How big do they have to be to leave them outside

[carrilac]

I'm in the process of bringing home 2 sub adult redfoots. They are 5 and 5.5 inches. My small back yard is tortoise proof, and I would like to let the tortoises outdoors during the day and inside at night. My only concern is over predators. I'm in an urban part of San Diego but I occasionally see crows, hawks and herrings. How big do you think the tortoises should be before I let them run around unattended? I mostly see crows does anyone have any info about them?

 

[Laura]

You might have Ravens down there as well. they would be more worriesom.. and Raccoons.
Coyotes...
Not sure about safe size for unattended.. can you make a covered area?

 

[carrilac]

I will definitely do whatever it takes to keep them safe! We don't have raccoons this far west and south (I've never seen one anyway). I occasionally see coyotes, but we have a block wall around our property. I'm mostly scared of things that fly and the neighbor’s cat. I've only seen 2 hawks since I've been in my current home and was thrilled at the time to see wildlife- now it scares me!

 

[dmmj]

The rule of thumb used to be if the were to big for a bird to tip over they were safe. How big is that though? recently in california desert tortoises have been tipped over that are now larger in sizze thanks to teams of birds working together to tip them over, Tortoises that were once thought to big to be tipped over are now being tipped over eaten and killed. I would suggest you using your own judgement, do you think your torts are to big to tip over easily then let them stay outside, if not then don't yet. I would not worry about hawks as far as I know they dont prey on torts. Another solution would be to make a cold storage frame and cover it with netting of some type, to prevent turtles from being predated on by crows and their like, I hope this helps and enjoy your torts.

 

[jtpaintball5]

Hey Carrilac,
I'm from San Diego too. My buddy has a few Sulcata's and DT's that around 5 inches as well. He built this awesome pin about three feet tall and about six by six then just covered it with a small chicken wire type metal fencing nailed to a wood frame. He does that because of the Red Tailed Hawks and any predators trying to snack on our little rocky friends. It looks awesome predator safe. I'm sure you can search "outdoor enclosures" in GOOGLE images and get an idea of pins. Best of luck...