Small balcony question

J.Gatz

New Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2015
Messages
20
Location (City and/or State)
Hawaii
My kids and I are the excited but clueless new owners of a Russian tortoise named Torterra (the boys named him after a Pokemon character). I'm hoping to get some advice on his new home... I was planning to keep him inside our condo in a 54 gal rubbermaid tub, but now I'm thinking the balcony would be better for more sunlight and space. We live in Hawaii so it's warm and humid pretty much year-round. I would love to let him roam free on the balcony. Would it be ok to have smallish tubs of substrate in different areas of the balcony so he could climb a ramp and burrow when he feels like it, or is it necessary for the entire balcony to be covered in a layer of substrate? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
 

wellington

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Tortoise Club
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Sep 6, 2011
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49,660
Location (City and/or State)
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Aloha and E komo mai. But no bragging about living in Hawaii, my favorite place ever:D. If you have a yard you could build him a home in, that would be best. But you can use the balcony, be sure to provide lots of shade too. Just build as big an enclsoure as you possibly can. Even though they are small, in he wild they cover a lot of ground.
 

J.Gatz

New Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2015
Messages
20
Location (City and/or State)
Hawaii
LOL! Didn't mean to brag, mahalo for the welcome and reply! :) Unfortunately we're in a tiny apartment with no yard (it's beautiful here but the housing prices are insane). So would an enclosure be needed on the balcony? Not recommended to let him walk around on the cement between plants and tubs of substrate?
 
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