anothermamablog
New Member
Greetings Tortoise Forum!
I am seeking advice about housing a Tunisian tortoise outdoors. I do not have one yet, I am simply in the enclosure planning stage. I live in a southern CA city on the coast that thankfully has a similar climate to Tunisia, so I think a Tunisian tortoise would do well outside here (where we live does not get as moist as the actual coastal towns-- we are more inland so it's drier and sunnier).
However, I live on a canyon where there are owls, hawks, coyotes, foxes, and raccoons. I was wondering if I could create a safe enclosed garden space within our 5 ft fenced off front yard. We have two dogs that scare off animals from the front yard during the day (the wild animals also don't venture in at night-- at least very rarely, because the dogs will bark-- my husband has trail cameras set up to see where the wildlife roams at night, and they're usually outside the fence).
There is also tree cover over the front yard as well (sunlight is still plentiful and all year round). Long story short-- could it be a good idea to let the little tortoise roam in a large garden enclosure during the day, and then lock him safely up at night in a smaller pen with a lid? Could it be small, such as 2x4 ft, just for nighttime? Or would it be better to just have him in a garden bed type enclosure (6x2 for example) with a lid 24/7? Or inside the house in a 6x2 turtle table? I get conflicting info about size, but Chris from Garden State Tortoise did say that Tunisians have the same requirements as Egyptians, and 6x2 was recommended for one Egyptian tortoise. He did email me that he thought the Tunisian would be happy outside.
Sorry for the novel! I have been researching and watching youtube videos (G.S.T. especially), but it's hard to find specific information for housing the small Testudos outdoors specifically and I deeply appreciate any help!
I am seeking advice about housing a Tunisian tortoise outdoors. I do not have one yet, I am simply in the enclosure planning stage. I live in a southern CA city on the coast that thankfully has a similar climate to Tunisia, so I think a Tunisian tortoise would do well outside here (where we live does not get as moist as the actual coastal towns-- we are more inland so it's drier and sunnier).
However, I live on a canyon where there are owls, hawks, coyotes, foxes, and raccoons. I was wondering if I could create a safe enclosed garden space within our 5 ft fenced off front yard. We have two dogs that scare off animals from the front yard during the day (the wild animals also don't venture in at night-- at least very rarely, because the dogs will bark-- my husband has trail cameras set up to see where the wildlife roams at night, and they're usually outside the fence).
There is also tree cover over the front yard as well (sunlight is still plentiful and all year round). Long story short-- could it be a good idea to let the little tortoise roam in a large garden enclosure during the day, and then lock him safely up at night in a smaller pen with a lid? Could it be small, such as 2x4 ft, just for nighttime? Or would it be better to just have him in a garden bed type enclosure (6x2 for example) with a lid 24/7? Or inside the house in a 6x2 turtle table? I get conflicting info about size, but Chris from Garden State Tortoise did say that Tunisians have the same requirements as Egyptians, and 6x2 was recommended for one Egyptian tortoise. He did email me that he thought the Tunisian would be happy outside.
Sorry for the novel! I have been researching and watching youtube videos (G.S.T. especially), but it's hard to find specific information for housing the small Testudos outdoors specifically and I deeply appreciate any help!
