Sulcata Indoors

[dustinhood]

I'm a soon to be owner of a Sulcata. So here are my plans: I live in a one-bedroom apartment. I plan to house my baby Sulcata, whose name will be Chanel (From Chelone, meaning tortiose), in a turtle table from tortoisesupply.com for as long as I can (2-3 years). During this time I will have a nice set up in a corner for it and take it outdoors so it can graze whenever the weather permits. I will also take it to parks, etc. During this time I will be getting Chanel used to having roam of the house. I will soon be moving to a two-bedroom apartment, the second bedroom willl be Chanel's room, doubling as a lounge/study. I plan on making a burrow out of a large dog kennel, of which he will be confined in while sleeping. When it is daylight, he will have roam of the house. I know a lot of people have mixed feelings or opinions on this. What do you think? Is this possible to make a healthy tortoise? Do you allow your tort to wander in your home? Is this a horrible idea? Or do you say "Eh, give it a shot, kid!" Let me know you're thoughts!

 

[dmmj]

I have to say in all honesty and I am not trying to be mean, but I think this is a horrible idea. I don't see any benefit to the tortoise. I have no problem with someone who want to house a tortoise indoors temporarily, but do you have any long term plans to move into a house with a yard? or do you plan on living in an apartment all of the tortoises life? I sincerely hope I am not sounding to harsh.

 

[dustinhood]

No, you don't sound harsh. I should've said that. My lease is up in this apartment in May. Then I will be moving to the two-bedroom in Memphis, while I go to Culinary School. (16 Months) After the year lease is up in that apartment, I will look to rent-to-own a home. Of which I do REQUIRE that we have a yard. My partner loves plants and gardening so there will be room for that and for Chanel to have his place to graze as he pleases. (So within 3 years he have a place to roam)

 

[River14]

dustinhood I admire and love your dreams having lived in an apartment myself in Amsterdam, but its not time for your dreams to turn into reality.

Maybe you and your partner could rent an allotment? This is in GBE ( Queens English) is a tiny garden (though big enough for a few sulcata's) its usually used for growing veg by people who live in big cities but like a lot of us need to feel attached to the earth, as a tortoise most certainly does and has too.

I would say if you cant find that rather foreign concept of an "allotment" near you, just hold very tight to your dreams and one day a Sulcata will adopt you.

I found a few little ornamental goldfish are very lovely. You know the type bred for thousands of years to keep the residents of the Imperial palace of China happy. Them, they make the most wonderful pets and are completely suitable for large (plus 60cm) wide shallow pots indoors in any bedroom or apartment, a nice sunny window is a plus just cover the pot with a louvre by half. They will even breed happily. Think celestial, pearl or butterfly etc

Just a thought.

 

[chairman]

Sorry, a sulcata sounds like a terrible fit for you right now. It does sound like you are willing to devote quite a bit of energy to a tortoise, though, so why not look into some of the smaller species that do well indoors?

 

[Tom]

I agree with the above. That cage will not last for 2-3 years unless you have a very slow grower for some reason. Most of them will outgrow that within 6-9 months. It would be fine for staying in over night, IF you had a large outdoor pen for them to run around in all day.

Parks are a very bad idea as ALL of them use pesticides and fertilizers, even if they look you straight in the eye and tell you they don't. THEY DO. You don't want your baby eating that stuff, and he/she will.

Free roaming the house is no good either. The temperatures down on the floor are all wrong and if you ever use any heating or A/C, the air will be much too dry also. Even worse, the most meticulous house keepers will still occasionally find things on the floor. Buttons, dust bunnies, bits of plastic wrapper, etc... Your baby will likely try to ingest these foreign objects and it could lead to an impaction.

Sulcatas are my favorite species. They are great tortoises, but they are not for every person and every situation. Have you considered other species? Hermanns tortoises are very attractive and also have great personalities. Russians have a similar personality to sulcatas, but stay a much more manageable size. I hate to pee on your parade, but I'm glad you asked us this now, instead of AFTER you already had the little guy.

Good luck and keep us posted on what you decide.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Dustin:

I'm afraid I'm going to have to side with the previous posters. Its really not a good idea to get a sulcata unless there is space outside for it. Taking it to parks might endanger its life, as the park employees may use pesticides and fertilizers on the grass. You really would be surprised at how fast a young sulcata grows. The first year of its life it fits nicely in an indoor habitat, but very quickly after year one it needs to spend most of the day outside.

My suggestion is for you to hold onto your dream of having a sulcata until you're closer to having the space for him. The rescues are full of sulcatas that have come from people who acted on their dream before the really could handle it.

 

[Baoh]

You could set up an indoor enclosure via timbers or a crate with pond liner you'd construct when it's bigger and older. You could, for the time being, use a Christmas tree storage bin/tote. However, an apartment is suboptimal long-term. You could do it, but it may be more of a pain than either you or the tortoise would find acceptable. I have kept sulcatas in apartments, but that was with the understanding that I would purchase a home before they would grow to an adult size. Be honest with yourself, your plans, and both your current and future capabilities. Then decide with both yourself and the animal's welfare kept in mind. If staying in an apartment for a longer number of years, I would probably choose a smaller species. A Hermann's tortoise would be ideal. Nice coloration, hardy as heck, more easily managed size, and very personable (on average).

Give it some thought and take your time in doing so.

 

[October]

I agree with the rest, but I also feel that something smaller like Russians or Herman's would work well for you. They wont get very large and should fit in the tort table for awhile. Floors and parks are usually a no-no. Unless you mean park, as in nature parks that are not groomed and trimmed and sprayed.

 

[Livingstone]

It can be done... You need at least a 4ft by 8ft enclosure.

The advise given to you is definitely accurate, Sulcata's are tough to raise indoors... BUT only after they get to a certain size. For example livingstone is too small (9 inches) for me to feel comfortable leaving her outside on her own. So I dont mind having her inside and babying her. Its all a matter of opinion and time.

 

[wrmitchell22]

I agree with the above. That cage will not last for 2-3 years unless you have a very slow grower for some reason. Most of them will outgrow that within 6-9 months. It would be fine for staying in over night, IF you had a large outdoor pen for them to run around in all day.

Parks are a very bad idea as ALL of them use pesticides and fertilizers, even if they look you straight in the eye and tell you they don't. THEY DO. You don't want your baby eating that stuff, and he/she will.

Free roaming the house is no good either. The temperatures down on the floor are all wrong and if you ever use any heating or A/C, the air will be much too dry also. Even worse, the most meticulous house keepers will still occasionally find things on the floor. Buttons, dust bunnies, bits of plastic wrapper, etc... Your baby will likely try to ingest these foreign objects and it could lead to an impaction.

Sulcatas are my favorite species. They are great tortoises, but they are not for every person and every situation. Have you considered other species? Hermanns tortoises are very attractive and also have great personalities. Russians have a similar personality to sulcatas, but stay a much more manageable size. I hate to pee on your parade, but I'm glad you asked us this now, instead of AFTER you already had the little guy.

Good luck and keep us posted on what you decide.

in this instance Tom is 100% on the mark, a sulcata doesn't seem to fit well into your life right now. But there are many smaller torts that would do great indoors good luck

 

[Baoh]

It can be done... You need at least a 4ft by 8ft enclosure.

The advise given to you is definitely accurate, Sulcata's are tough to raise indoors... BUT only after they get to a certain size. For example livingstone is too small (9 inches) for me to feel comfortable leaving her outside on her own. So I dont mind having her inside and babying her. Its all a matter of opinion and time.

IMO, yours is a good example of how it can be done for a tortoise of that size.

 

[drgnfly2265]

It can be done... You need at least a 4ft by 8ft enclosure.

The advise given to you is definitely accurate, Sulcata's are tough to raise indoors... BUT only after they get to a certain size. For example livingstone is too small (9 inches) for me to feel comfortable leaving her outside on her own. So I dont mind having her inside and babying her. Its all a matter of opinion and time.

IMO, yours is a good example of how it can be done for a tortoise of that size.

That is like the same set up/size that I have for mine. The only thing different is that I am using timothy hay for the substrate and the whole thing is set up on an enclosed front porch.

 

[dustinhood]

I greatly appreciate all of your responses and have taken it into consideration. You're probably right about the parks. I do have a natural park in my city. However when I move to Memphis in coming May, it might be difficult to find on of those. However, I might be able to find somewhere to take my new fella. I will look into the other species you suggested. As I mentioned, I will be moving into a two-bedroom and think it's a great idea to create an enclosure like the one suggested. All of this is why I posted on here. I know there are a lot of mixed feelings, I wanted to get several opinions from owners. So I thank you again. Also, I plan to lease an apartment for a year once I move to Memphis. After that I hope move into a house with a yard. By this time, the Sulcata should be pretty big, enough to where I will create a burrow for him outside. Also something to note; my partner stays at home all the time, so he will it outside with him when possible and Chanel will really never be left unattended, even if I am at work or school. But continue to give me your opinions. I am taking all into consideration!

 

[chairman]

I live on the IN side of Lousiville and I have a ~4 year old sulcata so my current situation is very similar to what you are forecasting your future situation to be. My tortoise has a 9' x 9' insulated shed (a burrow just wouldn't cut it this far north). I had to run electrical service to the shed so I can heat it in the fall/winter/spring. A 40' x 30' area around the shed has been fenced off. I have an emergency setup in my basement if the outdoor system should fail. Depending on how handy you are in terms of construction skills, you can expect to pay somewhere between $2000 to $5000 for a similar setup. It took me the equivalent of about 14 8 hour working days to put everything together.

I completely understand your interest in having a sulcata; I wish that I could have more. I find keeping mine to be very rewarding and she is hands down my daughter's favorite pet. My daughter is 3 and gets just as excited about feeding the tortoise or finding the tortoise to lock up in the shed at night as she does about icecream and Dora.

That said, a lot of resources go into keeping a sulcata healthy and happy in a climate like mine. I applaud you for trying to approach the situation with your eyes wide open. However, I still think a sulcata is not a great fit for you at this time. I started off with a smaller species of tortoise about 9 years ago when I was living in an apartment; I've still got the little guy and I really appreciate having my indoor tortoise to deal with inside and my yard tortoise to deal with outside. Down the road and you're trying to deal with buying a new house and fixing it up to meet your needs I DON'T think that you'll ever regret having a smaller tortoise but I DO think you might regret having a sulcata.

I don't want to discourage you, but I am inclined to delay you. Obviously, just my $.02.

 

[Tortoise]

Hi
Good Luck in your decision making.
Never had a sulcata but love them dearly but I too have the same indoors issues and a long winter so I have to think hard about devoting my entire basement for one.

I read these couple of threads for my own interest and wondered too if you had seen them?

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Things-To-Know-When-Buying-A-Sulcata--11012#axzz1TQfh5FIr

http://www.turtlerescues.org/sulcata_challenge.htm

Great you are asking for advice before you go out and buy a tortoise. By the way I have Red Foots and Hermanns-great species-very beautiful but much much smaller and easier to care for in an inside enclosure-might be a good start into the world of tortoises for you and perhaps you can work up to the Sulcata when you have lots of space?

Best of luck in your decision making!