KDerby
New Member
My guy is 3 and needs more space. We've built an outdoor enclosure with a cave, just wondering if i need to put a heating blanket in there? We live in the Sacramento area, so hot days, cooler nights....
Moving desert tortoise outside..
- Thread starter KDerby
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iAmCentrochelys sulcata
Well-Known Member
Don’t put a “Heating Blanket”
KDerby
New Member
What about a water dish he can get in?
Why not? I have used pig blankets, or heating mats for years they are great for sleeping on...safe and warm.
Generally used to be we'd say that they MIGHT cause the plastron to grow weirdly on small torts...anyhow I really recommend Cane mats...
But a mat needs to go inside a protected hide...your rock hide wouldn't be able to hold a mat...and are you going to spread grass seed in there? If there were grass you might see that he grazes all day...
All of my tortoises are forced to eat whatever is growing in their pens...I don't add food at all...but I do throw grass seed around weekly...
No, you don't need heat inside your burrow in the Central Valley. Until we start getting those upper 90F degree days, though, you can just bring him back in at night. I call that "the ins and outs of Springtime (or fall)" , because I take them out in the a.m and back in in the evening (until the nights are consistently in the upper 60s).
KDerby
New Member
I just didn't know if it was necessary for them, or if he'd be OK without the heat. Also, do they need a water place in the area?
They need to drink daily...setting up a correct enclosure for a tortoise is not an easy thing...
That looks awesome! Well done.
I see a few things I would do differently:
I see a few things I would do differently:
- Get a large terra cotta saucer, 12-14", and sink it into the dirt so the rim is almost level.
- Put a shade shelter of some sort over the water.
- Put a thermometer, or a remote probe deep down in the "burrow" and see what the mid day temperature is down there. It needs to stay lower than 90 even on a scorching hot summer day. I have a feeling those rocks are going to heat up in the sun and transit that heat right into the burrow. You might need to bury it all under several inches of dirt, or add some shade.
- I can't see the corners in your picture, but if they are not capped, cap them. This will keep the little escape artist from performing his artistry when you aren't looking.
- Make the whole thing about 4 times bigger.
- In the mouth of the burrow I see little white bits. Did you use soil in the burrow? If yes, that is perlite and its extremely dangerous. For some reason tortoises like to eat it and it breaks down and lines their intestinal tract. Its a bad deal. You'll need to remove that ASAP. If I'm wrong and the picture is just contrasty in the shade, then never mind. My apologies.
iAmCentrochelys sulcata
Well-Known Member
there’s
some of us have different opinions, you agree i don’t. how do you get it to work?
