Appropriate Tortoise Housing?

[chazneeka]

Hello everyone,

I'm looking to possibly get a Russian Tortoise and have been doing a lot of research into their care and housing.

To give a little background...I'm currently living in my parents house, and will need "approval" before adding a pet to the household (yes I'm over 18). And since they are buggers regarding pets I will need to strike while the iron is hot (currently my mom is wanting a turtle/tortoise so the opportunity has arisen). Please don't comment on the living situation. The tortoise will be well cared for and when I get out of their house there is no danger of it being rehomed I will make sure I can provide for it properly where ever I may move. I am prepared and able to care for it for the duration of its life (or at least mine lol). And I do not take pet ownership lightly. That being said....

If I get one it will be going into a temporary habitat while I build/find one that is more ideal. My question is this...would a cage for a guinea pig/ferret/rabbit (of an appropriate size of course) be a suitable temporary housing? It will be newly bought so there will be no issues with prior residents. The ones I'm looking at have about a 6-8 inch deep "tray" that would hold the substrate, I just want to make sure the bars of the cage as well as the open air concept (proper heat and basking lamp will be provided of course) of the cage wouldn't be unhealthy for the tortoise. I would assume since I've seen numerous sources that say the open air is better than an aquarium enclosure (and I've seen and encountered a number of outdoor enclosures made of chainlink) that this would be safe but I wanted a more experienced opinion before I make any decisions.

Thanks all!

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi chazneeka:

Welcome to the Tortoise Forum!!

I'm not a fan of those cages. I don't think they're big enough. Your best bet would be a used 5 shelf book case with the shelves removed and lined with plastic.

What would you like us to call you?

...and may we know appx. where in the world you are?

 

[chazneeka]

Call me Chaz. I live in Michigan.

Nearly everything I've seen has said an appropriate (maybe not ideal but appropriate) enclosure size is 48 inches x 18 inches for a full grown adult. My intention is to have an appropriate tortoise table of some sort built long before any tortoise I get reaches full size. The cage I'm looking at is 48x24. Would this still be an inappropriate size for a juvenile tortoise?

Thank you for your reply! Also while I'm at it I've heard of people housing hermit crabs and russians in the same enclosure. Anyone have any input on that?

Hi chazneeka:

Welcome to the Tortoise Forum!!

I'm not a fan of those cages. I don't think they're big enough. Your best bet would be a used 5 shelf book case with the shelves removed and lined with plastic.

What would you like us to call you?

...and may we know appx. where in the world you are?

 

[JoesMum]

Hello and welcome

Russians like to roam and need lots of space. Given the need to rig lighting and heat, a cage doesn't sound the most suitable accommodation. A second hand book case without it's shelves is cheap, if not free, and makes an ideal enclosure. Line it with heavy duty polythene... or as I do, a piece of pond liner.

 

[Laura]

my one male is in a 4x 8 area, outside, and he cruises the entire thing..
Since not all tortoises do well with change and moves.. I'd build what you want Before you get the animal
and not do the smaller temporary one then build another one.
And if your mom is wanting one.... will this not be Her tortoise? Will she let you you take HER tortoise when you move out?
Russians are great . good choice.

 

[Blakem]

I am commenting on the parent thing. I too live at home. You are lucky that they are wanting one! At first, my mother was grossed out by my Russian, now she asks about him things like "did you put your "turtle" outside yet?" or "does he need more water". Now I think they like him.
I started out with a tank that was too small (36x10) and upgraded to a 3x3, which is still not large enough. I then had the privilege to build an outside enclosure. Thankfully, bc no matter how much I took my Russian out, it was obvious that he hated the size of his tank. He wouldn't eat much, he would dig and scratch at his tank, and then fall asleep, wake up and do it again.
Good luck!

 

[jlb1077]

I have mine in a dog swimming pool!!! It's easy to clean, maintain & cheap!!!

 

[chazneeka]

Laura, she wants one but I can guarantee that after a few months she won't give a rip about it. She just likes turtles. So, I would be the one funding this little adventure and taking care of it and it would be my baby. Her wanting one just gives me the door I've been waiting for to get it.

OK I've got another question. And I'm not trying to be argumentative just trying to understand and learn. But I've seen a large number of posts (a number of them were here on this forum) saying that a 50 or so gallon rubbermaid type tote is an acceptable home. The potential habitats that I'm looking at if I were to get a tortoise are significantly larger than a tote of this size. So why would what I'm looking at be less acceptable and a 50 gallon tote be more acceptable? 4x2 feet at the smallest (not TOTALLY ideal but I would think a pretty good start...especially for a juvenile that will probably be around 4 or so inches) and some even larger than that.

I've thought about a swimming/kiddie pool too but due to climate the tortoise would be in the house the majority of the time (outings in warm weather and eventually an permanent outdoor habitat for during the summer of course) and I just don't think a pool will fly...I can just about guarantee that the response would be...."Thats just tacky...there is no way." LOL Otherwise that was one of the first things I thought about...and still a possiblity if I "pretty it up."

 

[Tom]

The minimum size enclosure recommended is going to depend on the size and species of tortoise. A baby leopard will do fine in a 48x24' to start with, or a 50 gallon tote. But a juvenile Russian is going to be a lot more active and have that "wanderlust". The bigger the better is all I'm saying.

What I don't like about those guinea pig cages for a tortoise is that by the time you put 3-4" of substrate in them so your Russian can burrow, they can stand up and reach the rim and pull themselves up. I guess that wouldn't be the end of the world, but they could then fall and land on their back or pop one of those cheap welds and escape. I had a small monitor lizard pop the welds on a cage like that.

I get what you are saying about getting it quick before the parents have time to think about it and change their minds. The simple and cheapest solution is to just go pay $15 or $20 and get a big plastic tote to put him in and then get super busy building an outdoor pen since its nearly summer. Once the outdoor pen is finished, you can knock out whatever indoor enclosure you think will work for you. If your new tort spends most of everyday outside in something big, it won't be a big deal for it to sleep in a smaller enclosure inside over night.

Click the top link in my signature and see if you don't find something helpful there.

 

[chazneeka]

Thank you. I've got the bigger the better part. I'm just trying to find something adequate and healthy and determine if this type of pet is really doable and want to understand all sides/ups/downs/etc. I want one very very very badly but won't compromise its quality of life just because I want one. Your comments on the guinea pig cage are something that I hadn't thought about. I had thought about them being able to hook their foot/claws over the side of it and climb up but not about them being able to pop the welds.

The kiddie pool idea got me thinking about sand boxes I'm looking at one right now that is 16 inches high and 4 foot x 4 foot. Just another option for me to think about.

If I seem argumentative or like I'm trying to convince myself or anyone else that a "smaller" habitat is healthy or OK that's totally not the case. Like I said I'm trying to determine if this is a "doable" pet for me. And how can I learn and understand without asking the questions?

I've been doing to exact same thing regarding red eared sliders.

 

[Tom]

The sand box sounds like it work work great, but don't forget to focus on the outdoor housing too.