Pancake Tortoises in Florida?

Henry and tortoises

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Sarasota
Hey all, I am planning on building a large tortoise enclosure outdoors, most likely 8x8x4 (with lots of rockwork and a tight screen top). I am in central Florida on the coast and it gets around 90-95 in the summer and cools down towards 65-70 in winter. I love pancake tortoises but I do not know if people have kept them here recently. If not, I will get a pair of Elongated Torts and make the enclosure larger
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
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Hey all, I am planning on building a large tortoise enclosure outdoors, most likely 8x8x4 (with lots of rockwork and a tight screen top). I am in central Florida on the coast and it gets around 90-95 in the summer and cools down towards 65-70 in winter. I love pancake tortoises but I do not know if people have kept them here recently. If not, I will get a pair of Elongated Torts and make the enclosure larger
Pancakes should do fine for you, especially if you get small ones and raise them there. Start babies mostly indoors and gradually give them more and more time out in the outside enclosure. Once they reach 4-5 inches, they can stay outside full time, but be prepared to heat them or bring them back inside on those occasional cold winter nights that you get.

No tortoises should be kept in pairs, but elongateds will almost certainly fight. Most people have to house them individually.
 

Henry and tortoises

New Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2021
Messages
6
Location (City and/or State)
Sarasota
Pancakes should do fine for you, especially if you get small ones and raise them there. Start babies mostly indoors and gradually give them more and more time out in the outside enclosure. Once they reach 4-5 inches, they can stay outside full time, but be prepared to heat them or bring them back inside on those occasional cold winter nights that you get.

No tortoises should be kept in pairs, but elongateds will almost certainly fight. Most people have to house them individually.
Wow I did not know that thank you for the information, I was misinformed and thought that elongateds were the few torts that could be housed in pairs. So if I can not get my hands on the pancakes, a larger enclosure and a trio of redfoots would work?
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
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Joined
Jan 9, 2010
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63,264
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
Wow I did not know that thank you for the information, I was misinformed and thought that elongateds were the few torts that could be housed in pairs. So if I can not get my hands on the pancakes, a larger enclosure and a trio of redfoots would work?
Probably. RFs tend to get along well, but there are always exceptions anytime you try to group torts together. In some cases, you will end up having to house them all separately. In other cases, a trio works out just fine.
 
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