safe outside

[Kylee L.]

I very excited to begin construction on Sheldons outdoor paradise. I've noticed alot of people being their tort inside at night or lock them up outside, why do you need to do this? I'm willing to do whatever needed to keep him safe. Also, how do I keep weeds from growing up through rocks and other things once I decorate the enclosure?

 

[jaizei]

The main reason for locking up overnight is predators

 

[SinLA]

Here is my outdoor enclosure. Once it stays above 60 at night, Fezzik (Russian) stays outside, but I make sure he is in the protected area to the right of the enclosure each night. It keeps out predators other than insects. 95% of the time he goes in that section anyway as he feels safter there, and I'm just checking to make sure he's there. If it is below 60 at night or I worry about rain, then I bring him to his inside enclosure.

 

[wellington]

Like already stated, predators. Night temp is a bigger concern than day time. Day time predators would be human, dogs or large birds.
Why do you want to keep weeds out? If they are tort safe weeds, you want them so they can eat them.

 

[Kylee L.]

Here is my outdoor enclosure. Once it stays above 60 at night, Fezzik (Russian) stays outside, but I make sure he is in the protected area to the right of the enclosure each night. It keeps out predators other than insects. 95% of the time he goes in that section anyway as he feels safter there, and I'm just checking to make sure he's there. If it is below 60 at night or I worry about rain, then I bring him to his inside enclosure.

That's what I thought, his whole enclosure will be covered and latched down

 

[SinLA]

If you set up an outside heated box, follow the links in this thread: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/info-for-new-people-please-read-this-first.202363/#post-2036954

I tried a heated night box (different than what tom recommended, so i can't see if its an issue with my design or just my area) but when I had heat outside I also had crickets to a level I was not comfortable with him sharing the house with, so it was just easier and less anxiety inducing to bring him in at night

 

[Kylee L.]

Like already stated, predators. Night temp is a bigger concern than day time. Day time predators would be human, dogs or large birds.
Why do you want to keep weeds out? If they are tort safe weeds, you want them so they can eat them.

that's what I had figured, his entire enclosure will be covered and latched down. I live in Florida so night time Temps don't usually go below 70 unless in cooler moths where he will be inside anyway. As far as the weeds, I'm not sure what would grow that he shouldn't eat, I'm going to plant a bunch that he can, but I don't want stuff he shouldn't to grow naturally

 

[SinLA]

@ZEROPILOT may be able to help with suggestions depending on where in FL you are. your profile says South Carolina so you may want to update to get people more locally able to advise you about where you actually are

 

[Kylee L.]

@ZEROPILOT may be able to help with suggestions depending on where in FL you are. your profile says South Carolina so you may want to update to get people more locally able to advise you about I never thought to change that, I'll do it now! thank you for looking out!

 

[ZEROPILOT]

It's too broad of a question.
I don't bring mine inside or lock them in at night because I don't need to. I only keep adult and sub adult RF and my predators are about non existent.
I'll lock them inside their heated night houses overnight if the temperature drops below 60. Then release them in the morning.
I never remove weeds from my yard when I set up another enclosure. I place areas of mulch, Areas of plants, areas for a water pool and and area for a night house. (And other hiding spots)
They leave 99% of the weeds alone. And I remove my tortoises once a month or so, and buzz everything to the ground with my weedeater.
The Redfoot just walking around will trample a good 60-75% of the weeds to death.

 

[Kylee L.]

It's too broad of a question.
I don't bring mine inside or lock them in at night because I don't need to. I only keep adult and sub adult RF and my predators are about non existent.
I'll lock them inside their heated night houses overnight if the temperature drops below 60. Then release them in the morning.
I never remove weeds from my yard when I set up another enclosure. I place areas of mulch, Areas of plants, areas for a water pool and and area for a night house. (And other hiding spots)
They leave 99% of the weeds alone. And I remove my tortoises once a month or so, and buzz everything to the ground with my weedeater.
The Redfoot just walking around will trample a good 60-75% of the weeds to death.

this answers about 99 percent of my questions, thank you. I have a Russian and his enclosure will be completely enclosed at all times.

 

[Tom]

I very excited to begin construction on Sheldons outdoor paradise. I've noticed alot of people being their tort inside at night or lock them up outside, why do you need to do this? I'm willing to do whatever needed to keep him safe. Also, how do I keep weeds from growing up through rocks and other things once I decorate the enclosure?

I lock mine in for three primary reasons:
1. Temperature. It gets cold at night where I am, even in summer when daytime highs are over 100. It will still drop to 60 at night. Not the end of the world, but I like my tropical species to stay warmer than that. Fine for temperate species.
2. Predators. Some of my smaller tortoises are actually in large 32x28 foot cages, but I still lock them in because of ants and rats.
3. I do a head count EVERY night and look for any problems. Many times one won't be in the box, and when I go looking for the missing one, she is usually nesting. This prevents me from missing any nests.

I agree with the other members about the weeds. We WANT weeds to grow. I hand pull any "bad" weeds out by their root and throw them in the garbage so their seeds can't spread.

Here is an idea that I did over at my moms house. The cage is from Tractor Supply. I built the night box and attached it to the outside, so it doesn't use up any floor space inside the 8x8 foot cage. This is for a single juvenile male Burmese star. The tree is a mulberry. Full sun in our cool winters, and full shade for our scorching hot summers.

 

[Kylee L.]

I lock mine in for three primary reasons:
1. Temperature. It gets cold at night where I am, even in summer when daytime highs are over 100. It will still drop to 60 at night. Not the end of the world, but I like my tropical species to stay warmer than that. Fine for temperate species.
2. Predators. Some of my smaller tortoises are actually in large 32x28 foot cages, but I still lock them in because of ants and rats.
3. I do a head count EVERY night and look for any problems. Many times one won't be in the box, and when I go looking for the missing one, she is usually nesting. This prevents me from missing any nests.

I agree with the other members about the weeds. We WANT weeds to grow. I hand pull any "bad" weeds out by their root and throw them in the garbage so their seeds can't spread.

Here is an idea that I did over at my moms house. The cage is from Tractor Supply. I built the night box and attached it to the outside, so it doesn't use up any floor space inside the 8x8 foot cage. This is for a single juvenile male Burmese star. The tree is a mulberry. Full sun in our cool winters, and full shade for our scorching hot summers.
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that is really nice. I feel kind of dumb asking so many questions because they live outside to begin with so you wouldn't think it would be so complicated putting one outside lol. I want good weeds to grow yes, I was thinking more of the bad weeds. The chicken wire I'm using for the bottom and tip is about a quarter inch so it will keep out predators. I may just be over thinking things

 

[Tom]

I feel kind of dumb asking so many questions because they live outside to begin with so you wouldn't think it would be so complicated putting one outside lol.

This is a tortoise forum, so just making tortoise conversation here. Tone is friendly and jovial.

Outside in the wild is a hard life. Many of them just barely survive it. More than 99% of the babies that hatch annually don't survive to maturity. Predators, disease, drought, starvation, territorial fighting, bad weather years, flooding, etc...

Also, the tortoises we keep, for most people in most cases, are from other parts of the world. Our back yards are foreign with foreign plants and different weather patterns. They can certainly survive out there, but they need some help.

Another frequent topic of discussion is "natural" housing. Everyone has a different idea of what this means. What it means to me is offering as much of the good stuff that happens in nature as I can, and omitting the bad parts, like drought, or bad weather. With the use of my temperature controlled shelters, I can defeat the cruel intentions of Mother Nature when necessary, yet still take advantage of the benefits of outdoor living.

Anyway, I'm rambling now... You ask as many questions as you want. If you use quarter inch hardware cloth for your top, I think you will be disappointed with the result. You won't be able to see your beautiful tortoise very well through mesh that fine. I prefer to use 1 x 2 inch welded wire. This will stop any large predator because the wire guage is fairly thick and strong, but you can easily see right through it. Just a suggestion.

 

[Kylee L.]

This is a tortoise forum, so just making tortoise conversation here. Tone is friendly and jovial.

Outside in the wild is a hard life. Many of them just barely survive it. More than 99% of the babies that hatch annually don't survive to maturity. Predators, disease, drought, starvation, territorial fighting, bad weather years, flooding, etc...

Also, the tortoises we keep, for most people in most cases, are from other parts of the world. Our back yards are foreign with foreign plants and different weather patterns. They can certainly survive out there, but they need some help.

Another frequent topic of discussion is "natural" housing. Everyone has a different idea of what this means. What it means to me is offering as much of the good stuff that happens in nature as I can, and omitting the bad parts, like drought, or bad weather. With the use of my temperature controlled shelters, I can defeat the cruel intentions of Mother Nature when necessary, yet still take advantage of the benefits of outdoor living.

Anyway, I'm rambling now... You ask as many questions as you want. If you use quarter inch hardware cloth for your top, I think you will be disappointed with the result. You won't be able to see your beautiful tortoise very well through mesh that fine. I prefer to use 1 x 2 inch welded wire. This will stop any large predator because the wire guage is fairly thick and strong, but you can easily see right through it. Just a suggestion.

thank you for rambling lol it helps me learn. I may look into chicken wire and the welded wire. My yard is grass with some clover and other small weeds. I'm thinking about different substrates like rocks, organic soil for planting yummy greens, mulch and large grain sand as well as a few "caves" for hiding and bigger plants for hiding as well. Possibly a shallow fountain for his water.... I'm in northern Florida so the temp is a good hot during the day and warm at night... my biggest fear is ants. Lots of people have told me how to treat safely for that.... I think I just need to start building and it will all work itself out lol

 

[Tom]

thank you for rambling lol it helps me learn. I may look into chicken wire and the welded wire. My yard is grass with some clover and other small weeds. I'm thinking about different substrates like rocks, organic soil for planting yummy greens, mulch and large grain sand as well as a few "caves" for hiding and bigger plants for hiding as well. Possibly a shallow fountain for his water.... I'm in northern Florida so the temp is a good hot during the day and warm at night... my biggest fear is ants. Lots of people have told me how to treat safely for that.... I think I just need to start building and it will all work itself out lol

Chicken wire won't stop raccoons, dogs, or coyotes. Welded wire will. The cage I showed pics of will too.

I wouldn't use soil in a tortoise enclosure, nor sand of any kind. Both are dangerous and potentially fatal. The rest of your plans sound awesome!

Have you seen this thread? The sand and soil, and many other things are explained in more detail:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Kylee L.]

Chicken wire won't stop raccoons, dogs, or coyotes. Welded wire will. The cage I showed pics of will too.

I wouldn't use soil in a tortoise enclosure, nor sand of any kind. Both are dangerous and potentially fatal. The rest of your plans sound awesome!

Have you seen this thread? The sand and soil, and many other things are explained in more detail:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

well crap, I just read a habitat article and they said to use these things lol. I'll just listen to the people that have them from now on lol thank you again for all your help !

 

[Megatron's Mom]

Chicken wire is great for keeping chickens in. It wasn't meant to keep critters out. Sadly in the chicken community too many learn this the hard way.

 

[idcowden]

well crap, I just read a habitat article and they said to use these things lol. I'll just listen to the people that have them from now on lol thank you again for all your help !

It's going to depend where you are in the world I think. For example, soil and grass in the UK isn't going to be a problem as the soil never dries up into dust. I suspect in your humid, hot summers, soil is going to bake out and become very dusty indeed, so loads of fine particles about. That said wild Mediterranean tortoises will experience a lot of sand and dust - but the plants they eat will be sticking out of it, not resting on it, so they aren't ingesting it.

 

[Kylee L.]

It's going to depend where you are in the world I think. For example, soil and grass in the UK isn't going to be a problem as the soil never dries up into dust. I suspect in your humid, hot summers, soil is going to bake out and become very dusty indeed, so loads of fine particles about. That said wild Mediterranean tortoises will experience a lot of sand and dust - but the plants they eat will be sticking out of it, not resting on it, so they aren't ingesting it.

I agree, there are so many answers to every questing because it all depends on alot. I did my best according to common advice. I'm planting edible weeds and plants from seed , they're are no large predators in my area but he is completely contained just in case. He is outside today for the first time, I hope he enjoys his new place. Thank you for your response