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Bass.Isles

Active Member
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Mar 30, 2017
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If you are going to keep this species indoors, or any tortoise that is 5+ inches long, you need a minimum of 4x8'. A closed chamber of that size, in combination with a larger outdoor enclosure to be used during the day when the weather is favorable, should keep them growing smooth and healthy until it is time to move them outside full time with a heated night box when they reach 8-10". When that time comes, you'll need something like this for them to sleep in at night and on cold winter days: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/another-night-box-thread.88966/

Sulcata are NOT a desert species. They are a Grassland/Forrest edge species. It takes a lot of annual rainfall to maintain grasslands and forests. This is a huge and very persistent misconception about this species. Here is another misconception about "desert" species of tortoise: The weather two meters above ground, where the weather stations get their readings, is totally irrelevant for a species like a CA desert tortoise that spends most of its time underground. In their savannah grassland areas, which are somewhere arid for part of the year, wild sulcatas are underground. They are not experiencing those hot dry conditions. Further, the babies hatch at the start of the 3-4 month long rainy season. It is hot, humid, rainy and there are puddles, marshes, and green growing food every where. These "monsoon" conditions are what baby sulcatas thrive in.

Tropical means it naturally occurs in the geographic region between the tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. Tropical does not necessarily mean wet, rainy or humid. The range of the sulcata is largely in the Northern section of this tropical band as it crosses the African continent.
okay, awesome! thanks so much for explaining. Is it really imperative that I keep her in an inside enclosure full time at 5 inches long? if I want to continue keeping her outdoors most the time but bring her in when it is cool at night, what kind of outdoor enclosure would you recomend? i mean, the one I have now, is on my porch like you saw, but it gets sunlight and I keep it covered almost all the time with the lattice. the pics I posted where the top was open were ones I just snapped when I had the lattice up and off while I did some cleaning up and watering. what can I do to make her outdoor enclosure more appropriate?
 

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