Should I watch out for Hawks?

[frankandramsley]

Hello. I have two sulcata tortoises who weigh roughly 8 pounds each. I live in Florida and they have an outdoor enclosure as well as a walk in-indoor hut style den. They spend most of the sunny time outside and I just looked outside to check on them and noticed a small Hawk sitting on the pool screen looking down near their area. Is this something I should be concerned about? This is the first time I have noticed a hawk nearby. There are a good amount of hawks where I live and seeing them are common, but I just want to be sure if it is okay. I know they are too heavy to be picked up by one, but I don't know if they can hurt them in any other way. Thoughts?

 

[TortoiseBoy1999]

Hello. I have two sulcata tortoises who weigh roughly 8 pounds each. I live in Florida and they have an outdoor enclosure as well as a walk in-indoor hut style den. They spend most of the sunny time outside and I just looked outside to check on them and noticed a small Hawk sitting on the pool screen looking down near their area. Is this something I should be concerned about? This is the first time I have noticed a hawk nearby. There are a good amount of hawks where I live and seeing them are common, but I just want to be sure if it is okay. I know they are too heavy to be picked up by one, but I don't know if they can hurt them in any other way. Thoughts?

Maybe chicken wire over the top will do it.

 

[tortadise]

Yeah hawks, as well as ospry down in florida will gladly try and could do some serious costly damage. Better safe then sorry.

 

[lovelyrosepetal]

I am new here so I could be wrong, but I would worry that they might hurt the tortoises. I would make a cover for their enclosure. When I build my outside enclosure I am going to make a top that has a screen across so that no predators can hurt them. That is just my opinion.

 

[Livingstone]

Yah, Id be a bit worried even though 8 pounds is alot for a bird to lift. the general rule I have gone by is if the tortoise is over 12" in length then they should be fine from everything except dogs.