My parents have 3 African spurred tortoises and they are ready to go outside. They have an old fenced off dog pin in the backyard. They have everything planed out for the setup outside. I just thought I would see if anyone had some cool ideas for the tortoises and their soon to be home outside?
Wow, I sure hope that is a big dog pen because 3 Sulcatas are going to need a lot of space. Now, I hate to be critical because it is obvious you are excited for the torts but have your parents done research on what adult Sulcatas need? Keep in mind that I don't know you to know different or anything. One sulcata alone is going to need a pen of 20'x20' at a MINIMUM. And you have to increase that amount of space for every additional sulcata you have. If the pen you have is see-through then you have to worry about them pacing and getting stressed because they can see through to the other side. I have seen adult sulcatas tear right through chain-link fences because of this -- they are quite capable -- so I hope this dog pen isn't chain-link. Sulcatas are also excellent diggers. Females build nests that are 3 feet deep! So I hope you guys have also thought about burying fence as well. You also want to have a nice place to keep them during storms and winter -- they need an insulated shed with ceramic heat emitters. You can't really count on bringing them inside because sulcatas can easily destroy whatever enclosure they are in if it isn't meant to house a tort. Keep in mind I'm just making sure you are aware of all this. For all I know you could have thought of it all already. Basically, the only good tip I have to give you is to get a good lock. Any time you keep a turtle/tort outside you want to have the enclosure locked because people WILL try to steal it unless there is some sort of deterence. And make sure you keep an eye on the weather. Any time it is in danger of dipping below 65-60 you need to bring the little guys in unless you have an excellent shed. Well, good luck and get back to us soon about how things are progressing!
Oh yeah the dog pen is big. My parents are putting stuff in the ground so they cant dig through. My parents are going all out on this pen. It is chain-link fence but they are covering the bottom half so they can rip themselfs up. They are not just staying in the pen. They will get to roam the backyard every day too. The pen is just basically a really nice bedroom. But, keep giving me advise. If there is anything that is bad that can be fixed or what ever is best for the Torts let me know. Oh this is going to be fun I get to help them with this project next week
sounds like a good plan, just make sure they can NOT get out. land turtles and torts are GREAT escape artists - mostly because of their digging ability. you'd be surprised how deep of a hole even a little box turtle can dig in half an hour!! corrugated metal panelling is a good choice to put around the fencing so they don't hurt themselves on it. you can always make a wood surround, too. whatever you put in the ground (stone, corrugated panelling again, etc) it MUST be at least 3 feet deep.
