6 month old sulcata, outside or inside for south Florida summer?

[Patientgrowing]

Hello everyone this is my first post. I have a young sulcata (just shy of 4” 190g) and have both an indoor and outdoor enclosure setup for him. Is he too young to live outside “full time” when weather is permitting? I know this isn’t advised in most climates as it’s too dry, wanted to ask if Florida is humid enough this is not a concern.

The outdoor enclosure is an 8x4 with a latched lid and attached heated night box. He has never slept in the night box, i just built one for him as I needed one for my Aldabras and figured I may as well build 2.

As of now he’s been living inside and I’ve been taking him out for ~3-4ish hours per day when the weather is nice which has been everyday as of late. Work is about to prevent me from doing this most days, so I’ll have to decide if it’s in his best interest to be outside all day while I’m at work through the summer or inside all day most days. I’m setting up a mister system for his enclosure as well as for my Aldabras, not sure if this makes a difference but hoping to keep humidity high.

Attached is a picture of my sulcata, his name is Rocky.

Thanks in advance for any input!

 

[Tim Carlisle]

Just my personal thing, but I like to keep them indoors mostly under controlled conditions until about age 2 or 3. A lot will depend on its size, the outdoor enclosure you have established, and the types of predators you have in the area. I still take them out on warm sunny days for a bit to get some natural sunlight.

 

[SinLA]

Can't answer your question but I wanted to say its an amazing setup!

 

[Chubbs the tegu]

I would say 4 hrs a day is perfect for his size. Once they reach about 10 inches i keep them out all day and bring them in at night wether permitting

 

[Tom]

Hello everyone this is my first post. I have a young sulcata (just shy of 4” 190g) and have both an indoor and outdoor enclosure setup for him. Is he too young to live outside “full time” when weather is permitting? I know this isn’t advised in most climates as it’s too dry, wanted to ask if Florida is humid enough this is not a concern.

The outdoor enclosure is an 8x4 with a latched lid and attached heated night box. He has never slept in the night box, i just built one for him as I needed one for my Aldabras and figured I may as well build 2.

As of now he’s been living inside and I’ve been taking him out for ~3-4ish hours per day when the weather is nice which has been everyday as of late. Work is about to prevent me from doing this most days, so I’ll have to decide if it’s in his best interest to be outside all day while I’m at work through the summer or inside all day most days. I’m setting up a mister system for his enclosure as well as for my Aldabras, not sure if this makes a difference but hoping to keep humidity high.

Attached is a picture of my sulcata, his name is Rocky.

Thanks in advance for any input! View attachment 367027View attachment 367028View attachment 367029View attachment 367030

Outside all day is bad for babies. Climate doesn't matter. This is true in their native range in captive conditions. I've done several side by side comparisons with groups of clutch mates to verify this fact.

We've had several Florida members that watch YT videos from a certain YT personality down there that were housing them outside, and after I convinced them to move the baby inside, they could not believe the difference. Its happened several times now.

Keep babies indoors in a warm humid closed chamber. My general rule of thumb is an hour of outside time per inch of tortoise, and I move them outside full time with a heated shelter at around 10-12 inches. Once they are around 6 inches, I'll leave them outside most of each day in good weather, but I still have them sleep inside in their closed chambers.

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[wellington]

That looks like the same enclosure you posted for the two Aldabras. They for sure can not be kept with a sulcata.