Winter Indoor 20 lb tortoise home?

[Rawrbear315]

I am not sure what indoor home to make for my baby this year. We are renting so I can't do a shed. My 2 options are basement (no central air down there) or 2nd floor room. She is 20 lbs atm. I want something easy to assemble and disassemble. I was going to mix her substrate with a little bit of play sand to reduce dust. Coconut shavings alone leaves everything in a layer of dust. Should I make a 8 ft square wood sandbox basically?

 

[mike taylor]

No sand ! Could cause impaction . If you keep the substrate damp you will have no problems with dust . He is big enough to live outside now . I would build a box 2'/4'/2' . Install a heater and humidifier . The box is not much bigger than a dog house . If you checkout Tom's thread on how to build one the tortoises would be much happier .

 

[Rawrbear315]

I was thinking of a sand coconut shaving mixture and placing her food on a raised area like a flag stone. An outside box? Does she not need excersize?

 

[mike taylor]

Well you have a door in the side so she can go in and out as she wishes . Go to the sulcata section Tom has a marked thread on how to build a night box .

 

[Jodie]

Where in the world are you?

 

[Tom]

Coconut shavings alone leaves everything in a layer of dust.

Not if you keep it appropriately damp. Orchid bark works better for larger tortoises, in my experience, and you can buy it in bulk at most hardware stores of garden centers.

We need to know where your are to advise you on the subject of what to do over winter. Different advice for someone in Phoenix vs. NYC.

 

[Rawrbear315]

I live in southern Indiana right next to the Kentucky boarder. She has been inside every winter... I am hesitant to have her outside. I don't even keep her outside at night during the summer I bring her 20 lb butt in each evening.

 

[Tom]

I live in southern Indiana right next to the Kentucky boarder. She has been inside every winter... I am hesitant to have her outside. I don't even keep her outside at night during the summer I bring her 20 lb butt in each evening.

What are you going to do in a few years when she's 100+ pounds?

 

[Rawrbear315]

We are planning on owning our own home by then. I am going to section off a large portion of the yard for her. Fencing her off with placing concrete down far enough she can't burrow out. Insulating a large shed for winter.

 

[Rawrbear315]

Lighting and humidity control as well as a back up generator for any power blips.

 

[Rawrbear315]

Probably a shallow warring hole as well

 

[Tom]

We are planning on owning our own home by then. I am going to section off a large portion of the yard for her. Fencing her off with placing concrete down far enough she can't burrow out. Insulating a large shed for winter.

Sulcatas don't "burrow out". No need for underground concrete. If they burrow, they dig down at about a 45 degree angle and usually hook it to the right. They do not dig back up in a different direction, and they don't try to dig under fences and barriers like a dog would. Spend your time and money making the above ground walls stout enough to hold the tortoise in, making the walls out of something opaque, and making the enclosure huge.

 

[Jodie]

I am not sure what indoor home to make for my baby this year. We are renting so I can't do a shed. My 2 options are basement (no central air down there) or 2nd floor room. She is 20 lbs atm. I want something easy to assemble and disassemble. I was going to mix her substrate with a little bit of play sand to reduce dust. Coconut shavings alone leaves everything in a layer of dust. Should I make a 8 ft square wood sandbox basically?

For my leopards that have to come in for the winter I give them a bedroom. The room is kept 80F. I make a hide area and a baking area with substrate, and hay for absorption in the rest. We redid the floor to seal it and insulate it. Make it as large as you can. They get pretty stir crazy inside. I would not use sand. I use coco coir and bark, and keep it moist. He will be happier when you can set up an outside heated box.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

This is what I made for my Sulcata, it has a hide, a pig blanket, and a heater. There are 3 UVB bulbs. It's is 20'x12'.Big enough for him to wakl around when he can't go outside.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Bob never dug at all. He thought the shed was his burrow. I wish it still was.