Nibs
Member
- Joined
- Dec 15, 2015
- Messages
- 63
Hello all,
I was looking for some advice please on the transition of moving my sulcata's from their totally indoor enclosure to an outdoor space on a more permanent basis.
I have two Sulcata's, both two and a half years old, one 7" and the other 8". At the moment they live inside the house, in two large closed chambers and they have supervised time outside as often as I can manage it for grazing, exercise and sunlight but are never left alone as the garden fencing needs to be changed first to ensure they cannot escape. So far mine have not been out of the house for more than an hour in one stint as after that time their underside starts to feel cold and so I bring them in and back into their indoor enclosure to go under the heat lamp, as advised by the breeder I got them from.
Having just moved into a new house, my priority for the new year is to get the garden and outbuilding sorted for them ready for the Spring and for them to spend significantly more time outside than they are able to currently.
Long term, they have a large space to roam in and there is a large garage (which will be insulated and heated) that they will have for indoor space for the winter especially and which will contain two hide areas for them as night shelters. (If any of that does not sound suitable for adults, please shout and I will make adjustments accordingly!).
I am unsure how to handle the transition between the two scenarios and would like your advice please. As a starter, I am looking to build an enclosure asap within the garden that gives them plenty of space with access to a heated house with their lamps etc but all on a smaller scale than they will have as adults simply due to the scale of work meaning I will need to do it in stages - but I have quite a few questions in relation to this:
- are they old enough now to have free access to an outdoor enclosure? I was originally advised to keep them inside until they were five, only letting them out for small runs. All the other advice I received from that source has proven to be debatable, so I am hoping this might be too as they love to be outside.
- would I need to start building up the time they spend outside first, or can they go straight from one environment to the other?
- do people close their torts into the night shelter at night or do they have free access all the time to come and go as they please?
- in terms of security, I am at work all day and so they will be alone from 9-5. For the small enclosure, I was intending to fit a top to the enclosure initially to they are safe from birds. At what kind of size does the risk of damage diminish enough that people do not worry about that type of thing?
- my neighbour has spotted a rat in his garden. Has anyone experienced problems with torts and rats at all, and is there any special precautions they suggest I should therefore take into account for this when building the enclosure?
Any advice would be much appreciated (I am UK based if that affects your responses due to the weather etc!). Sorry this rather turned into an essay.....
Thanks,
E
I was looking for some advice please on the transition of moving my sulcata's from their totally indoor enclosure to an outdoor space on a more permanent basis.
I have two Sulcata's, both two and a half years old, one 7" and the other 8". At the moment they live inside the house, in two large closed chambers and they have supervised time outside as often as I can manage it for grazing, exercise and sunlight but are never left alone as the garden fencing needs to be changed first to ensure they cannot escape. So far mine have not been out of the house for more than an hour in one stint as after that time their underside starts to feel cold and so I bring them in and back into their indoor enclosure to go under the heat lamp, as advised by the breeder I got them from.
Having just moved into a new house, my priority for the new year is to get the garden and outbuilding sorted for them ready for the Spring and for them to spend significantly more time outside than they are able to currently.
Long term, they have a large space to roam in and there is a large garage (which will be insulated and heated) that they will have for indoor space for the winter especially and which will contain two hide areas for them as night shelters. (If any of that does not sound suitable for adults, please shout and I will make adjustments accordingly!).
I am unsure how to handle the transition between the two scenarios and would like your advice please. As a starter, I am looking to build an enclosure asap within the garden that gives them plenty of space with access to a heated house with their lamps etc but all on a smaller scale than they will have as adults simply due to the scale of work meaning I will need to do it in stages - but I have quite a few questions in relation to this:
- are they old enough now to have free access to an outdoor enclosure? I was originally advised to keep them inside until they were five, only letting them out for small runs. All the other advice I received from that source has proven to be debatable, so I am hoping this might be too as they love to be outside.
- would I need to start building up the time they spend outside first, or can they go straight from one environment to the other?
- do people close their torts into the night shelter at night or do they have free access all the time to come and go as they please?
- in terms of security, I am at work all day and so they will be alone from 9-5. For the small enclosure, I was intending to fit a top to the enclosure initially to they are safe from birds. At what kind of size does the risk of damage diminish enough that people do not worry about that type of thing?
- my neighbour has spotted a rat in his garden. Has anyone experienced problems with torts and rats at all, and is there any special precautions they suggest I should therefore take into account for this when building the enclosure?
Any advice would be much appreciated (I am UK based if that affects your responses due to the weather etc!). Sorry this rather turned into an essay.....
Thanks,
E