Indoor to Outdoor transition?

[kansas77]

For the first year or two, is it a bad idea to raise a tortoise (from hatchling state) strictly indoors provided it receives a healthy diet and the recommended setup?

What species might be best? It seems some species of tortoises arent recommended to buy as hatchlings unless you are very experienced. I'm not sure which do better indoors at young age, and would it be too dramatic of a change to transition it into an outdoor setup at age 1 or 2 once I have the right space?

 

[kansas77]

Just curious if anyone has ever done anything like this and if so did it seem happy and healthy long term?

 

[alysciaingram]

I had my tortoise indoors when I first purchased her. I took her out regularly in my yard though. She's 7in now and lives outside mostly. On cooler nights I bring her to the patio and have a small set up with a heated area. She Grew quickly and became rather restless when she didn't get outdoor time. If you can provide a healthy habitat indoors for the time being, with adequate room and temps, then I would say go for it. However if you plan on keeping the tort in a small enclosure for 2 years I would suggest waiting until you move to an area where you can build an outdoor enclosure. Hope this helps.

 

[Tom]

I wouldn't recommend "strictly" indoors for any species, assuming that by "strictly" you mean it never goes outside. It CAN be done. It HAS been done, but I don't like it and wouldn't advise anyone else to do it.

I prefer to house them "primarily" indoors for the first year or two, BUT with daily excursions in a proper outdoor enclosure made to suit the species, size and current weather. At first my hatchlings only go outside for an hour or so, but as they gain size I like to leave them out longer and longer until eventually, they spend all day outside every day, and just come in at night to sleep. Once they get big enough, I move them outside permanently with an appropriate heated house. This strategy has worked very well for me over the years.