Hi I have 2 sulcata tortoises that are almost 2 years old, they never use to do this, but now they are pacing back and forth in their enclosure. They are separated so I have 2 75 gallon tanks I have the hot side between 90-95 depending on the day, cool side between 78-80, in the middle it's usually 82-84. I am using 160 watt mega Ray UVB and 75 watt basking light due due cold weather out here in Northern California definitely not there environment, on the cool side I use a red exo terra 150 watt for one and 100 watt for the the other due to the location of the room. One area is more warm than the other. I've never really had an issue, but lately they would wake me up at a certain time 1 hour before I would turn their lights on, so at night I have a heater going on to bring up the temperature otherwise the temp. will go down the 70s which I am not comfortable with but the warm side at night is usually 80-82 and the cool side would go down to at least 73 sometimes depending if I leave the door open a little bit. Sorry for the long thread but they are becoming restless and I am thing they need a bigger enclosure. They are approximately 9 1/2 to 10 inches in length not sure about weight currently I do not have a scale.
Pacing sulcata tortoises 2 years old
- Thread starter Sina209
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Nice and a half to ten inches is a tortoise that's plenty big enough to live outside with a heated shed or dog house. This summer you need to be building something for them so they can live outside. Many people keep sulcatas where the weather is very cold in the winter. All you need is a heated shed or dog house.
In the meantime, can you set them up in the basement or in a room where they can have more space?
In the meantime, can you set them up in the basement or in a room where they can have more space?
On of the characteristics of sulcata is that they pace their perimeter. If they had more room they would still pace. That being said, at 10 inches in length yours are ready to move outside full time. There are several good examples of heated boxes in the Enclosure Section that can accommodate them through your winter months.
Here is my favorite night box design: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-66867.html
Of course you may need to build two of these to house your tortoises separately, but maybe not. I have only one so I am not experienced with this.
Here is my favorite night box design: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-66867.html
Of course you may need to build two of these to house your tortoises separately, but maybe not. I have only one so I am not experienced with this.
Dizisdalife said:
The only problem where I live is it is cold most of the time only 1-2 months is hot enough to leave them outside here. Is there other alternatives because I think a heated shed is out of my budget right now. But I was thinking of still building them an indoor enclosure but just way bigger I think that to me would be more realistic for my budget until I save money to do that heated shed. I would love to leave them outside though. But i think for each enclosure I will build a 70 by 62 I think is enough because currently they are in a big bedroom so I can build 2 of those? What do you guys think.
70x62 is an improvement, but still not big enough for tortoises that size. They need room to roam in a safe temperature controlled enclosure. What will you do when they get bigger?
Tom said:
We'll I guess I'm taking it day by day but as of right now that's all I could afford, I suppose I could make it bigger than that but I think they will be ok until I get money to make them a more appropriate enclosure for indoor as well as outdoor. But it's better than the 75 gallon tank that I have for them.
The rule with sulcata is bigger is better. I don't have an answer for your climate. My climate is just the opposite of yours. There is only 2 months of the year that the weather isn't nice. When my sulcata was the size of yours he was already living outside. Some of our members live in cold weather climates and have devoted a garage, basement, or spare bedroom to their sulcata. Not something that I would want to do, but they seem to be satisfied with it. I am hoping they will chime in. If not, then maybe you could start a new thread to specifically address keeping large sulcata in cold climates. Try searching for topics like that before you start a new on. I seem to remember one not too long ago.
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Hello and welcome to the TFO
You will need to heat the entire enclosure for this tropical species. A closed chamber will make this much easier and cheaper. Like this: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-32333.html
