What size enclosures?

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Moozillion

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What size enclosures (both outdoor/summer and indoor/winter) enclosure is best for 2-3 pancake torts? I don't have any yet, but...:p
 

african cake queen

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mery christmas, i was hopeing someone with more experience in keeping cakes would get back to you. i live in ct. in winter right now i have a 50 gallon tank . in the summer i keep them outside in a 6ft by 4 ft. screened in cage my brother made for me. we need more room in the winter here. i am guess the bigger the better. atleast they slow down alittle in the winter so its not so bad. i do want a much larger indoor set up. well, there you go. i hope you get your cakes. they are so sweet.[/b]
 

mainey34

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Moozilion said:
What size enclosures (both outdoor/summer and indoor/winter) enclosure is best for 2-3 pancake torts? I don't have any yet, but...:p
Uhoooo...you got the itch...lol. glad to hear you are expanding the love for more torts...
 

Tom

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I like 4x8' for indoor torts overwintering in cold climates. It's pretty easy to go that size since plywood already comes in that size. Just build some walls and a ceiling.

Outdoors I would just go as big as you can. Just remember that they can climb like a lizard and their softer plastrons offer less protection for predators than some species. A cover or lid of some sort is recommended by most. When I build outdoor enclosures I try to make them fit into the existing landscape somehow. Just make sure that there is always some sun and shade available.
 

Kapidolo Farms

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With pancakes actual floor space is less importnat than retreat options. For example a large leopard needs lots of floor space, as it literally walks around a great deal, and can find 'retreat' by pushing up against a tall fountain of grass. Pancakes dodge in and out of retreats as a daily thing to do. I offer two or three retreats for just one pancake, they scramble from one to the other, that is their activity. So when there is more than one I offer additional one for each tortoise, so one pancake has three retreats, two pancake would have four or five retreats. Three pancakes could still do good with five retreats.

The retreats I use are not duplications of each other. Some are half flower pots, some are a tile set on top of two bricks, some are the area under a ramp, which leads to a place closer to a heat source. That way they can heat themselves at 12 inches from the heat source, exposed or in a retreat, or get about 8 inches from the heat source exposed. They will sometimes all jam themselves in one retreat even when there are others available, sometimes they all go to a single retreat. They are very stealthy too, and can walk across an enclosure with dried leaves, and not make one crack sound as they step on the leaves, very cat like in that sense.

For floor space in total - I have found three per 8 square feet to be sufficient. I have use metal and plastic stock tanks, at a bit higher ratio of tortoises to floor space, but that can get filthy faster, so use a ratio of two square feet per tortoise, plus two square feet more. One tortoise gets four square feet, two get six square feet, etc.

And yes more is good, but this ratio of floor space to tortoise works well for this size and activity type animal.

For comparison, the studbook for speckled padloppers suggest one square meter for up three/four animals, that is about ten square feet. But padloppers are walking around tortoises, not crevice dwellers like the pancake.

http://home.concepts.nl/~lo17700/publications/husbrecom_hsig.pdf

this link is for captive care of speckled padlopper so you can see what I am talking about.

Will
 

yagyujubei

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If I remember correctly, you are in Louisiana. I think about 4x8 would be appropriate for an outside pen. Go bigger, and you'll never see them again. The western people need larger pens because of the lack of vegetation. I always see areas of bare earth in their pens, so I think they are prone to roaming. In Ohio where I am, bare earth becomes covered with greenery very quickly. My leopards are in a smallish pen, roam very little because there's food everywhere. In fact, I have to weedwack several times in the spring and summer, or they are extremely difficult to find. Even walking is hampered by thick vegetative growth. As far as inside goes, I would check with pancake owners to see just how much walking around this species does. I know that they like stacked flat rocks with hiding crevices.


Sory if I repeated some of Wills post, but he posted while I waS writing.
 

EKLC

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I agree with Will about the number of hiding places being the big factor with this species. Provide floor space to fit a few hides per tort, a feeding area, a basking area, and a water dish and you'll be fine. Just get creative with the hides. Vertical space can be utilized with these guys. Layers and small crevices make them happy, so get creative.

Outdoors, the same thing goes, just make sure you have a really solid wire mesh cover over it, and nowhere for them to possibly get out.
 

african cake queen

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EKLC said:
I agree with Will about the number of hiding places being the big factor with this species. Provide floor space to fit a few hides per tort, a feeding area, a basking area, and a water dish and you'll be fine. Just get creative with the hides. Vertical space can be utilized with these guys. Layers and small crevices make them happy, so get creative.

Outdoors, the same thing goes, just make sure you have a really solid wire mesh cover over it, and nowhere for them to possibly get out.
i have noticed that my cakes are creatures of habit. my pair do love the pool they have. they go in alot. the longer you keep them , the more you get to know them. my pair are not shy.
 
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