Big Enough?

[Dashiell Hunter]

Hi, I'm new here, and I have been wanting a Russian Tortoise for awhile now, and I have a wooden "cage" of sorts that was made to hold a snake, but never happened. It is 2 feet deep, 2 feet tall, and 4 feet long. Is this big enough to keep a Russian Tortoise indoors during the cooler half of the years?

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Hello, Dashiell and a very warm welcome to Tortoise Forum.
The minimum enclosure size for a Russian, other than a tiny hatchling, would be 4 feet by 8 feet.
They are a very active species and patrol huge territories in the wild.
Check out the care sheet for confirmation .
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
Sorry.

 

[Tom]

I think its too small for an adult russian too.

 

[Dashiell Hunter]

ok, so this is understandable. however, one of the sides of the cage is removable, to make it easier for setup and cleaning. The removable side is the front of the cage, so one of the 2x4 feet longs sides. If I remove those side and make an addition, lets say, another 4 feet, so the cage would become 2 feet tall, 4 feet wide and 4 feet long, is this an appropriate size for an adult Russian tortoise?

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

No, I'm afraid not.
4 foot by 8 foot,would be the minimum recommended size.

 

[Dashiell Hunter]

ok, but the addition onto the cage would allow it to be the recommended size if I added 6 more feet? and it's not too tall or anything else like that?

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

If your extended enclosure would be 4 feet by four feet floor area, you'd need to double the size, extend it by another four feet.
It needs to be moderately tall at the sides as Russians are great climbers and you need room to support the lights at the correct height.
High sided enclosures, when covered, also help to retain humidity.

 

[Dashiell Hunter]

ok, thanks for all of your help, I'll get on it as soon as possible. Thanks so much!

 

[popeye tortoise]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Dashiell, and welcome to the Forum!