Outdoor enclosure help

[cheesy77777]

I was thinking about building a 6x6 outdoor enclosure for my cherryhead. He is a little over 3 inches long and was wondering if I were to put wire on top of the enclosure if this would be safe for him? The only predators in my area are hawks and crows and ive only ever seen coyotes at night.. but ive noticed that if I leave my dog out (away from the tortoise of course) the birds tend to stay away. Overall would it be safe to say he can be outside in an outdoor enclosure and I can just leave him there from morning until dusk with occasional checkups to make sure he is ok?

 

[TriciaStringer]

Hi! That may be too much outside time for his size. Three hours a day would be good, one hour for each inch.

 

[TriciaStringer]

I was thinking about building a 6x6 outdoor enclosure for my cherryhead. He is a little over 3 inches long and was wondering if I were to put wire on top of the enclosure if this would be safe for him? The only predators in my area are hawks and crows and ive only ever seen coyotes at night.. but ive noticed that if I leave my dog out (away from the tortoise of course) the birds tend to stay away. Overall would it be safe to say he can be outside in an outdoor enclosure and I can just leave him there from morning until dusk with occasional checkups to make sure he is ok?

Yes, welded wire would be good for protection.

 

[Unique Username]

Hi! That may be too much outside time for his size. Three hours a day would be good, one hour for each inch.

I agree that all day is a little much for younger tortoises, but I believe the inch an hour mainly retains to sulcatas. For example a full grown testudo may only be 5-6 inches long. I know RF are more of medium sized tortise, but I think age/general health/hardiness is more important factor. I don't know how old/developed a 3 inch RF is so a more experienced RF owner will have to chim in on this one.

 

[TriciaStringer]

I agree that all day is a little much for younger tortoises, but I believe the inch an hour mainly retains to sulcatas. For example a full grown testudo may only be 5-6 inches long. I know RF are more of medium sized tortise, but I think age/general health/hardiness is more important factor. I don't know how old/developed a 3 inch RF is so a more experienced RF owner will have to chim in on this one.

That’s true. I’m hoping us commenting will keep bumping it up to get more opinions.

 

[TammyJ]

I would not leave one that size in an outdoor enclosure all day for a number of reasons, but just the small size would be reason enough not to. Just my opinion.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

3 inches is too small for lot of situations.
At that size, almost anything can take him away.
I have an enclosed pen in an enclosed patio. So that's kind of cheating.

 

[Redfool]

I wouldn’t recommend unsupervised outdoors until 5-6 inches, about the size of an adult boxie. An outdoor pen must be mostly shaded with diffused sunlight and have water available. These are forest torts and don’t like sunning unless they’re too cold. I hope you heed the tort/dog warnings from other posts. A RF that size is still prey to snakes, mice and many others. Also it’s a lot easier to loose a 3in RF than a 15in. adult. I am a proponent of a pen within a fence.