Hatching enclosure size

Hello was considering getting a leopard tortoise however I don't think I provide adequate space when it reaches adulthood. So I've decided on a Cherry Head. I have a 15x9 room I where I am planing to build its enclosure that would be U- shaped and run along the perimeter of the room. I would like to make the enclosure as big as I can, but my only concern is there any pitfalls in having a large enclosure besides the increases maintenance? The enclosure size would roughly be 50sq feet. Would it be too large for baby tortoise?

Thanks,
Dean

@Toddrickfl1 is a redfoot keeper he may be able to help.
Issue I see is being able to cover such a large enclosure, I would be a almost impossible to do indoors. The most important thing for a hatching cherry head is warmth and humidity so whatever you build will need to be a closed chamber so you can maintain a constant temperate and high humidity.

No issue with large enclosures. There's no limit to how large one should be. We all have different ways of doing things and that depends on our location. I'm in the north east US so heat and humidity are a challenge most months of the year. My enclosure is a closed chamber for this reason. The only openings are the sliding glass when I choose to get the tortoises out/perform cleaning and maintenance.

I think you have it pinned down well by saying it may be difficult to maintain the environmental parameters for the tortoise. I like to provide them options. I do this by keeping the cool, dark side at 80ºF and the warm, bright side at 85ºF with a basking location of 100-110ºF. Humidity is held at 70%. This is easy to do in a 13.5 x 3.5 foot linear gradient, but a U-shape may present different challenges to this. Just use some creativity and I'm sure it will work out.

Just FYI do not do well on a open top tortoise table. Use a storage box. 48x20. This way you can create hot and warm spot. Also the plastic box can contain best humidity amount as the hatching needed.

DeanD said:

Hello was considering getting a leopard tortoise however I don't think I provide adequate space when it reaches adulthood. So I've decided on a Cherry Head. I have a 15x9 room I where I am planing to build its enclosure that would be U- shaped and run along the perimeter of the room. I would like to make the enclosure as big as I can, but my only concern is there any pitfalls in having a large enclosure besides the increases maintenance? The enclosure size would roughly be 50sq feet. Would it be too large for baby tortoise?

Thanks,
Dean

Click to expand...

Humidity is crucial for a hatchling, a really large space is not. If it were me I'd set up a small tote closed chamber for the first 2yrs. You can get one really cheap and modify it for your lights and heat source. Once your hatchling has grown a bit and is past the fragile hatchling stage humidity is not as important. You then could get away with something that's an open top. Hatchlings will spend the majority of their time sleeping and hiding anyway. Adults are more active.