Central Florida - Indoor - Advice

[goldcoin93]

I live in Central Florida. After doing some research, I noticed that one of the most commons mistakes is not having enough humidity (80%) in the enclosure for Red-Footed tortoise and other species. Our AC is running around 72-69 F from 6pm-7pm to 6am-7am. After that the house is kept at 76 F.

Is it suitable to keep a red footed or even other specie in an indoor space? Will this habitat work? If not, could you please point me in the right direction?

What other things should I be keeping in mind? I know care varies between species, but in general terms what is suggested?

Would you suggest against having an indoor tortoise pet? Keep in mind that we have around a 7x5 space where we can place the habitat.

We could place the tortoise enclosure outside in a small patio but in the future since it is accessible by anyone and we are planning on putting a screen. We do some lawn space on the side of the house where I keep raised bed gardens.

 

[SinLA]

@ZEROPILOT

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

I live in Central Florida. After doing some research, I noticed that one of the most commons mistakes is not having enough humidity (80%) in the enclosure for Red-Footed tortoise and other species. Our AC is running around 72-69 F from 6pm-7pm to 6am-7am. After that the house is kept at 76 F.

Is it suitable to keep a red footed or even other specie in an indoor space? Will this habitat work? If not, could you please point me in the right direction?

What other things should I be keeping in mind? I know care varies between species, but in general terms what is suggested?

Would you suggest against having an indoor tortoise pet? Keep in mind that we have around a 7x5 space where we can place the habitat.

We could place the tortoise enclosure outside in a small patio but in the future since it is accessible by anyone and we are planning on putting a screen. We do some lawn space on the side of the house where I keep raised bed gardens.

You’ll need a CHE/CHE’s to raise the entire enclosure to an ambient temperature range of 80-84 24/7, some people use a floodlight during the day and the CHE’s at night, red foots aren’t technically a basking species, though some do it, so just depends on your preference really, we’ve personally opted for the CHE’s running 24/7, her temps are all in the 80’s throughout the viv, then we have a LED strip running on a 12hr cycle and her UV on a 4hr timer from noonish till 4🙂to maintain their high humidity requirements it’s definitely recommended to go with an enclosed chamber, it’ll be a constant battle otherwise, I think the most cost effective set ups people go with, is your standard tortoise table design, lined with either a quality shower curtain or a pond liner(I’d personally recommend pond liner)to protect the base, then some sort of ‘greenhouse’ style covering, people have said they hold both the heat and humidity well, your house sounds warm enough that will be no issue with the heating elements running😊we personally have ours in a large melamine viv because our house gets deathly cold in our winters, I think a greenhouse set up may have struggled at times. The framing that will hold up the covering can be where you’ll secure your uv etc. All this is of course just advice for red foot care as you mentioned them, different species have different temperature, lighting and spacing needs. Though from my understanding babies need higher humidity maintained no matter the species, though I’d ask more experienced members on that, I’ve never raised a baby.
A 7x5 space would be considered too small to house a full grown red foot year round, though I will say due to my moms partner impulse buying his red foot years ago, without considering how much space she’d need full grown, we ourselves have only been able to currently offer her a 7x4 space😕it’s not enough and I’d do anything to give her more, but for our current circumstances, it’s the best we can offer, who knows what her future holds though, we make sure every other need is being met, good rehome options are limited where we’re located unfortunately, she’s in good health which is the main thing right now, currently working on getting an outdoor area set up she can enjoy in the summer🙂
All that said, I think anyone here would tell you, that a 7x5 space is much more suitable for something like a Russian tortoise(I think in hindsight the owner of ours agrees that’s what he should have gone for🥲)those guys are such cute, sassy little personalities! My friends owns one and he’s adorable! You’d be able to keep an adult in that kind of space year round, though you say you have a future outdoor space? That sounds good, bigger is always better for adult torts😊

This thread below is a good read(the info doesn’t apply to red foots)

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

Hope all this helps!🙂

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

I live in Central Florida. After doing some research, I noticed that one of the most commons mistakes is not having enough humidity (80%) in the enclosure for Red-Footed tortoise and other species. Our AC is running around 72-69 F from 6pm-7pm to 6am-7am. After that the house is kept at 76 F.

Is it suitable to keep a red footed or even other specie in an indoor space? Will this habitat work? If not, could you please point me in the right direction?

What other things should I be keeping in mind? I know care varies between species, but in general terms what is suggested?

Would you suggest against having an indoor tortoise pet? Keep in mind that we have around a 7x5 space where we can place the habitat.

We could place the tortoise enclosure outside in a small patio but in the future since it is accessible by anyone and we are planning on putting a screen. We do some lawn space on the side of the house where I keep raised bed gardens.

Hello!

In fact, temperatures and humidity in your room play role when you use a "tortoise table" (open top) enclosures. With closed top (vivariums, "closed chamber") enclosures you set up environment inside suitable for your tortoise and environment in the room comfortable for humans. Double win.

Maybe Amazon tries to fool me once again, but I see only micro enclosures, a bit larger than shoebox. If you look at this thread you can find an example of good setup for a redfoot (4x2 ft enclosure by Animal Plastics) https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/official-introduction-of-mojo.208232/ Of course, there are options to make a good enclosure cheaper (maybe looking less fancy, but nevertheless comfortable for tortoise).

7x5 is a decent space for smaller species like Hermann's or Russian tortoises. A grown-up redfoot tortoise needs more than that. However, you can keep it inside until it grows up and then move to a fenced area outside when high humidity is less crucial. In general, all tortoises benefit from living outdoors.

This post can give you a very detailed overview of tortoise needs:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

Please, ask more questions. I would be more than happy to talk tortoises