Hello everyone,
My name is Dan and I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. I have kept lizards as pets for many years but have never worked with tortoises. My wife and I are very seriously looking into the adoption of a CA desert tortoise, but have been discouraged by a seeming lack of information on proper care. We understand the required commitment and are fully prepared in that regard, but we have several specific questions that we hope some of you can help answer.
After ensuring that all of our yard vegetation is safe and that the area is secure, we plan to give the tortoise free roam of the backyard during the daytime (other than during the hibernation period, during which we will keep him/her indoors). We are wondering:
1) What is the risk of the tortoise burrowing under our fences into the neighboring yards? Is there a simple way to prevent this?
2) At night, is it preferable to bring the tortoise indoors into a permanent nighttime enclosure, or should we instead build a secure outdoor enclosure with heating that is padlocked to protect against raccoons and other predators?
3) We sometimes leave our home for the weekend. Would it be okay to leave the tortoise in its indoor enclosure for, say, a full 72 hours (provided with food and water) without direct exposure to the sunlight (we would have a UVB setup indoors).
4) What should we do about protection from predators in the daytime while the tortoise is outdoors (other than providing a hideout)?
5) Our backyard has sprinkler systems that run at night. The grass is usually dry by the late morning. There are other areas of the backyard that are paved, and we will set up a dirt/sand area as well. For the grass portion, though, will wet grass pose a problem (e.g. cause respiratory problems from too much moisture)?
Thank you very much in advance!
Dan
My name is Dan and I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. I have kept lizards as pets for many years but have never worked with tortoises. My wife and I are very seriously looking into the adoption of a CA desert tortoise, but have been discouraged by a seeming lack of information on proper care. We understand the required commitment and are fully prepared in that regard, but we have several specific questions that we hope some of you can help answer.
After ensuring that all of our yard vegetation is safe and that the area is secure, we plan to give the tortoise free roam of the backyard during the daytime (other than during the hibernation period, during which we will keep him/her indoors). We are wondering:
1) What is the risk of the tortoise burrowing under our fences into the neighboring yards? Is there a simple way to prevent this?
2) At night, is it preferable to bring the tortoise indoors into a permanent nighttime enclosure, or should we instead build a secure outdoor enclosure with heating that is padlocked to protect against raccoons and other predators?
3) We sometimes leave our home for the weekend. Would it be okay to leave the tortoise in its indoor enclosure for, say, a full 72 hours (provided with food and water) without direct exposure to the sunlight (we would have a UVB setup indoors).
4) What should we do about protection from predators in the daytime while the tortoise is outdoors (other than providing a hideout)?
5) Our backyard has sprinkler systems that run at night. The grass is usually dry by the late morning. There are other areas of the backyard that are paved, and we will set up a dirt/sand area as well. For the grass portion, though, will wet grass pose a problem (e.g. cause respiratory problems from too much moisture)?
Thank you very much in advance!
Dan