Hi all,
I have been following this forum for awhile, and finally decided to become a member. My family and I (wife and 3 year old son) are thinking of buying a Tortoise. I have a few questions though, and would appreciate any help I can get.
We live in an apartment in the Bay area, California, where we don't have a balcony or yard. So my plan was to house the Tortoise inside, and take him to the park daily, when I take my son to play. He can roam around on the grass for around an hour.
I was thinking of building a small enclosure. We have 33x 40 inches of space in a corner where I can put it, and we were planning to get a Tortoise that doesn't grow up to be too big (e.g Ibera, Jordanian, Hermanns, or my wife's favorite, Indian star). I was thinking of buying the zoo med Tortoise house, but saw some bad reviews of that product. I was particularly worried about the Tortoise spilling the water, and making the wood rot. I guess if I built it myself, I can make the bottom out of plastic or glass. If that space would not suffice, I could make it multi level. (I do have a carpentry background, I'm sure I can make him something really nice )
Would a Tortoise make the house smell? can they be trained to poop in a certain spot, where you can clean it daily? Do you just scoop the poop off the cypress bedding?
Thanks in advance!
I have been following this forum for awhile, and finally decided to become a member. My family and I (wife and 3 year old son) are thinking of buying a Tortoise. I have a few questions though, and would appreciate any help I can get.
We live in an apartment in the Bay area, California, where we don't have a balcony or yard. So my plan was to house the Tortoise inside, and take him to the park daily, when I take my son to play. He can roam around on the grass for around an hour.
I was thinking of building a small enclosure. We have 33x 40 inches of space in a corner where I can put it, and we were planning to get a Tortoise that doesn't grow up to be too big (e.g Ibera, Jordanian, Hermanns, or my wife's favorite, Indian star). I was thinking of buying the zoo med Tortoise house, but saw some bad reviews of that product. I was particularly worried about the Tortoise spilling the water, and making the wood rot. I guess if I built it myself, I can make the bottom out of plastic or glass. If that space would not suffice, I could make it multi level. (I do have a carpentry background, I'm sure I can make him something really nice )
Would a Tortoise make the house smell? can they be trained to poop in a certain spot, where you can clean it daily? Do you just scoop the poop off the cypress bedding?
Thanks in advance!