Sulcata Needs a Whole Room

[Jay Rennemeyer]

Living in northern Utah means long, cold winters. I have been keeping my sulcata in a spare room in an enclosure I made out of plywood. Actually, it's enclosure #2 because she outgrew the first one. She is definitely going to need to have the whole room to herself. I'm thinking of ripping out the carpet and sealing the concrete. I will need to keep her from destroying the walls by installing hard tile on the walls up to about 2'. Substrate is going to be a problem because I need about 75 cubit feet of material.

Has anybody converted an entire room before? Any suggestions on materials or construction?

Thanks!

 

[Yvonne G]

Most people who keep sulcatas in cold climates re-furbish an outdoor shed instead of an indoor room. Here's Magge3fan's shed for her over-100lb-sulcata, Bob:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/bobs-shed.20710/

And Len also has a big sulcata in snow country:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...ontest-sponsored-by-osborne-industries.93052/

 

[Tom]

2.0 cubic foot bags of orchid bark are about $5 at Lowes. Or you can use grass hay, but that will be very dry and dusty.

Make sure that floor does not get too cold even with the warm air. Might need to make sleeping box with a pig blanket on the bottom...

 

[Jay Rennemeyer]

I was thinking that having the space inside the house would make me less nervous about the power going out during a storm, and it would keep my electric bill down. Also, it would be easier to check up on her. It seems to me that the cost of building either type is about the same -- double-wall insulated shed vs tiled walls. Hmmm...

 

[argus333]

id go outside.. I'm in nj and last winter was really cold here 3 weeks of highs in low 20s and single and minus #s at night. 30s from nov to april. and heavy snows. i have tripple insulated 6x6 ft shed with oil filled heater and attached 10ft x 8 ft greenhouse. greenhouse was $150 to build and on 20 degree days was easy 70 in there.

 

[wellington]

id go outside.. I'm in nj and last winter was really cold here 3 weeks of highs in low 20s and single and minus #s at night. 30s from nov to april. and heavy snows. i have tripple insulated 6x6 ft shed with oil filled heater and attached 10ft x 8 ft greenhouse. greenhouse was $150 to build and on 20 degree days was easy 70 in there.

This idea sounds best to me. I don't own a sulcata, but from the members that do, who live in snow country, their sulcatas get the choice to go outside into the snow and cold or stay inside their toasty warm sheds.

 

[Tom]

Hmm. This must be a matter of personal preference. If I lived in an area like that, and I had an extra room in the house, I'd want my tortoise inside with me, not locked in a shed outside in the snow. Maybe I'm just ignorant since I've never been in that position.

 

[Len B]

I do live in an area like that, and I do have room inside, and I don't use a greenhouse either. I use low wattage, heated, well insulated houses with doors with either 2 or 3 sets of vinyl flaps to control heat loss that stay open 24-7 so the tortoises can come and go as they please. Been doing this for a few years now and the tortoises have enjoyed their freedom to roam and soak up some natural sun rays even though it is cold, can't do that inside a room or under plastic inside a greenhouse. I have two 5000 watt generators that I test start once a month in case of power outages during winter. I also have extra cords at the ready so it is easy to get their heat back on. I have small lights on each house on the outside above the door that stay on as long as the heat is running, I can tell at a quick glance if there is a problem with any heat source and attend to it. I also have some smaller hides that are heated, they are used mostly this time of year and in the fall when the days are warm but the nights are rather chilly.

 

[Yvonne G]

Yes...THAT'S the reason for a shed or heated outdoor house - the tortoise has the option to go out into the cold and walk around if he wants to. Stuck in a room in the house, he's, well, stuck.

 

[Tom]

I wouldn't let my tropical species of tortoise walk around in below freezing temps. We actually had snow here once. It happens about two or three times a century. My sulcatas all had the good sense to stay in their night boxes, but I went ahead and shut the doors anyway when I saw that the day was not going to warm up. Glad I almost never have to deal with that problem.

To each his own.

 

[JoesMum]

My vet has sulcatas and he says they enjoy going out in all weathers. He has a large shed for them in winter and he says they are often outside even when it snows, but bring themsekves indoors if they decide they are getting too cold.