I wanted to post my winter setup for others who may be looking for a solution for these cold winter months. My redfooted tortoises spend the warm months outside, but do not appreciate the cold dry seasons, despite living in Texas.
The green house can as a kit for around $50.00 each. The plastic is only one mil pvc, and has very little insulating characteristics. I just needed it to trap the air so the humidity and some temp would remain inside. This set up will only work if you have a basement, garage, shed, etc. that can be kept warm, but not warm/wet enough for the animals. The dimensions are 60''x36''x36. I used 6x1 boards to make a box 12'' tall and 59''x35''. The boards were approx. 10ft long and cost $5.00 here.
There are 2 enclosures in this room. 5'x3' may appear a bit small for 2 adult redfoots, but after observing the redfoots' activities once settled in, they do not seem very restless. I frequently see them move from the cold to the warm side, and then back again through out the day. These also can easily be extended with another kit and some wood. I really enjoy the 2 doors for maintenance.
Above only shows about half of the enclosure. Each enclosure has 3 lamps. 2 100 watt CMEs on a thermostat, and 1 100 watt basking light turned on during the day. The room is kept at a minimum of 60F, with the cool side of the enclosure dropping to 73F, warm side 76F. During the day the temps rise to 80F on the cool side, and 83 warm side. These are all ambient temps. The basking spot is 90 (surface) during the day. These seem ok based on what I've read everyone else keeps theirs at, although I've read a wide range of minimum and maximum temps.
I wanted to post this in the enclosure section as I believe it could work for any moderate sized tortoise. Let me know what you think!
I still have furniture to add such as hides, water dish, plants.
The green house can as a kit for around $50.00 each. The plastic is only one mil pvc, and has very little insulating characteristics. I just needed it to trap the air so the humidity and some temp would remain inside. This set up will only work if you have a basement, garage, shed, etc. that can be kept warm, but not warm/wet enough for the animals. The dimensions are 60''x36''x36. I used 6x1 boards to make a box 12'' tall and 59''x35''. The boards were approx. 10ft long and cost $5.00 here.
There are 2 enclosures in this room. 5'x3' may appear a bit small for 2 adult redfoots, but after observing the redfoots' activities once settled in, they do not seem very restless. I frequently see them move from the cold to the warm side, and then back again through out the day. These also can easily be extended with another kit and some wood. I really enjoy the 2 doors for maintenance.
Above only shows about half of the enclosure. Each enclosure has 3 lamps. 2 100 watt CMEs on a thermostat, and 1 100 watt basking light turned on during the day. The room is kept at a minimum of 60F, with the cool side of the enclosure dropping to 73F, warm side 76F. During the day the temps rise to 80F on the cool side, and 83 warm side. These are all ambient temps. The basking spot is 90 (surface) during the day. These seem ok based on what I've read everyone else keeps theirs at, although I've read a wide range of minimum and maximum temps.
I wanted to post this in the enclosure section as I believe it could work for any moderate sized tortoise. Let me know what you think!
I still have furniture to add such as hides, water dish, plants.
Last edited:
