Rain for enclosure
- Thread starter Kmain
- Start date
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2014
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- 29,103
- Location (City and/or State)
- South Eastern Florida (U.S.A.)/Rock Hill S.C.
Why are you protecting him/her from rain?
Unless your enclosure can flood, I wouldn't worry.
That tarp is likely to hold a bunch of rain, like a pond, and then fall into the enclosure.
Along with those bricks.
Unless your enclosure can flood, I wouldn't worry.
That tarp is likely to hold a bunch of rain, like a pond, and then fall into the enclosure.
Along with those bricks.
Same questions I had. You are asking for more trouble if/when the tarp gets full, sinks down & floods the enclosure.
If you are really worried (about the rain) a solid piece of plywood over top would be better than the tarp.
In asking this question, you've exposed some bigger problems that need to be addressed.
1. Is this an adult Russian? If yes, that enclosure is too small. I initially thought we were looking at the night box, not the entire enclosure.
2. Rabbit hutches don't work. You need an insulated, sealed night box, and this is where your tortoise will take shelter form the rain. The rest of the enclosure can get rained on and hopelfully this will make some nice weeds grow up in there for him to eat when the weather warms back up.
3. Which leads me to: Is your tortoise not hibernating? Its cold in San Jose. Nights in the 30s. He should be hibernating this time of year. Why would you have heat on him, and if you had heat on him, what kind and how much? Heat in an uninsulated rabbit hutch isn't going to work. If he is hibernating, then he should be in a fridge somewhere with stable cold temperatures, and not outside in the rain and unpredictable elements of a CA winter.
This is why we can't simply answer yes or no to your tarp question and we were all scratching our heads in wonderment. You shouldn't need a tarp or rain protection for your enclosure, if your shelter and enclosure are built how they should be built.
Here is the current and correct care info to explain what is needed:
tortoiseforum.org
1. Is this an adult Russian? If yes, that enclosure is too small. I initially thought we were looking at the night box, not the entire enclosure.
2. Rabbit hutches don't work. You need an insulated, sealed night box, and this is where your tortoise will take shelter form the rain. The rest of the enclosure can get rained on and hopelfully this will make some nice weeds grow up in there for him to eat when the weather warms back up.
3. Which leads me to: Is your tortoise not hibernating? Its cold in San Jose. Nights in the 30s. He should be hibernating this time of year. Why would you have heat on him, and if you had heat on him, what kind and how much? Heat in an uninsulated rabbit hutch isn't going to work. If he is hibernating, then he should be in a fridge somewhere with stable cold temperatures, and not outside in the rain and unpredictable elements of a CA winter.
This is why we can't simply answer yes or no to your tarp question and we were all scratching our heads in wonderment. You shouldn't need a tarp or rain protection for your enclosure, if your shelter and enclosure are built how they should be built.
Here is the current and correct care info to explain what is needed:
The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise
I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...
tortoiseforum.org
In asking this question, you've exposed some bigger problems that need to be addressed.
1. Is this an adult Russian? If yes, that enclosure is too small. I initially thought we were looking at the night box, not the entire enclosure.
2. Rabbit hutches don't work. You need an insulated, sealed night box, and this is where your tortoise will take shelter form the rain. The rest of the enclosure can get rained on and hopelfully this will make some nice weeds grow up in there for him to eat when the weather warms back up.
3. Which leads me to: Is your tortoise not hibernating? Its cold in San Jose. Nights in the 30s. He should be hibernating this time of year. Why would you have heat on him, and if you had heat on him, what kind and how much? Heat in an uninsulated rabbit hutch isn't going to work. If he is hibernating, then he should be in a fridge somewhere with stable cold temperatures, and not outside in the rain and unpredictable elements of a CA winter.
This is why we can't simply answer yes or no to your tarp question and we were all scratching our heads in wonderment. You shouldn't need a tarp or rain protection for your enclosure, if your shelter and enclosure are built how they should be built.
Here is the current and correct care info to explain what is needed:
The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise
I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...
Yes, this is an adult Russian, she is a female. I rescued her from my boss who previously kept her in a small glass aquarium for most of her life.
1. This enclosure is 8ftx5ft, she gets to roam the backyard most days when I am watching her.
2. She has a heating element plugged in, at night when the temperatures drop she is kept at about 65/75 degrees in her rabbit hutch, I am able to monitor the temperature through a bluetooth thermometer.
3. In San Jose yes we have been experiencing a cold front, but also daytime temperatures range from mid 50's to mid 70's, we saw a heat spike in early January where for a while the temperatures got up-to 78 degrees. She is able to bask in her box, and she goes out to explore her enclosure when she wants or when I feed her weeds.
The reason she is not hibernating is because I do not think she is healthy enough to do so, she was kept as a pet in poor conditions for most of her life and I did not get her too long ago. She was fed mostly carrots and ice burg lettuce and was not given proper UV light most of her life.
I am a new tortoise owner, but have done a fair amount of research and am trying my best with the resources I have.
Thank you for your thought out response, I definitely have come a long way in how I care for Shelly.
