Feral Cat House for outdoor tortoise?

Mrs_Gal1981

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I was wondering if anyone here has ever used one of these feral cat houses to house an outdoor tortoise? https://www.chewy.com/new-age-pet-e...mtzsOPgQV10FmpuhOyOBKKfp-VPmvjC8aAgomEALw_wcB

We have a red footed tortoise who had a wonderful set up outside but unfortunately the heated house my husband built for him didn't survive the elements this past winter and although we still have his enclosure out there to hang out on warm days during the day, he has a temporary house in a big container inside. I keep searching for any information to see if anyone has ever done this before. The house seems perfect for outdoor and the elements, as it is insulated and the perfect size, we'd just modify it by sealing the window, adding a flap door, a CHE, humidifier, etc.

Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated. He's a healthy cherry head red footed tortoise about 2-3 years old.
 

wellington

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I didn't see where it said it was insulated. However if it is, and you seal up the one window/door I don't see why it wouldn't work.
But, a tortoise should not live outside 24/7 until it is big enough. Usually the best way to keep them is a closed chamber with correct temps and humidity until they are around 10 inches long. Daily trips outside when it is warm is okay.
Check out the redfoot section care sheet.
 

Mrs_Gal1981

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I didn't see where it said it was insulated. However if it is, and you seal up the one window/door I don't see why it wouldn't work.
But, a tortoise should not live outside 24/7 until it is big enough. Usually the best way to keep them is a closed chamber with correct temps and humidity until they are around 10 inches long. Daily trips outside when it is warm is okay.
Check out the redfoot section care sheet.

Thank you, and you're right. I could have sworn this one was insulated but I must have mixed it with another listing I saw. Wondering if we could add insulation as well then. My husband is a handyman but the first one he built from scratch was initially built to keep inside, then we saw how happy he was outside (the heated house was inside a predator-proof enclosed outdoor area so he's not roaming around the entire yard). I started looking into this one because I figured if it's weatherproof we could just modify the inside (insulation, heat, humidity) for the tortoise. He was out there for about a year and did great. Besides predator-proofing his whole outdoor area too we also added a pet cam inside his house so we'd monitor him and the thermostat constantly, but like i said, the actual heated house wasn't built properly and now we want to start over, but maybe not from scratch, but using one of these. I have also seen the insulated dog houses (those are indeed insulated I just checked) but their doors are too big and their ceilings higher, so I'm afraid they'd be harder to keep warm even with a flap.

I'm just shopping around and trying to look at our options.
 

Tom

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This is another potential one, also no insulation so that would be added as well. And we'd bury the legs to lower the door.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N2W3I87/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20
Both options are much too small. There needs to be enough room to contain the necessary heating elements, but still leave enough room for the tortoise to get off of the heat. CHEs are not a good way to heat larger tortoises in outdoor enclosures, and this problem would be amplified in a tiny house like the ones you are looking at,

Here is the way to do it:

And half of this option would do it too:

I've got a 4x4 with a 400 watt radiant oil heater inside, and that works too.
 

wellington

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What Tom said about size is correct for an adult. I didn't pay attention to the size of it. For the size/age he is now it should work for a few years but then you would have to get another larger one.
With lumber being so expensive right now, it is slowly coming down, you might want to way it out whether better to buy now the one pictured and build later or put all the money into building and only doing it once.
 

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