Question about outdoor enclosure before baby sulcata gets here?

Jtaylor393

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Hello all,

I have a new baby Sulcata coming this week. I am planning on keeping him in an outdoor enclosure during the day. (In at night and if it rains) my husband is using the idea of one person on here with the cinder blocks in a 2 section part of 4x8 so that is a total of 8x8 we are putting down cypress mulch mixed with peat moss in one 4x8 section and planting sulcata grass mix in the other 4x8 section. Both sections will have a water bowl and a hide box with moisond orchid moss under it. There will be no wall between 2 sections! Also, there will be a mister system that is on a timer to keep substrate and grass watered and moist. We live in SC where our temps are in the 90's we have tested a smaller version of this and the humidity lever outside of hide box is anywhere between 81% and 85% in hide box about 92% to 99% the thought on both sides is so that if baby wants to burrow in oneside it can and if it wants to go and graze or hide if it wants it can.

Will this work or should I change something up!

Thank you
 

wellington

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I baby should be housed inside in a closed chamber with very short visits, 1/2 hour to 1 hour outside until around a year or so and then can go outside longer.
 

Yvonne G

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Please read our threads that are pinned near the top of the sulcata section. Like Wellington said, babies should start their lives indoors where you can make it more like how it is for babies in nature. It's all explained in those threads at the top of the section.
 
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2turtletom

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Hello all,

I have a new baby Sulcata coming this week. I am planning on keeping him in an outdoor enclosure during the day. (In at night and if it rains) my husband is using the idea of one person on here with the cinder blocks in a 2 section part of 4x8 so that is a total of 8x8 we are putting down cypress mulch mixed with peat moss in one 4x8 section and planting sulcata grass mix in the other 4x8 section. Both sections will have a water bowl and a hide box with moisond orchid moss under it. There will be no wall between 2 sections! Also, there will be a mister system that is on a timer to keep substrate and grass watered and moist. We live in SC where our temps are in the 90's we have tested a smaller version of this and the humidity lever outside of hide box is anywhere between 81% and 85% in hide box about 92% to 99% the thought on both sides is so that if baby wants to burrow in oneside it can and if it wants to go and graze or hide if it wants it can.

Will this work or should I change something up!

Thank you

Baby tortoises are extremely vulnerable to predators as well. Mice, voles, rats, crows raccoons, skunks, squirrels, dogs, cats and many other critters can easily eat a baby tortoise outside if it is not fully enclosed.
 

MPappagallo

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Jun 8, 2019
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Myrtle Beach, SC
Hello all,

I have a new baby Sulcata coming this week. I am planning on keeping him in an outdoor enclosure during the day. (In at night and if it rains) my husband is using the idea of one person on here with the cinder blocks in a 2 section part of 4x8 so that is a total of 8x8 we are putting down cypress mulch mixed with peat moss in one 4x8 section and planting sulcata grass mix in the other 4x8 section. Both sections will have a water bowl and a hide box with moisond orchid moss under it. There will be no wall between 2 sections! Also, there will be a mister system that is on a timer to keep substrate and grass watered and moist. We live in SC where our temps are in the 90's we have tested a smaller version of this and the humidity lever outside of hide box is anywhere between 81% and 85% in hide box about 92% to 99% the thought on both sides is so that if baby wants to burrow in oneside it can and if it wants to go and graze or hide if it wants it can.

Will this work or should I change something up!

Thank you
Welcome to the forum! I am also new here, and am picking up my first two baby sulcatas tomorrow. I live in Myrtle Beach, so we are practically neighbors!
 

Tom

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Hello all,

I have a new baby Sulcata coming this week. I am planning on keeping him in an outdoor enclosure during the day. (In at night and if it rains) my husband is using the idea of one person on here with the cinder blocks in a 2 section part of 4x8 so that is a total of 8x8 we are putting down cypress mulch mixed with peat moss in one 4x8 section and planting sulcata grass mix in the other 4x8 section. Both sections will have a water bowl and a hide box with moisond orchid moss under it. There will be no wall between 2 sections! Also, there will be a mister system that is on a timer to keep substrate and grass watered and moist. We live in SC where our temps are in the 90's we have tested a smaller version of this and the humidity lever outside of hide box is anywhere between 81% and 85% in hide box about 92% to 99% the thought on both sides is so that if baby wants to burrow in oneside it can and if it wants to go and graze or hide if it wants it can.

Will this work or should I change something up!

Thank you
Hello and welcome.

Baby tortoises do not do well when left outside all day. Repeated side-by-side experiments have proven this.

Also, peat moss shouldn't be used as a substrate for tortoises. It rots their plastrons.

Here is the care info for baby sulcatas:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/
 

Jtaylor393

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Conway, South Carolina
I baby should be housed inside in a closed chamber with very short visits, 1/2 hour to 1 hour outside until around a year or so and then can go outside longer.
Ok thank you, I said baby but the breeder said it was 10 months. Cause I told him I wanted a young one but not hatchling or to young to go outside during the day. I still comsidered that a baby to me. I can keep it inside for a few months though! I will be using a closed chamber inside!
 

Jtaylor393

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Location (City and/or State)
Conway, South Carolina
Baby tortoises are extremely vulnerable to predators as well. Mice, voles, rats, crows raccoons, skunks, squirrels, dogs, cats and many other critters can easily eat a baby tortoise outside if it is not fully enclosed.
Baby tortoises are extremely vulnerable to predators as well. Mice, voles, rats, crows raccoons, skunks, squirrels, dogs, cats and many other critters can easily eat a baby tortoise outside if it is not fully enclosed.

Thank you for advise, enclosure would be concrete block walls with a chicken wire and wood frame over it. Will also put blocks on top to hold top down.
 

Jtaylor393

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Joined
Jun 16, 2019
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Location (City and/or State)
Conway, South Carolina
Hello and welcome.

Baby tortoises do not do well when left outside all day. Repeated side-by-side experiments have proven this.

Also, peat moss shouldn't be used as a substrate for tortoises. It rots their plastrons.

Here is the care info for baby sulcatas:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/
Thank you for the adivise I will not use the peat miss! And wait a few months to do the outside during the day all day. Since it is 10 month old. I will start with short periods!
 

Tom

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Thank you for the adivise I will not use the peat miss! And wait a few months to do the outside during the day all day. Since it is 10 month old. I will start with short periods!
My general rule of thumb is an hour of outside time per inch of tortoise. Once they reach 5-6" I'll leave them outside most of the day, weather permitting, and bring them in before night. At 8-10", I move them outside full time with a heated night box.
 

wellington

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Welcome to the forum! I am also new here, and am picking up my first two baby sulcatas tomorrow. I live in Myrtle Beach, so we are practically neighbors!
You do realize that tortoises can not be kept in pairs right? One will bully the other to illness or death. They will have to be kept separate.
 

Ray--Opo

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Thank you for the adivise I will not use the peat miss! And wait a few months to do the outside during the day all day. Since it is 10 month old. I will start with short periods!
Welcome, I learned here on TFO that a sulcata shouldn't go outside full time until around 2 years old and about 10 inches long. When they are young the hot sun will overheat the little tort. I noticed with mine when he was small ( up to 6") after a 1/2 hr in the sun he quit eating and his pace would get faster. That's when I would give him a good soak for 1/2 hr. Even now at 2 yrs old and over 10" he cant last more than a hr. I let him graze in the morning before the sun gets hot.
 

MPappagallo

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You do realize that tortoises can not be kept in pairs right? One will bully the other to illness or death. They will have to be kept separate.
Yes! We have been busy getting ready for our two new babies....setting up separate enclosures in the house and buying two of everything....lights, plant saucer water dishes, etc. We are building the enclosures out of wood, and lining the bottom with waterproof vinyl plank flooring that was left over from our home remodel....so it has completely aired out, etc in our garage for almost a year. I can't wait to get everythign set up completely so our little guys can begin to get settled in and used to their new environment. Thanks so much for all the great advice!
 

kazjimmy

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You might wanna start with a closed chamber for the first one or two years. Out door live is for those strongest individual.
 
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