Outdoor enclosure for cherry head hatchling

[Cordycord]

Hi! I’m going to have my very first (cherry head) tortoise hatchling in a few months and I’m preparing its outdoor enclosure. I live in Manila, Philippines and our weather is usually 25C-35C and humidity from 70-85% and can even reach up to 90%+.

I plan to have a 4ft x 2ft table (covered with metal mesh) for the first year or so and then create one on the ground somewhere in our garden eventually. The table will be in a shaded area in our backyard and will have access to some afternoon sun.

Does this sound like a good start? I really want to house him outdoors and most of the advice that I see online is about indoor enclosures. Any advice would be much appreciated!

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Hi! I’m going to have my very first (cherry head) tortoise hatchling in a few months and I’m preparing its outdoor enclosure. I live in Manila, Philippines and our weather is usually 25C-35C and humidity from 70-85% and can even reach up to 90%+.

I plan to have a 4ft x 2ft table (covered with metal mesh) for the first year or so and then create one on the ground somewhere in our garden eventually. The table will be in a shaded area in our backyard and will have access to some afternoon sun.

Does this sound like a good start? I really want to house him outdoors and most of the advice that I see online is about indoor enclosures. Any advice would be much appreciated!

Hello and welcome!
There are a few reasons why it's recommended to keep baby tortoises indoors:
1. Often climate is very different from their native habitat.
2. At 35C (if it's average ambient daily temperature) your tortoise will try to escape the heat and burrow in the ground. With a table it won't have deep enough substrate to go thermoregulate. Hatchlings are prone to freezing and overheating so this can be a dangerous situation. You can mitigate this by placing table on the ground, not on legs.
3. There are natural dangers - storms, rainfalls, predators which can kill tortoise if you overlook something (good water drainage or proof the ground from digging predators such as rodents).
4. Surprisingly, baby tortoises likely to develop some extent of pyramiding when housed outdoors even in their native climate regions. Perhaps, because outdoor space is a very limited subset of microclimates occuring in the wild.

To sum up - indoors enclosure provides safer and more controllable environment for baby tortoise.

 

[wellington]

They do need to be housed indoor with a closed chamber so heat and humidity can be controlled for their first 2-3 years
Even in high humidity Florida, here in the US they should be housed inside.
Doing it this way keeps them growing smooth and everything is able to be controlled.

 

[Tom]

Hi! I’m going to have my very first (cherry head) tortoise hatchling in a few months and I’m preparing its outdoor enclosure. I live in Manila, Philippines and our weather is usually 25C-35C and humidity from 70-85% and can even reach up to 90%+.

I plan to have a 4ft x 2ft table (covered with metal mesh) for the first year or so and then create one on the ground somewhere in our garden eventually. The table will be in a shaded area in our backyard and will have access to some afternoon sun.

Does this sound like a good start? I really want to house him outdoors and most of the advice that I see online is about indoor enclosures. Any advice would be much appreciated!

Outdoors all day is not good for hatchings and little babies, and the climate doesn't matter. This is true of all species, even in their native ranges. Babies do better when housed indoors in a large closed chamber enclosure. I've done several side-by side comparisons over several years with clutchmates of several species to determine this fact.

 

[Cordycord]

Outdoors all day is not good for hatchings and little babies, and the climate doesn't matter. This is true of all species, even in their native ranges. Babies do better when housed indoors in a large closed chamber enclosure. I've done several side-by side comparisons over several years with clutchmates of several species to determine this fact.

I see. How do you determine when and how long to keep them inside/outside?

 

[Cordycord]

Hello and welcome!
There are a few reasons why it's recommended to keep baby tortoises indoors:
1. Often climate is very different from their native habitat.
2. At 35C (if it's average ambient daily temperature) your tortoise will try to escape the heat and burrow in the ground. With a table it won't have deep enough substrate to go thermoregulate. Hatchlings are prone to freezing and overheating so this can be a dangerous situation. You can mitigate this by placing table on the ground, not on legs.
3. There are natural dangers - storms, rainfalls, predators which can kill tortoise if you overlook something (good water drainage or proof the ground from digging predators such as rodents).
4. Surprisingly, baby tortoises likely to develop some extent of pyramiding when housed outdoors even in their native climate regions. Perhaps, because outdoor space is a very limited subset of microclimates occuring in the wild.

To sum up - indoors enclosure provides safer and more controllable environment for baby tortoise.

Thank you for the response. Is it better to just bring them out daily and them bring them in for the night or something similar to that setup?

 

[Cordycord]

They do need to be housed indoor with a closed chamber so heat and humidity can be controlled for their first 2-3 years
Even in high humidity Florida, here in the US they should be housed inside.
Doing it this way keeps them growing smooth and everything is able to be controlled.

Thanks! At what age do you think they should be housed outdoors fully? When they’re hatchlings how do you determine how often to bring them outside? Thanks.

 

[Tom]

I see. How do you determine when and how long to keep them inside/outside?

My general rule of thumb is an hour of access to sunshine in a safe outdoor enclosure per inch of tortoise a few times per week. Once they reach about 4 inches (10cm), outdoors all day will probably be fine in your excellent climate, as long as there is plenty of shade and bushes to hide under. When the time comes for them to live outside full-time at 6-8 inches (15-20cm), I would make an insulated shelter for them to sleep in. You probably will seldom need any added heat, but the insulation gives them a cooler place to hide on hot sunny days, warmer place to sleep on a cold "winter" night, and most importantly, it gives them protection from storms, predators, pests and rodents, and it give them a place to feel safe and secure. Even though your climate is warm enough most of the time, a shelter for them to sleep in keeps them safe.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Thank you for the response. Is it better to just bring them out daily and them bring them in for the night or something similar to that setup?

Tom has explained it in details, so not much to add...

If you have massive rainfalls season (like in Thailand), you might need to bring them inside during the day too. But for such emergencies and overnight stay probably a large plastic box will work. And this could work as a "closed chamber" for a baby tortoise. Perhaps, you won't need any kind of sophisticated heating and lightning for such enclosure.

 

[Cordycord]

Tom has explained it in details, so not much to add...

If you have massive rainfalls season (like in Thailand), you might need to bring them inside during the day too. But for such emergencies and overnight stay probably a large plastic box will work. And this could work as a "closed chamber" for a baby tortoise. Perhaps, you won't need any kind of sophisticated heating and lightning for such enclosure.

We do have heavy rains but the outside enclosure is in our patio which is pretty large and there’s no chance of it getting wet. Is the concern just about getting wet or the change in humidity & temperature too? Thanks!

 

[Cordycord]

My general rule of thumb is an hour of access to sunshine in a safe outdoor enclosure per inch of tortoise a few times per week. Once they reach about 4 inches (10cm), outdoors all day will probably be fine in your excellent climate, as long as there is plenty of shade and bushes to hide under. When the time comes for them to live outside full-time at 6-8 inches (15-20cm), I would make an insulated shelter for them to sleep in. You probably will seldom need any added heat, but the insulation gives them a cooler place to hide on hot sunny days, warmer place to sleep on a cold "winter" night, and most importantly, it gives them protection from storms, predators, pests and rodents, and it give them a place to feel safe and secure. Even though your climate is warm enough most of the time, a shelter for them to sleep in keeps them safe.

Awesome, thanks so much for the advice. I definitely have a better idea of what to prepare for my tortoise!

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

We do have heavy rains but the outside enclosure is in our patio which is pretty large and there’s no chance of it getting wet. Is the concern just about getting wet or the change in humidity & temperature too? Thanks!

I was worried about flooding the enclosure. Humidity, muddy puddles and some raining are definitely fine (and redfoots enjoy water) but not 5 inches of water in a hour. Some temperature drops are fine too, if they don't get lower than 80F (for a baby RF). As they get older they can tolerate larger temperature swings.

 

[Cordycord]

I was worried about flooding the enclosure. Humidity, muddy puddles and some raining are definitely fine (and redfoots enjoy water) but not 5 inches of water in a hour. Some temperature drops are fine too, if they don't get lower than 80F (for a baby RF). As they get older they can tolerate larger temperature swings.

Got it, got it. Yeah, it rarely goes below 80F here, maybe just 2/12 months if at all. Thank you so much!

 

[Tom]

We do have heavy rains but the outside enclosure is in our patio which is pretty large and there’s no chance of it getting wet. Is the concern just about getting wet or the change in humidity & temperature too? Thanks!

Its the consistency and stability of good conditions indoors that suits them so well as babies. As adults, outside is a much better way to go.

And yes, having both an indoor and outdoor enclosure is the best way to go for raising them up. Its the best of both worlds.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Be very careful and make absolutely sure that your tortoise can't climb out of and fall from the table. Make sure that your dogs won't knock the table down. And do not place that table in the sunlight.