Need advice on modifying outdoor tortoise enclosure

[toblo]

Hello friends, our russian tortoise has a 2 ft. X 3 ft. indoor enclosure, so I decided to build him a 4 ft. X 8 ft. outdoor enclosure shown in the attached pictures. We put about 12 to 16 inches of top soil, potting soil, coco coir, and cypress mulch mix and planted rosemary, thyme, and lavender. We used to have romaine, dandelion, kale, and mustard, but most were used or grew to big and we had to throw them away.

The problem is that every time I put our Russian tortoise in the outdoor enclosure, he likes it, but then he digs down and doesn't come back up for 3 days. It would probably be even longer, but after 3 days I start getting worried and dig him out. Because of how deep it is, it takes a lot of work and a couple of hours sometimes to find him. (see attached pictures) Also, I think I sometimes kill plants when trying to find him by moving them.

Now I want to make the enclosure half as deep, with about 6-8 inches of soil mix, but wanted to get everyones advice since you all have a depth of knowledge about tortoises that far surpass my limited knowledge. So I thank you all for any input that you can give.

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome! The following info is intended to help you, so please don't feel attacked or offended. Just helpful friendly conversation here.

Soil should never be used as tortoise substrate. Potting soil especially has perlite in it. Those are the little white bits in your picture. The tortoise will eat that and it can kill them eventually. All of that and much more is explained here:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

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I would not put the tortoise back in that planter again. Use that area to grow food for him, and use the ground for an enclosure. Something much larger than 4x8 would be better. If you make an underground retreat of some sort, the tortoise will feel more secure and also be able to thermoregulate. Now that the summer heat has arrived, your tortoise has to go underground to keep from overheating. If you don't give him some sort of cooler cave to do this in, he has to make his own underground retreat from the heat by digging into the soil and disappearing.

Also, your indoor enclosure has the wrong lighting and it is much too small. In our climate, they can live outside full time with a little help. I explain all that and show one way to do it here:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

Questions are welcome.

 

[toblo]

much larger than 4x8 would be better. If you make an underground retreat of some sort, the tortoise will feel more secu

Hello and welcome! The following info is intended to help you, so please don't feel attacked or offended. Just helpful friendly conversation here.

Soil should never be used as tortoise substrate. Potting soil especially has perlite in it. Those are the little white bits in your picture. The tortoise will eat that and it can kill them eventually. All of that and much more is explained here:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

I would not put the tortoise back in that planter again. Use that area to grow food for him, and use the ground for an enclosure. Something much larger than 4x8 would be better. If you make an underground retreat of some sort, the tortoise will feel more secure and also be able to thermoregulate. Now that the summer heat has arrived, your tortoise has to go underground to keep from overheating. If you don't give him some sort of cooler cave to do this in, he has to make his own underground retreat from the heat by digging into the soil and disappearing.

Also, your indoor enclosure has the wrong lighting and it is much too small. In our climate, they can live outside full time with a little help. I explain all that and show one way to do it here:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

Questions are welcome.

Thanks Tom for your reply. I will read the links that you provided. I definitely like your suggestions, but I have one problem. I do not have a yard with natural ground. The entire back yard is concrete with a swimming pool, which is why I wanted to build him a outdoor enclosure above the ground. But due to the difficulty to control the temperature outside, I am planning to build him a bigger indoor enclosure, and just use the outdoor enclosure as a place where he can get some outdoor time. I do let him go outside in the front yard, but only when I am supervising him, because he can get lost quick. I am thinking about filling in the pool in the future to have more space, but that is a project far into the future.

 

[Tom]

Thanks Tom for your reply. I will read the links that you provided. I definitely like your suggestions, but I have one problem. I do not have a yard with natural ground. The entire back yard is concrete with a swimming pool, which is why I wanted to build him a outdoor enclosure above the ground. But due to the difficulty to control the temperature outside, I am planning to build him a bigger indoor enclosure, and just use the outdoor enclosure as a place where he can get some outdoor time. I do let him go outside in the front yard, but only when I am supervising him, because he can get lost quick. I am thinking about filling in the pool in the future to have more space, but that is a project far into the future.

I see... In that case your raised garden bed will have to do, but you need some plain dirt or a whole lotta orchid bark in there. Gotta get rid of the store bought soil.

 

[Fluffy]

You can always find screened topsoil at local garden centers or somewhere similar. It's often sold by the scoop but many places will work with you. I've seen places that were willing to sell 5 gl buckets full. You can also search locally on facebook and probably find someone there selling topsoil. It's not ideal but but way better than bagged soil sold in stores.