Outdoor Red Foot Enclosure in North Caralina

[redfootshane]

Hi all!

My wife and I will begin looking for someone to build us an outdoor enclosure for our 3 year old red foot. We live in Asheville, NC and it does get pretty dry/cold during the winter (30 degree temps with 30% humidity).. The plan is to restrict her to the indoor portion of her enclosure which will be a 3x7 house that will be fully insulated/heated/with misters. And during the summer open up her house to an additional 32 sq feet of fenced-in outdoor space.

We are planning on hiring a contractor to build all of this (budget ~$3k-$4k). Has anyone tried a project like this before? Would love to hear about your learnings/tips before we kick this off.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[wellington]

@ZEROPILOT has RF he might know of some ideas that should or shouldn't be added that might be helpful.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

My enclosures are only set up for temperatures above 58ish degrees.
At lower temperatures I would not use any misters for humidity.
I use overhead sprinklers to "rain" during the dryer months.
Redfoot would be especially difficult to keep outdoors 24/7 outside of a tropical environment.
I have no firsthand experience with keeping Redfoot outside of South Florida.

 

[redfootshane]

My enclosures are only set up for temperatures above 58ish degrees.
At lower temperatures I would not use any misters for humidity.
I use overhead sprinklers to "rain" during the dryer months.
Redfoot would be especially difficult to keep outdoors 24/7 outside of a tropical environment.
I have no firsthand experience with keeping Redfoot outside of South Florida.

Thanks for the reply!

The goal for us would be to build the 'indoor' part of her outdoor enclosure as something that could maintain at least 60 degrees Internal temp.

So shoot for sprinklers over misters?

 

[BajatheChickenMan]

My enclosures are only set up for temperatures above 58ish degrees.
At lower temperatures I would not use any misters for humidity.
I use overhead sprinklers to "rain" during the dryer months.
Redfoot would be especially difficult to keep outdoors 24/7 outside of a tropical environment.
I have no firsthand experience with keeping Redfoot outside of South Florida.

That is a sweet setup! I am jealous of your flat yard!

 

[Maggie3fan]

In my opinion 60 degrees for a RF is way too cold. Mine is kept at 85 degrees with 90% humidity...this is my tort shed...12'x20' heated and insulated....

Mary is not fond of the ice and snow. Here she is trying to decide whether to go out or not...that's her choice...
Mary will be so glad when she moves to her new home...Yes Karen...Mary will go to live in Sacramento Calif....she will be so much happier

 

[Tom]

Thanks for the reply!

The goal for us would be to build the 'indoor' part of her outdoor enclosure as something that could maintain at least 60 degrees Internal temp.

So shoot for sprinklers over misters?

The indoor portion where the tortoise will be spending several months at a time over winter needs to be much larger than 3x7 for an adult RF, and it needs to be kept 82-86 degrees 24/7/365. They can survive a 60 degree night once in a while if it is going to be hot and sunny the next day and they can warm back up, but they should not be kept at 60. Misters in this indoor portion would be okay over winter if the temperatures are kept up, but be careful things don't get too wet all the time as it will cause shell rot on the plastron of a RF.

The outdoor portion needs to be MUCH larger than 32 square feet. That is only 4x8 feet. You need something on the order of 1000 sq. feet. Something around 30x30 feet. This should be easy to accomplish with a budget of 3-4K. I've been pricing out pressure treated lumber and welded wire for an upcoming lizard cage build and an 8x12 and the cost for all of that will be around $800 even at todays' insane prices. If your tortoise s an adult, then you really don't need a covered enclosure for day time. The same local predators that you have are every where in the country. I live out in the country on dirt roads and we have hawks, coyotes, mountain lions, raccoons, snakes and all the rest. The biggest threat to your tortoise is domestic dogs, even your own. Especially your own. I do like the security of a "cage" to protect them. I house my Burmese stars in a big cage. But as long as your tortoise has its heated shelter for night time, colder days, and winter, an open outdoor area should work just fine for day time.

Here is a chicken coop I bough from tractor supply. It houses my Mom's 6 inch star tortoise on warm sunny days. We have since attached a 4x4 night box to the outside of this 8x8 foot cage:


Here is a picture looking in to one of my star tortoise enclosures. Each "lane" is 28x8 feet:


In this picture you can see the heated night box in the back of the enclosure:


Here is a picture of another TFO member's enclosure that was posted years ago:

 

[Maggie3fan]

The indoor portion where the tortoise will be spending several months at a time over winter needs to be much larger than 3x7 for an adult RF, and it needs to be kept 82-86 degrees 24/7/365. They can survive a 60 degree night once in a while if it is going to be hot and sunny the next day and they can warm back up, but they should not be kept at 60. Misters in this indoor portion would be okay over winter if the temperatures are kept up, but be careful things don't get too wet all the time as it will cause shell rot on the plastron of a RF.

The outdoor portion needs to be MUCH larger than 32 square feet. That is only 4x8 feet. You need something on the order of 1000 sq. feet. Something around 30x30 feet. This should be easy to accomplish with a budget of 3-4K. I've been pricing out pressure treated lumber and welded wire for an upcoming lizard cage build and an 8x12 and the cost for all of that will be around $800 even at todays' insane prices. If your tortoise s an adult, then you really don't need a covered enclosure for day time. The same local predators that you have are every where in the country. I live out in the country on dirt roads and we have hawks, coyotes, mountain lions, raccoons, snakes and all the rest. The biggest threat to your tortoise is domestic dogs, even your own. Especially your own. I do like the security of a "cage" to protect them. I house my Burmese stars in a big cage. But as long as your tortoise has its heated shelter for night time, colder days, and winter, an open outdoor area should work just fine for day time.

Here is a chicken coop I bough from tractor supply. It houses my Mom's 6 inch star tortoise on warm sunny days. We have since attached a 4x4 night box to the outside of this 8x8 foot cage:
View attachment 365205

Here is a picture looking in to one of my star tortoise enclosures. Each "lane" is 28x8 feet:
View attachment 365206

In this picture you can see the heated night box in the back of the enclosure:
View attachment 365207

Here is a picture of another TFO member's enclosure that was posted years ago:
View attachment 365208

Thanks for the pictures very enjoyable to me...

 

[redfootshane]

The indoor portion where the tortoise will be spending several months at a time over winter needs to be much larger than 3x7 for an adult RF, and it needs to be kept 82-86 degrees 24/7/365. They can survive a 60 degree night once in a while if it is going to be hot and sunny the next day and they can warm back up, but they should not be kept at 60. Misters in this indoor portion would be okay over winter if the temperatures are kept up, but be careful things don't get too wet all the time as it will cause shell rot on the plastron of a RF.

The outdoor portion needs to be MUCH larger than 32 square feet. That is only 4x8 feet. You need something on the order of 1000 sq. feet. Something around 30x30 feet. This should be easy to accomplish with a budget of 3-4K. I've been pricing out pressure treated lumber and welded wire for an upcoming lizard cage build and an 8x12 and the cost for all of that will be around $800 even at todays' insane prices. If your tortoise s an adult, then you really don't need a covered enclosure for day time. The same local predators that you have are every where in the country. I live out in the country on dirt roads and we have hawks, coyotes, mountain lions, raccoons, snakes and all the rest. The biggest threat to your tortoise is domestic dogs, even your own. Especially your own. I do like the security of a "cage" to protect them. I house my Burmese stars in a big cage. But as long as your tortoise has its heated shelter for night time, colder days, and winter, an open outdoor area should work just fine for day time.

Here is a chicken coop I bough from tractor supply. It houses my Mom's 6 inch star tortoise on warm sunny days. We have since attached a 4x4 night box to the outside of this 8x8 foot cage:
View attachment 365205

Here is a picture looking in to one of my star tortoise enclosures. Each "lane" is 28x8 feet:
View attachment 365206

In this picture you can see the heated night box in the back of the enclosure:
View attachment 365207

Here is a picture of another TFO member's enclosure that was posted years ago:
View attachment 365208

Thank you for all the information! This a fantastically informative post