Nor CA/ SF Bay Area-- Outdoor Setups

[juliette.eliza]

I have a question for all Northern California / SF Bay Area, hopefully even Sonoma County sulcata owners...

What is your outdoor setup? Biff is still a long way away from being able to live outside full time, but I am hoping to start building the outdoor enclosure soon, so when spring arrives, she can spend the days out there and come in at night, at least until she's large enough to spend the nights outside too (still only in the warmer months for a long time to come).

Thanks!
--
Juliette & Biff

 

[Momof4]

Check member "waterboy." He just finished his and it's awesome!!!

 

[knight_visionn]

It's cold enough here that I wouldn't leave any young Sulcata outside at night.

Other than that, outdoor setups aren't very reliant on location, as long as there is sunshine. I built mine with four 2x4's nailed together with a 1/4 covered roof (with leftover plywood) for some shade. I built a wooden post out of some old wood and put that in the middle of the enclosure, then draped chicken wire over it (kind of like a circus tent), because we do have some large birds here. Plants for shade, planted grasses for food, and cyprus mulch in the shaded area because it doesn't get as hot as soil. Standing water, because we have pretty much no humidity here.

Really though, it comes down to how you'd like to make it. I've seen some on this forum made from cheap kiddie pools and think that is an excellent idea if you're not handy and/or don't have the time to build something. Just make sure there's 1) shade 2) standing water 3) some sort of food source 4) protection from miscellaneous elements.

Keyser (my guy) is a little more than a year old, and I still will only put him out in the heat of the day. These guys really need direct sunlight when outdoors to keep warm, and our cloudy mornings in the bay make that hard to achieve.

Oh, and use materials that won't rust, especially if you're close to the ocean.

 

[Dizisdalife]

Here is a thread that has some simple outdoor enclosures that you can use to get your baby some sunshine until he is big enough to leave outside all day. They grow so fast that you need to start planning the next size enclosure while finishing the current one.

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-14680.html#axzz2CGBjAJ3t

As your tortoise gets older you may want to leave him unattended and outside for longer periods of time. An enclosure like this might be better suited for that. Notice the use of a screened top for protection from predators.

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-30683.html#axzz1bv5qbbcz

When he gets to be too big to keep inside at night, which will happen sooner than you can imagine, you'll need a heated night box for him to sleep in. There are many examples of how to build one and how to heat it also, but you have a year or so before you will need to plan that one.

 

[Laura]

scroll thru the enclosure section. a lot of us have posted pics of what we have..
I live in the foothills above Sac.. and all mine are outside 24-7