Outdoor Enclosure

[BrunoTheGreekTortoise]

Hello everyone! I have a russian tortoise, and I'm planning to build an outdoor enclosure for him because his indoor one is far too small now. I've set up a 4 foot x 4 foot enclosure with about six-inch tall walls about 2-3 inches thick. However, I have questions.
So first, I'm planning on using simple reptibark as the bedding, but I'm worried about bugs getting in. Also, since we live in florida, the temperatures reach a good 90 degrees Fahrenheit, but there is no cool side for an outside enclosure. To combat this, I'm planning on setting up damp shade zones or maybe burrows, is that enough? Second, the humidity here reaches 70% - 80%. I read somewhere that russian tortoises aren't suited for humidity, but other sources have told me humidity doesn't really affect them.
Second, there are mosquitos and spiders here (none of them are fatal, but some do have poison), so can those affect my tortoise? If so, is there any way to get rid of them?
Third, should I use 25% topsoil and 75% reptibark so I could plant some dandelions or other weeds for him to feed on or is it not necessary, because I heard dirt or sand can get in their eyes and irritate them.
I'll post more pictures as I go along making my enclosure, but answers to these questions will help me a lot, thanks!

 

[Yvonne G]

Hello everyone! I have a russian tortoise, and I'm planning to build an outdoor enclosure for him because his indoor one is far too small now. I've set up a 4 foot x 4 foot enclosure with about six-inch tall walls about 2-3 inches thick. However, I have questions.
So first, I'm planning on using simple reptibark as the bedding, but I'm worried about bugs getting in. Also, since we live in florida, the temperatures reach a good 90 degrees Fahrenheit, but there is no cool side for an outside enclosure. To combat this, I'm planning on setting up damp shade zones or maybe burrows, is that enough? Second, the humidity here reaches 70% - 80%. I read somewhere that russian tortoises aren't suited for humidity, but other sources have told me humidity doesn't really affect them.
Second, there are mosquitos and spiders here (none of them are fatal, but some do have poison), so can those affect my tortoise? If so, is there any way to get rid of them?
Third, should I use 25% topsoil and 75% reptibark so I could plant some dandelions or other weeds for him to feed on or is it not necessary, because I heard dirt or sand can get in their eyes and irritate them.
I'll post more pictures as I go along making my enclosure, but answers to these questions will help me a lot, thanks!

I'm afraid your walls won't be tall enough to prevent him from climbing out (once you add the substrate). Also, 4'x8' would be much better.

As to substrate, no matter what kind you use you're eventually going to have bugs in it. You can't escape it.

The heat is one reason you need a deeper substrate. But since this is going to be outside, why don't you use the native soil as the bottom of the enclosure. That way the tortoise can dig down as deep as he needs to to escape the heat.

Mosquitos and spiders don't bother tortoises.

Like I said above, don't use substrate, just have the floor be the native soil. And don't chop away the weeds because that will be his food source.

 

[BrunoTheGreekTortoise]

I'm afraid your walls won't be tall enough to prevent him from climbing out (once you add the substrate). Also, 4'x8' would be much better.

As to substrate, no matter what kind you use you're eventually going to have bugs in it. You can't escape it.

The heat is one reason you need a deeper substrate. But since this is going to be outside, why don't you use the native soil as the bottom of the enclosure. That way the tortoise can dig down as deep as he needs to to escape the heat.

Mosquitos and spiders don't bother tortoises.

Like I said above, don't use substrate, just have the floor be the native soil. And don't chop away the weeds because that will be his food source.

Actually, it's located in our pool area because our lawn doesn't have a fence around it so I'm worried about children or maybe predators finding him (don't worry, the pool has a safety net around it so he can't get through), so the floor is concrete. Also, I'll try to add taller walls, but space-wise I'm not sure if we can get a 4' x 8', but I'll probably increase to as much as possible. How much of substrate should I use for him to be able to burrow downwards? Also, will humidity be a problem?