New to tortoises, advice on heating

[Aroddy]

Hello, I'm new to owning a tortoise. My brother just moved to the mountains and the weather was too cold for his sulcata, He asked us if we would be willing to take her since we live in San Diego and the weather is warmer. She is about 5 years old and about 20lbs. We want to give her an enclosure as close to her natural habitat as possible. We have plenty of room as we have about 3 acres. My questions are, what would be a decent sized outside enclosure area? I read they need about 100 square feet? Also we are in the process of building her a heated room for at night and l'm not sure how to heat it. Some say Ceramic heat emitter and others say heating lamp. We keep her outside everyday that the weather is nice and she has plenty of sun. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks so much.

 

[Dizisdalife]

Hey there, welcome to the Forum. San Diego is good, for the most part, sulcata weather. You want to give your tortoise as much room as possible. 100 square feet is much too small. Several thousand square feet is more appropriate for a single sulcata. I devote about 3500 square feet to my sulcata. Plenty of shade is essential during the hotter months. Mine seeks out the deep shaded areas of the yard even during warm winter days, essentially whenever the air temp climbs above about 80° F. As for night time warmth, mine lives comfortably in a 4'x6'x2'high insulated night box that has an electric, oil filled radiator for its heat. Here is a link to Tom's thread on how to build a night box - https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/my-best-night-box-design-yet.66867/#post-632974.

My sulcata is about 8 years old and weighs 90lbs. He has lived outside since he was 2 years old.

 

[Big Charlie]

I wouldn't use either a heat lamp or a CHE (ceramic heat emitter) for a larger tortoise that is only going to get bigger. Your tortoise will do fine outdoors full time as long as you build something along the lines of Tom's night box that is heated to at least 80F.

The more land you can devote to the tortoise, the better. They like to graze and need lots of exercise.

 

[Aroddy]

Thank you both very much.

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome. Here is another night box idea with a different heating strategy than the other one. This one would suit a single sulcata very well:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/another-night-box-thread.88966/

My adult sulcata enclosure is around 7000 square feet and they use every inch of it. Go big on the enclosure. Give the tortoise lots and lots of room to roam.

Here is a food list for sulcatas. Its all stuff you can find or grow.
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

And if your tortoise isn't already eating grass hay, it is time to introduce it. Bermuda grass hay or orchard grass hay work very well. The easiest way to get them eating it is to simply spread some out and put their other food on top of it. Over time, they will start eating the hay with their food.

 

[Aroddy]

Thank you again for this awesome info.

 

[Hugo's Home]

Here is ours. Maybe 1500-2000 sqft but round. I feel like he should have even more room! Future plans in the making! He has an underground burrow for the summer and a insulated box like toms in the shed for the winter with a mini oil heater.

 

[Aroddy]

wow, thats pretty cool, thanks for giving me some more idea's, its much appreciated!

 

[Bixi]

You don't have to go expensive when it comes to an enclosure for the tort, but you should give the tort as much room as possible... That animal would basically roam all 3.5 acres of your land and still want more... so go as big as you are comfortable with (ie. as big as possible). When you build an enclosure just make sure that the baseboard (whatever it is made of) is well above the tortoises viewing height so that it won't try to climb or push its way out of its habitat. Sulcatas will push and climb over anything that they think it is possible to get over...

You also need to make sure that the tort has a night-box that is plenty big for the tort to walk into and turn around and get comfy. Inside that night-box you need to have a heat element (not visible light [dark], ceramic?) so that the animal can be warm on a potentially cold night. Even a slightly cold day can be a problem for a reptile. Given your location you are probably OK most of the time, but if the temps dip down, then the animal will need help to stay warm. You could lose your tort in 1 cold night, and the USA has had some weirdly cold dips in temperature lately... so be careful.

If you are doing a DIY setup, then check local hardware stores and do what "Hugo's Home" is suggesting in the above post. You don't have to use aluminum, or wood, or anything... it just needs to be above the tortoises highest field of view to keep them from pushing on the walls. Use what you have, or what is cheap, and make sure it is opaque to the tortoise.

Keep plenty of high-fiber grass growing in there, and if your tort doesn't eat it all, you will be fine. If they do eat all the grass... resort to asking people besides me what to do, or increase the size of the pen.

Remember, your tort is basically a reptile cow... you own a reptile cow now... it needs grass...

 

[Aroddy]

Thank you very much Bixi.