Large Indoor Enclosures

[thecrawlingchaos]

Hello, all. I've gone deep into the leopard tortoise subforum recently and have noticed an odd trend. There seems to be no shortage of photos and posts concerning enclosure design for babies and young leopards. However, when it comes to larger indoor accommodations, it gets a bit harder to find any good info.

All i seem to get is "live in the southwest and put them outdoors." That's all well and good, but I don't happen to live in Arizona or Cali, so the reality is that I need to construct a large indoor pen for my fast-growing 2 year old.

I'm willing to give a good chunk of space here and am planning on building an 8x4 enclosure out of 3/4 inch plywood. Other than that, I'm pretty much going on educated guesses.

I guess I'd like to know just how much UV I need to supply in such a large cage, how much of it should I cover for a hide, waht I can do to maintain humidity, and general tips that could help me design something really nice for him. I'd also like to see pics of some sizeable indoor tables/pens for reference.

Thanks in advance guys. I plan to construct this pen over my Christmas holiday week and am getting very eager.

 

[Tortus]

I made a thread about this here yesterday:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-59910.html#axzz2D040k8ZU

Just about everyone who replied so far said you need to put them in a shed outside and let them roam even in the dead of winter. I'm still unsure why tortoises need to be kept outside but not other reptiles like pythons and monitors which are kept in large indoor enclosures.

 

[volcom6981]

I made a thread about this here yesterday:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-59910.html#axzz2D040k8ZU

Just about everyone who replied so far said you need to put them in a shed outside and let them roam even in the dead of winter. I'm still unsure why tortoises need to be kept outside but not other reptiles like pythons and monitors which are kept in large indoor enclosures.

How old is your Leopard tortoise? At 2 years old you can still bring your tortoise inside for winter. I brought my 2 year old leopard in for the winter, it's the older bigger tortoises that make it hard to stay inside. My two year old Leopard is 2 years old, and is about 5 1/2 inches long and is about 1 pound 5 ounces. So I didn't feel the need to leave him outside yet, next year though might be a different story not sure yet.

 

[jtrux]

I think the point everyone is trying to drive home is that they should be confined as little as possible. Building a heated shed outside alongside their normal pen is pretty standard. Now if you live in Montana or something where you get 2 feet of snow then i'd say you should probably consider something else. 8X4 would be about right for a 2 year old but when it gets full grown something larger will be necessary.

 

[Tortus]

Mine is only 3 months old so I have a little way to go before worrying about a large indoor/outdoor enclosure. I have a spot in the yard in mind that I'll block off when the weather gets warmer. But at this age I don't want it outside in fall/winter weather. Small ones lose heat too quickly.

 

[volcom6981]

Mine is only 3 months old so I have a little way to go before worrying about a large indoor/outdoor enclosure. I have a spot in the yard in mind that I'll block off when the weather gets warmer. But at this age I don't want it outside in fall/winter weather. Small ones lose heat too quickly.

Oh yea you have a little bit, keep the little one inside till it gets warm out.