Tortoise enclosure in Great Basin desert?

[rorostortoise]

I live in the Great Basin desert where temperatures are extreme, dropping to the 30s at night and remaining in the 90-100s all day. We rarely get rain, but when we do it aggressively floods. I want to build an outdoor tort enclosure for my 5-6 year old red footed tort. How can I keep him warm at night and cool during the day? There is a naturally occuring pool of water, never deeper than a few inches, inside the proposed 16x4 enclosure. I would put out water dishes everyday so he always had enough and had room to soak. What plants should I put in there for him to eat? I am having a hard time finding reliable sources to tell me what is safe. I would plant lettuce and aloe vera but he definitely needs more than that. The natural substrate is rich but very dry unless you dig down about a foot. His current indoor enclosure is way too small for him because he is always trying to escape and flips himself over. Thoughts? I attached a picture of him trying to escape.

 

[SinLA]

@ZEROPILOT

 

[ZEROPILOT]

He's going to need a lot of shade during the day. And that water pool also needs to not be in the direct sun.
At night He's going to need a night box with a heat source. I use a single CHE suspended overhead.
(See my video)
You may need something more elaborate. And for that. I highly reccomend searching some of @Tom night enclosure posts.
During the day. You can run a simple lawn sprinkler to bring up the ambient humidity and lower the temperature.
You will NEVER SEE any of my REDFOOT if the temperature gets much above 90°f. And come out at dusk. Dawn or when it rains.

 

[rorostortoise]

@ZEROPILOT thank you! I will put a heating lamp in an insulated chicken coop for him to sleep in and build a shade for his main pond. Any other suggestions?

 

[Yvonne G]

You're not going to like my response. Your RF tortoise doesn't belong in the desert. It will be costly to give him the climate he needs in order to thrive. He needs warm and humid. This means you will be running misters for him all the time, and heat at night. He's very pyramided, which means during his active growth years he's been living in too dry conditions. He needs lots of tropical plants to live and hide in.

 

[wellington]

Whatever you do, be sure he gets out of that aquarium that is way too small for a RF of his size.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I agree with the above.
You'll need a tropical planted oasis with a sprinkler at a minimum. Maybe on a timer. Redfoot need high humidity. Like over 75%.
And they need it warm. But not too hot. With 84°f being the petfect temperature.
I take a lot for granted because I live in a tropical climate.
Do you have predators where you live? Coyotes, etc?
You'd have to plan around that also.
You have a difficult situation ahead of you. But one that you can handle. As others have.
At the moment, get a huge plastic tote from the hardware store and make as large of an indoor enclosure as you can.
Get that humidity up.
Do you need help with his diet?
What do you currently feed him?

 

[rorostortoise]

You're not going to like my response. Your RF tortoise doesn't belong in the desert. It will be costly to give him the climate he needs in order to thrive. He needs warm and humid. This means you will be running misters for him all the time, and heat at night. He's very pyramided, which means during his active growth years he's been living in too dry conditions. He needs lots of tropical plants to live and hide in.

Would it work better if I built him a similarly sized enclosure inside where I can keep him humid? He grew up under the care of my mom who did not provide him with any extra humidity. I can build him an enclosure that takes up half of my 150sq' room.

 

[rorostortoise]

I agree with the above.
You'll need a tropical planted oasis with a sprinkler at a minimum. Maybe on a timer. Redfoot need high humidity. Like over 75%.
And they need it warm. But not too hot. With 84°f being the petfect temperature.
I take a lot for granted because I live in a tropical climate.
Do you have predators where you live? Coyotes, etc?
You'd have to plan around that also.
You have a difficult situation ahead of you. But one that you can handle. As others have.
At the moment, get a huge plastic tote from the hardware store and make as large of an indoor enclosure as you can.
Get that humidity up.
Do you need help with his diet?
What do you currently feed him?

We have a lot of predators (coyotes, foxes, hawks, vultures, etc.) so I might not put him outside. I will take any help I can get and I am at a loss with his diet. I currently feed him special tortoise kibble and lettuce. I've tried to spray him with a spray bottle and don't know how else to get the humidity up. I need a lot of help for my baby.

 

[rorostortoise]

You're not going to like my response. Your RF tortoise doesn't belong in the desert. It will be costly to give him the climate he needs in order to thrive. He needs warm and humid. This means you will be running misters for him all the time, and heat at night. He's very pyramided, which means during his active growth years he's been living in too dry conditions. He needs lots of tropical plants to live and hide in.

to me it doesnt matter if I like the hard truth, that's just how it is and I need to grow up and deal with it so my baby doesn't have to survive and can live comfortably. humidity is usually 0-1% so outdoors is not going to work

 

[Tom]

We have a lot of predators (coyotes, foxes, hawks, vultures, etc.) so I might not put him outside. I will take any help I can get and I am at a loss with his diet. I currently feed him special tortoise kibble and lettuce. I've tried to spray him with a spray bottle and don't know how else to get the humidity up. I need a lot of help for my baby.

The tortoise needs it 82-86 degrees and 80%+ humidity 24/7. How do you do that in your climate? You don't. That's why its the wrong species for your area. You should have gotten a Russian or a desert tortoise, or a leopard, or just about anything that isn't a forest tortoise species like a RF.

What to do about it now? Do the best you can. Converting your 150 square foot space into a tropical sauna will be great for the tortoise, but not so great for the walls, floor and ceiling of your house. Animal Plastics makes a 4x8x4 foot closed chamber, but even that is a bit too small. A custom made 5x10 foot PVC closed chamber would do it.

Its just not cheap or easy to keep tortoises in an environment that is the opposite of the conditions they need.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

@rorostortoise
Let's get that diet corrected. Since we can do that right away.
Redfoot have the largest menu of anu other tortoises species (that I'm aware of)
Their diet can consist of over 50% fruit. They can and do eat just about any fresh, unprocessed food that you yourself eats. That includes vegetable matter, fruits, green leafy items, mushrooms, meat protein, insects and boiled eggs, cactus, edible flowers and high quality tortoise chow. Such as MAZURI 5M21.
There are probably hundreds of food items that are suitable either already in your refrigerator. Growing nearby or available for very little money at the market.
The key is in mixing it up. Get a variety of foods and start feeding him correctly tomorrow.
And starting tomorrow. Give him a soak in a shallow container of warm. Not hot water. For hydration and good health.
Do this twice a week for at least 30 minutes.
(He probably won't like it at first)
Let's accomplish the easy stuff first. Just to improve his quality of life. Then we'll do more.

 

[rorostortoise]

@rorostortoise
Let's get that diet corrected. Since we can do that right away.
Redfoot have the largest menu of anu other tortoises species (that I'm aware of)
Their diet can consist of over 50% fruit. They can and do eat just about any fresh, unprocessed food that you yourself eats. That includes vegetable matter, fruits, green leafy items, mushrooms, meat protein, insects and boiled eggs, cactus, edible flowers and high quality tortoise chow. Such as MAZURI 5M21.
There are probably hundreds of food items that are suitable either already in your refrigerator. Growing nearby or available for very little money at the market.
The key is in mixing it up. Get a variety of foods and start feeding him correctly tomorrow.
And starting tomorrow. Give him a soak in a shallow container of warm. Not hot water. For hydration and good health.
Do this twice a week for at least 30 minutes.
(He probably won't like it at first)
Let's accomplish the easy stuff first. Just to improve his quality of life. Then we'll do more.

After reading this i searched my fridge and went shopping immediately, I ended up getting some aloe vera, apples, jicima, plantain, butternut squash, canteloupe, mustard greens and kale. I usually soak him once to twice a week and he does not like it at all 😂 nevertheless i will increase his bathtime. what of the foods above can he eat? if he can't eat it I will; we both eat lots of veggies

 

[ZEROPILOT]

After reading this i searched my fridge and went shopping immediately, I ended up getting some aloe vera, apples, jicima, plantain, butternut squash, canteloupe, mustard greens and kale. I usually soak him once to twice a week and he does not like it at all 😂 nevertheless i will increase his bathtime. what of the foods above can he eat? if he can't eat it I will; we both eat lots of veggies

He CAN eat all of that.
But he may or may not eat the ALOE. My RF won't touch the stuff. And it's a shame. Because it's growing here everywhere
I shave hard things like carrots or that butternut squash with a potato peeler to make long, soft strips.
If he's never had fruit before, this'll be FUN to see

 

[rorostortoise]

He CAN eat all of that.
But he may or may not eat the ALOE. My RF won't touch the stuff. And it's a shame. Because it's growing here everywhere
I shave hard things like carrots or that butternut squash with a potato peeler to make long, soft strips.
If he's never had fruit before, this'll be FUN to see

this might be a weird question but can he eat meat? like fresh off the squirrel or cow or whatever

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Its about 1 am here and I've got an early doctor appointment.
I'll look tomorrow.
Post how it goes.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

this might be a weird question but can he eat meat? like fresh off the squirrel or cow or whatever

Yes
Absolutely
Also cat food or wet dog food
Just in moderation