation to my floor and cover that with a floating chipwood floor. Whether you use plywood or cheaper option, it has to be replaced every couple years. It is going to get peed on, and it is in my house. I use wood chips as an absorbing substrate in most of the room. I create an area raised a bit with brick ramps. I line it with plastic and fill with coco coir or coco husk. I keep it moist and put heat lamp here for basking area. I use a large dog kennel as a night box. I insulate the bottom and top. A Kane mat and radiant heat panel maintain over 80F. The Kane mat I put on a wood box to raise it a few inches. It goes in the back, and in the front I put several inches of substrate for humidity.

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I lined the walls, to protect them, with shelving boards.
Good luck. If I had one tortoise and no outside area, I would do the whole room this way.
 
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Jodie

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I forgot to mention heat. I blocked the vents in the tortoise room, and use an oil filled radiant heater to maintain the desired temps. I also keep a fan running in the room to keep the air circulating.
 

Kapidolo Farms

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all I can say is if I was the owner of the apartment (if you are not) I would not appreciate an entire room being dedicated to an animal like that.

As a landlord, I can tell you Awesome, that the enclosure as Yvonne described it is far less damaging than a single small dog. Dander and urine from one dog can mess up an apartment real bad. Cats can get there too, but dogs can really mess a place up. The only pit fall is if that plastic laid down gets a hole in it. Double plastic and staple it up the sides on the outside, and then it's all about keeping the substrate clean.

Property managers set the rules for the places I have, and I am a pet friendly landlord, tortoises beat out dogs and cats in an instant.
 

Lyn W

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Here in the UK I keep my 12" long leopard indoors as even the summers aren't always warm enough for him to be outside.
He has a disused shower room to himself.
I feel guilty about it, but as he was found in a field I make myself feel better by telling myself he is at east alive and well.
But it is expensive keeping the room heated.
He has a radiator on 24/7, a mvb for heat light and uvb, with a che run through a thermostat for night heat as well as extra heat in the winter. He does have an outdoor enclosure so when the ground temp is 70'F+ I put him out.
Trouble is he prefers being indoors and is back inside at any opportunity if I don't close the door.
I think he's become institortionalised.:)
 

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