Hi there
I am really struggling to find definitive info online so wanted to ask a number of questions to someone with more experience than me, hope that's ok?
I live in London and have a lot of fox (and cat) action in our small garden. Vinnie - our tortoise is currently indoors with a uv/heat lamp in his enclosure but I'm hoping to put him outside from next spring as I think he would benefit from more space and a more interesting home. First question - is he old enough to move outside?
Question 2 - I have been reading about cold frames - do you need uv/heat in these or in another part of the run?
Question 3 - when will he start hibernating? If not until he is much older what do I do in the winter with him, can he remain outside if he has a lamp/heat?
Question 4 - back to the foxes...my ideal would be to allow Vinnie to roam the biggest bed in the garden (with a perimeter fence to stop him escaping) and have a cold frame at one end for him to warm up in, BUT the foxes could get him (assuming that he doesnt hide well enough at night, which I've heard from my husband as a child he lost loads of tortoises to foxes in the night). I don't want to turn my small garden into a tortoise focused space and would rather avoid mesh/chicken wire everywhere. So question 4 is are foxes still a big risk?
Question 5 - assuming foxes are still a major issue is the better solution just to give him a section of the bed with an outdoor run (similar to the indoor one) that is partly outdoor and partly covered/cold frame with added heat / lamp?
As mentioned our garden is very small so we dont have loads of space.
Thanks in advance,
Chelsie
I am really struggling to find definitive info online so wanted to ask a number of questions to someone with more experience than me, hope that's ok?
I live in London and have a lot of fox (and cat) action in our small garden. Vinnie - our tortoise is currently indoors with a uv/heat lamp in his enclosure but I'm hoping to put him outside from next spring as I think he would benefit from more space and a more interesting home. First question - is he old enough to move outside?
Question 2 - I have been reading about cold frames - do you need uv/heat in these or in another part of the run?
Question 3 - when will he start hibernating? If not until he is much older what do I do in the winter with him, can he remain outside if he has a lamp/heat?
Question 4 - back to the foxes...my ideal would be to allow Vinnie to roam the biggest bed in the garden (with a perimeter fence to stop him escaping) and have a cold frame at one end for him to warm up in, BUT the foxes could get him (assuming that he doesnt hide well enough at night, which I've heard from my husband as a child he lost loads of tortoises to foxes in the night). I don't want to turn my small garden into a tortoise focused space and would rather avoid mesh/chicken wire everywhere. So question 4 is are foxes still a big risk?
Question 5 - assuming foxes are still a major issue is the better solution just to give him a section of the bed with an outdoor run (similar to the indoor one) that is partly outdoor and partly covered/cold frame with added heat / lamp?
As mentioned our garden is very small so we dont have loads of space.
Thanks in advance,
Chelsie