New outdoor enclosure

[marc.knuckle]

Hi all

Living in the UK and receiving cooler wetter weather during autumn, winter and spring we keep our 2 Hermann's indoors a fair bit but we like to put them outdoors for as long as we can in the better weather.

We created a section of the garden that is wired off all around and on the top too due to a high fox population.

The 2 rabbit hutch type enclosures i screwed together finally rotted a bit so I'm creating a new set up.

The new one is a cold frame that I'll feed the power cable through and have the heat bulb in. One opening cut in the front. Then we'll get another, possibly smaller at some point with 2 openings for them to pass through.

I have 2 questions.

Firstly, should i use the heat plug plugged into a thermostatic switch which keeps it on if the temperature drops but that means even during the night, or a timer plug that is off at night even if the temperature drops?

And second, rather than then have slabs to sleep on within that enclosure, i have put soil in like their indoor one but it more quickly rots the wood where it touches. Any thoughts?

Cheers, Marc

 

[wellington]

First tortoises should not be kept in pairs, so please separate them ASAP
If you plan on keeping them outside during the colder but not winter weather then the heat should be on a thermostat. If they are only out during the day and can get away from the heated area then a timer would be fine.
As for the substrate rotting the wood faster, line the enclosure with plastic first.

 

[marc.knuckle]

Firstly yeah they are already separated, i made a bunk bed style thing, an enclosure one above the other with no way of getting to each other. That's because a couple of years or so ago the bigger one started being aggressive to the smaller. They are sisters.

I know that when there's more than 2 they can 'share out' the attitude to many instead of all against one.

When we put them out over the last couple of years it's been about May until maybe September. Not set in stone as it depended on the weather. When we did it was day and night and we had the heat bulb on the thermostat controller. Can't remember what temp we had it set to, I'll have to re-check that, and we had the sensor for the thermostat in the enclosure.

 

[marc.knuckle]

I've been researching the living in pairs bit.

As i already knew, 2 males is a bad idea and a male with only 1 female is bad but the general consensus seems to be that it's okay to have 2 females of the same species together.

Obviously they all have personalities and that could change that but in general and as ours are sisters that might mean, at least in the outdoor enclosure they may be fine. It was a couple of years back when they were just getting that bit older that we saw the aggressive behaviour.

 

[marc.knuckle]

Hi all.

So we've had the outdoor enclosure going for a few weeks and are swapping them in and out to give them indoor and outdoor time without being together. However theres a problem i hoped to get help with.

Ants. They've moved into the soil within the outdoor enclosure. We've been killing them with boiling water and then adding food grade diatomaceous on to the area.

I thought after 4 days doing that we'd sorted it as no ants for the last week but yesterday we've noticed they're back.

Being in the uk the ants aren't considered dangerous but more an annoyance i don't want climbing over the torts

So firstly, is there anything extra i could do?

And secondly could i use a different material for that enclosure within the outdoor habitat that ants don't like as much?

Cheers, Marc

 

[SinLA]

Do they sell this near you? I've had luck with it:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E4GACB8/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

I make a pyramid out of three pavers and put this under the middle one with space big enough for ants, but not a tortoise

 

[marc.knuckle]

Do they sell this near you? I've had luck with it:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E4GACB8/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

I make a pyramid out of three pavers and put this under the middle one with space big enough for ants, but not a tortoise

I've just ordered something similar from Amaz UK as they're very expensive to get the ones you linked to here. I'll report back soon 😁