We are moving soon to a house with a great big yard which includes this shed. This shed was a selling point of the house and will be used to house my three Cherryhead Redfoots. My torts are all still quite young (1-2 years) and small, so they will not be allowed to roam outside the shed without supervision for now, but I'd still like to transfer them out of their indoor enclosure and into the shed as soon as possible to give them more space.
Right now, they are in this indoor enclosure I built which still suits them well, but more space is always better:
So first, I'm wondering what is the best way to insulate the shed from the cold as it is already built and unfortunately did not have the easy option of enclosing insulation in the walls as it was built? Second, I'm wondering if there is any reason why I cannot keep my torts in the shed year-round if it is insulated well enough? I know that often people on this forum talk about bringing their torts in for the winter, but I don't know if that is just because they don't have an adequate outdoor setup and/or don't want to pay the higher electricity bill for the outdoor setup. Ideally I'd like to keep my torts in the shed year-round perhaps bringing them inside on extra cold nights.
For information on our weather, I live in Colorado and the winter temps do get quite cold. On average the temps are in the 20s and 30s for most winter weeks. Sometimes, like we just had recently, the winter temps are especially high in the 40s, 50s, 60s, and sometimes, like we are experiencing right now, the winter temps never get above the teens and drop into the single digits or negative temps at night. Those extreme cold temps are generally only experienced for a week at a time several times a winter.
The other two questions I have are what is best to use on the inside walls for protection from moisture humidity (paint, sealant, certain brands, etc)? and has anyone ever installed sprinklers in an outdoor shed for torts that require high humidity (as we have almost no humidity in Colorado) and have any advice?
Thanks for your help in advance!