Devious Rhesus
New Member
Hello all!
I currently have four Sulcata tortoise babies, that are perfectly happy in their high-humidity, high-temp “sealed” habitat. They are all 55-75 grams, and are active eaters and look healthy as can be.
For the future, I am starting to work on concepts for outdoor enclosures. Our 116 acres is fully hog wired, and is an hour West of Houston. We have an old horse barn with multiple stalls which will be converted to heated housing for the tortoises when they are big enough. The weather here is pretty excellent for them - Hot and muggy, but plenty of shade and water!
The original idea was to make a smaller (still huge) enclosure connected to the horse barn to house them from year 1 until they are large enough to avoid predation and too large to fit through hog wire. At that point, we intended to let them loose.
The property has multiple lakes and streams, and tons of forage of different sorts. There are no other domestic animals. There are deer, raccoons, foxes, snakes, and occasionally a coyote digs under the hog wire for some reason. We have occasional bobcats, too. And hawks…
With this much real estate (call it 2,000’ by 2,500’), how likely is a Sulcata to excavate under our hog wire?
If escape attempts are likely, what can be done cheaply to secure so many linear feet of fencing?
What is the Sulcata’s normal tendency when raised in this manner? Do they tend to congregate around the source of treats and their warm home? Or do they go on walkabout forever?
Are they clever enough to come back to the heated barn when the weather dictates?
Of the predator risks mentioned, what size should we consider before any forays into the wider wilderness?
Ideally, if this works, it would be great to have a Sulcata retirement home for all the people who are surprised one day by their sheer size!
Thank you for your input. This forum has been immensely helpful in getting setup for these first few years of life. The unknown bit is pretty far out, but it’s fun to start planning!
I currently have four Sulcata tortoise babies, that are perfectly happy in their high-humidity, high-temp “sealed” habitat. They are all 55-75 grams, and are active eaters and look healthy as can be.
For the future, I am starting to work on concepts for outdoor enclosures. Our 116 acres is fully hog wired, and is an hour West of Houston. We have an old horse barn with multiple stalls which will be converted to heated housing for the tortoises when they are big enough. The weather here is pretty excellent for them - Hot and muggy, but plenty of shade and water!
The original idea was to make a smaller (still huge) enclosure connected to the horse barn to house them from year 1 until they are large enough to avoid predation and too large to fit through hog wire. At that point, we intended to let them loose.
The property has multiple lakes and streams, and tons of forage of different sorts. There are no other domestic animals. There are deer, raccoons, foxes, snakes, and occasionally a coyote digs under the hog wire for some reason. We have occasional bobcats, too. And hawks…
With this much real estate (call it 2,000’ by 2,500’), how likely is a Sulcata to excavate under our hog wire?
If escape attempts are likely, what can be done cheaply to secure so many linear feet of fencing?
What is the Sulcata’s normal tendency when raised in this manner? Do they tend to congregate around the source of treats and their warm home? Or do they go on walkabout forever?
Are they clever enough to come back to the heated barn when the weather dictates?
Of the predator risks mentioned, what size should we consider before any forays into the wider wilderness?
Ideally, if this works, it would be great to have a Sulcata retirement home for all the people who are surprised one day by their sheer size!
Thank you for your input. This forum has been immensely helpful in getting setup for these first few years of life. The unknown bit is pretty far out, but it’s fun to start planning!
