Critter & insect protection

[Ooogs55]

Hello all,

I’m wanting to move my sulcata outside but I’m worried about him out there 24/7.

The enclosure I have built is maybe 20ftx6ft with maybe 5 foot over it under an awning. What I’m worried about though are stray cats, raccoons and fire ants, particularly the ants. Tomarrow im going to build him a good hide but what are some safe measures I can take to protect against the wild life? Also I live in south east Texas so the temperatures fluctuate pretty drastically.

Thank you for any an all help.
In the mean time he is inside and has plenty of room and safe. 3yr old.

 

[wellington]

@Tom

 

[Tom]

Hello all,

I’m wanting to move my sulcata outside but I’m worried about him out there 24/7.

The enclosure I have built is maybe 20ftx6ft with maybe 5 foot over it under an awning. What I’m worried about though are stray cats, raccoons and fire ants, particularly the ants. Tomarrow im going to build him a good hide but what are some safe measures I can take to protect against the wild life? Also I live in south east Texas so the temperatures fluctuate pretty drastically.

Thank you for any an all help.
In the mean time he is inside and has plenty of room and safe. 3yr old.

The first questions is: What size is your sulcata?

When it is time to move outside full time, you'll need to first eradicate the fire ants in the area, and then start pushing that perimeter back farther and farther until you are keeping them at bay off of your property.

Next, you will need to ID every plant in the entire area the tortoise will have access to and make sure none of them are toxic. Also realize that the tootsie will trample or eat most anything that isn't toxic.

Here are two night box examples with safe and effective heating strategies, that will keep your tortoise warm and protected at night and on cold days:

Single Tortoise Night Box

I like my larger tortoises to live outside full time. My climate permits this year round with a little help. For people who live where it snows all winter, this type of box is still good for warmer weather, getting them out earlier in Spring, and keeping them out a bit later into fall. You'll...

tortoiseforum.org

Double Door Night Box

As the years have gone by and I build more of these boxes, I learn more and more each time. This one is the latest and I incorporated everything I've learned over the years. I also tried to take lots of pics so I can explain in more detail some of what is going on. It will take multiple posts to...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Maggie3fan]

I live in semi rural Oregon. I keep Sulcata, box turtles, Redfoot, and other animals. I have foxes, raccoons, cougars, ants, snakes, feral cats, hawks, falcons, woodpeckers, giant turkey vultures and ugly neighbors. This is my tortoise shed...Right now in my tortoise pens, the shed, and several rooms in my house big black ants are moving in to get away from the floods and rain. It really sucks...the water dishes in my bird cages have lines of ants drinking and drowning...it's freaking out me and the birds...ants in my clean kitchen...lines of ants across the dining room floor to a 150 gallon turtle aquarium to drown and drink...the turtle eats the ants. My bathroom, the living room plants...you get the idea??? I GOT ANTS...it's easier to protect against the major predators, hawks, cougars, 'coons then the damn ants. It's gross and disgusting to look at my Redfoot eating from a frisbee full of fruits and ants. I can't spray in several rooms cuz of the birds...anyhow...I have tried everything...last Wednesday I finally bought diatomaceous earth. I thought it would be granules, but it looks and smells like flour. The directions say it would take from 24 to 48 hours to kill them off...right now my house looks like an explosion in a flour factory, (and smells like pancakes). That's probably a slight exaggeration, but the idea is to make a thin line and blow some in whatever cracks, and get some, however light, wherever ants will walk...so today I will take a picture of my bird room...Along the bottom at the wall and floor all around the room is a white line, around the feet of the tables holding the cages is flour...around the cage bottoms on the tables...I simply dusted everywhere I thought would work. The shed was a tough one...it's been raining for days and will continue for the next week. That leaves out flour lines around the outside of the shed, can't put it where dumba** tortoises might walk thru or try to eat...I kinda can't imagine that but...the shed used to be a gardening tool shed... I hired a carpenter who lined the walls, floor and ceiling with insulation and then covered it all with 3/4" plywood... lots of cracks...so I laid on the floor with a turkey baster trying to blow the flour into all the cracks. Yeah sure...I am 78 years old and boney...laying on a plywood floor long enuf to do all that was a pain...plus the 50 pound Sulcata was very nosy as to why I was on the floor, so she thought she would find out what was up by trying to walk over my head, then peeing on my Vans...oh heck...I've talked too much...sorry....oh and I don't see any ants in any room, in any thing...48 hours...Mary Knobbins...

 

[Tom]

I live in semi rural Oregon. I keep Sulcata, box turtles, Redfoot, and other animals. I have foxes, raccoons, cougars, ants, snakes, feral cats, hawks, falcons, woodpeckers...

Maggie, you look out for those predatory wood peckers! I hear those things are dangerous!

Have you ever tried the Terro ant baits? The ants swarm them and carry the product back to the queen and colony and it kills them all instead of just the foragers, and it is a heck of a lot less labor intensive than shooting "flour" all over your house and shed with a turkey baster. Its just sugar water and boric acid, so its non toxic to you and pets. No insecticides or toxins. They work really well, but you have to let the ants come and eat. My wife wants to kill them all on sight, and I constantly have to battle with her to let the invaders come in and eat. If you only kill the above ground ants that you can see in your house, you'll never solve the problem. You have to get the whole colony that is underground and in the walls.

 

[Snoopy’s mom]

Maggie, you look out for those predatory wood peckers! I hear those things are dangerous!

Have you ever tried the Terro ant baits? The ants swarm them and carry the product back to the queen and colony and it kills them all instead of just the foragers, and it is a heck of a lot less labor intensive than shooting "flour" all over your house and shed with a turkey baster. Its just sugar water and boric acid, so its non toxic to you and pets. No insecticides or toxins. They work really well, but you have to let the ants come and eat. My wife wants to kill them all on sight, and I constantly have to battle with her to let the invaders come in and eat. If you only kill the above ground ants that you can see in your house, you'll never solve the problem. You have to get the whole colony that is underground and in the walls.

I use that too, it looks so gross at first but in a few days all the ants are gone

 

[Snoopy’s mom]

I live in semi rural Oregon. I keep Sulcata, box turtles, Redfoot, and other animals. I have foxes, raccoons, cougars, ants, snakes, feral cats, hawks, falcons, woodpeckers, giant turkey vultures and ugly neighbors. This is my tortoise shed...View attachment 367672View attachment 367673Right now in my tortoise pens, the shed, and several rooms in my house big black ants are moving in to get away from the floods and rain. It really sucks...the water dishes in my bird cages have lines of ants drinking and drowning...it's freaking out me and the birds...ants in my clean kitchen...lines of ants across the dining room floor to a 150 gallon turtle aquarium to drown and drink...the turtle eats the ants. My bathroom, the living room plants...you get the idea??? I GOT ANTS...it's easier to protect against the major predators, hawks, cougars, 'coons then the damn ants. It's gross and disgusting to look at my Redfoot eating from a frisbee full of fruits and ants. I can't spray in several rooms cuz of the birds...anyhow...I have tried everything...last Wednesday I finally bought diatomaceous earth. I thought it would be granules, but it looks and smells like flour. The directions say it would take from 24 to 48 hours to kill them off...right now my house looks like an explosion in a flour factory, (and smells like pancakes). That's probably a slight exaggeration, but the idea is to make a thin line and blow some in whatever cracks, and get some, however light, wherever ants will walk...so today I will take a picture of my bird room...Along the bottom at the wall and floor all around the room is a white line, around the feet of the tables holding the cages is flour...around the cage bottoms on the tables...I simply dusted everywhere I thought would work. The shed was a tough one...it's been raining for days and will continue for the next week. That leaves out flour lines around the outside of the shed, can't put it where dumba** tortoises might walk thru or try to eat...I kinda can't imagine that but...the shed used to be a gardening tool shed... I hired a carpenter who lined the walls, floor and ceiling with insulation and then covered it all with 3/4" plywood... lots of cracks...so I laid on the floor with a turkey baster trying to blow the flour into all the cracks. Yeah sure...I am 78 years old and boney...laying on a plywood floor long enuf to do all that was a pain...plus the 50 pound Sulcata was very nosy as to why I was on the floor, so she thought she would find out what was up by trying to walk over my head, then peeing on my Vans...oh heck...I've talked too much...sorry....oh and I don't see any ants in any room, in any thing...48 hours...Mary Knobbins...View attachment 367682

Always love pictures of Mary K and hearing about her antics!

 

[Tom]

I use that too, it looks so gross at first but in a few days all the ants are gone

Thanks for chiming in.

That is a FANTASTIC shirt you've got there!