5 x 5 outdoor enclosure

[DoctorPotterWho]

Hi, everyone. We were in the process of building our little Cherry Head Red Foot tortoise, Flash, an outdoor enclosure. He was fighting with a very bad upper resp. infection and succumbed to it, unfortunately, sometime in the middle of the night =( We are going to continue building the enclosure however with the hopes of adopting a tortoise around a year or two who, at that age, tend to be a bit more hearty. What size tort would do best in a 5 x 5 enclosure and up to how big? We want to stick with the Cherry's.

I am going to be mixing Organic soil with some Orchid bark for soil. I am attaching the pictures below. I am in south Florida so it stays relatively hot here. During the cold season it very rarely will go to high 30's, but I plan on bringing him in during the cold times (out during the day for the sunshine).

I have a small area in the enclosure that stays relatively shaded around 1pm or so and on due to the side of the house. I plan on placing a hide box on that side with a little spagmoss. I also want to place one on the other end which is exposed to a lot of sun light. I want to place some spagmoss in it so it stays warm/humid. I also plan on doing two water areas. I will upload the plans I drew out as well. The dimensions are off because we originally planned on a smaller area, but decided to do the 5 x 5 for now.

Also, we will be placing a top over the enclosure which consists of wood and chicken wire with 3 locks to ensure nothing can get in. =)

 

[Yvonne G]

So sorry to hear about your tortoise. That's bad news, indeed.

I'm having trouble picturing 5x5 in my mind. What I'm seeing seems too small for a full grown tortoise of any species. It would be ok for a baby for a couple years. Maybe a box turtle? They're an awful lot of fun.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Hi, again.
Bigger is always better.
You seem to have a lot of space available, why stop at 5' by 5' ?
As much space as you can spare would be best., that's too small.

 

[DoctorPotterWho]

We will be moving in probably a year so we figured while it was still growing we could offer some type of outdoor that could convert to a garden box for a new buyer. Will this not work at all for a 1 year ol

 

[JoesMum]

We will be moving in probably a year so we figured while it was still growing we could offer some type of outdoor that could convert to a garden box for a new buyer. Will this not work at all for a 1 year ol

This is 25 square feet. The minimum recommended is 4'x8' = 32 square feet. So it is on the small side.

 

[DoctorPotterWho]

So sorry to hear about your tortoise. That's bad news, indeed.

I'm having trouble picturing 5x5 in my mind. What I'm seeing seems too small for a full grown tortoise of any species. It would be ok for a baby for a couple years. Maybe a box turtle? They're an awful lot of fun.

Thank you!

Those are cute tortoises to I look them up do they do pretty well in the Florida temperature?

 

[SarahChelonoidis]

I don't see an issue with keeping one juvenile cherry head in this size enclosure. Bigger is better, but for a temporary home and a tortoise <5", it should be fine.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

We will be moving in probably a year so we figured while it was still growing we could offer some type of outdoor that could convert to a garden box for a new buyer. Will this not work at all for a 1 year ol

It'll work, yeah, not ideal, tort won't be super happy, but for a year less the time spent indoors, it's not going to kill it.
Any bigger you can make it would be super, but this would suffice to begin, in my opinion, for a little one.

 

[Tom]

Babies of any species should not be kept outside full-time in my opinion. I have experimented a lot with this, and watch the results of other people's experiment, and outside all day tends to create problems. It seems like that might be what happened to your last baby.

Ideally, they will have a well-designed large indoor enclosure where they spend most of their time, and during nice weather they can go outside for an hour or two in a large enclosure like what you have planned. As the baby gains size I leave them out longer and longer during the day, but I don't like to leave them outside overnight until they are at least 6 to 8 inches. When I do finally leave them outside overnight, they have a temperature controlled night box to sleep in where I can close them up securely to make sure they can't get out and nothing can get in.

 

[DoctorPotterWho]

Thank you all. I am thinking my husband is going to have a heart attack after he hears that haha, but I want to make sure it's perfect for whichever tort we adopt. I am thinking I could add an extension on this one and have an opening into another enclosure right next to it. It could be a project down the road while the tort is still small.

 

[DoctorPotterWho]

Babies of any species should not be kept outside full-time in my opinion. I have experimented a lot with this, and watch the results of other people's experiment, and outside all day tends to create problems. It seems like that might be what happened to your last baby.

Ideally, they will have a well-designed large indoor enclosure where they spend most of their time, and during nice weather they can go outside for an hour or two in a large enclosure like what you have planned. As the baby gains size I leave them out longer and longer during the day, but I don't like to leave them outside overnight until they are at least 6 to 8 inches. When I do finally leave them outside overnight, they have a temperature controlled night box to sleep in where I can close them up securely to make sure they can't get out and nothing can get in.

My baby was kept inside and only outside for about 30 minutes to an hour. I think what happened to ours was too much humidity and not high enough temps.

I think what will be best is to add on to this enclosure to make it adequate for an adult tort.

 

[Yvonne G]

We will be moving in probably a year so we figured while it was still growing we could offer some type of outdoor that could convert to a garden box for a new buyer. Will this not work at all for a 1 year ol

Yes, it will be fine for a yearling.

 

[Yvonne G]

Thank you!

Those are cute tortoises to I look them up do they do pretty well in the Florida temperature?

Yes, they do great in Florida. Some of the sub species are even native to Florida.

 

[DoctorPotterWho]

Yes, they do great in Florida. Some of the sub species are even native to Florida.

Thank you! I am going to drop the bomb on my husband first when he gets home about expanding the enclosure haha. It may be another month until it's ready or more, but when we are ready I am going to look into those. Can't go wrong with a Florida species, I'd imagine

 

[DoctorPotterWho]

This is 25 square feet. The minimum recommended is 4'x8' = 32 square feet. So it is on the small side.

Thank you! Some how I missed your post!! We are definitely going to expand it. Hopefully I can get it to longer than 8 feet. I am thinking of adding an 8 foot extension to the 5 foot, so that would work =)

 

[DoctorPotterWho]

Okay, so the plan is to add a 5 x 8 addition to the already 5 x 5 enclosure. This should amount to a 13 x 5 enclosure =)

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Okay, so the plan is to add a 5 x 8 addition to the already 5 x 5 enclosure. This should amount to a 13 x 5 enclosure =)

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But like Tom says, be careful with outdoor time if you get a real youngster.
Older ones are a bit easier.

 

[DoctorPotterWho]

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But like Tom says, be careful with outdoor time if you get a real youngster.
Older ones are a bit easier.

We have decided to try and find an adult, preferably one that someone is putting up for adoption and is used to being outdoors =)

 

[mike taylor]

So sorry to hear about your tortoise. That's bad news, indeed.

I'm having trouble picturing 5x5 in my mind. What I'm seeing seems too small for a full grown tortoise of any species. It would be ok for a baby for a couple years. Maybe a box turtle? They're an awful lot of fun.

I would have to agree with Yvonne. A little on the small size for a tortoise. But a box turtle would love an 8/8 foot enclosure. They are little characters. I wasn't interested in keeping them for a long time . But some came in by ways of rescue. I was trying to regime them . But the wife loved them so I have three . To be honest they are awesome. Very inquisitive little guys . Boy can they hunt down some bugs .

 

[DoctorPotterWho]

I would have to agree with Yvonne. A little on the small size for a tortoise. But a box turtle would love an 8/8 foot enclosure. They are little characters. I wasn't interested in keeping them for a long time . But some came in by ways of rescue. I was trying to regime them . But the wife loved them so I have three . To be honest they are awesome. Very inquisitive little guys . Boy can they hunt down some bugs .

How are they compared to the red's? We really liked how the red's come to you when you call their name. That they are very social. Too funny that they hunt down bugs. That would be awesome to watch!!