Shedon's mom
New Member
Hello All, I just posted another thread about our grown Sulcata tortoise developing diarrhea after gorging on rich spring grass. I am starting a seperate thread to ask for advice about housing for the same tortoise. We adopted Sheldon in the fall and he lived in our laundry room for the winter.
This weekend we are building him his new summer/fall outdoor home. We purchased a 4' x 6' Rubbermaid garden shed with a lid that lifts off for access for cleaning, which we will set up in a stable (which has a roof and stays dry) although the sides of the stable are open. He will be out in our fenced yard all day and then we will close him up at night so that he is warm and protected from predators (we have a lot of fox here).
We are going to insulate the inside of the shed, then cover that with plywood for the walls, use a pig mat on the floor on a timer at nights for warmth, and hang UVB and infrared lights on a timer on the inside. If that does not keep things warm enough we will put another Zilla type mini-oil floor heater in there.
My question is - we are debating whether to insulate and put plywood on the flooring too so that we can be really sure he stays warm enough (it can get down to temps as low as the 50's at night even in summer) or whether to leave the hard dirt which is the current floor of the stable, which I am sure he would like more.
If we insulate and put down plywood for flooring, what is the best way to keep this clean once he starts pooping his massive poops and urinating in there? I am wondering about adding top soil that we periodically change out.
Any comments or suggestions on our described setup would be appreciated.
We will still need to come up with a better option for him for winter rather than my laundry room! I am not convinced this outdoor shed setup will be warm enough in the cold winter months, although I do see posts from a number of folks have permanent outdoor tortoise housing in winter climates for their Sulcatas.
Here is a picture of sweet Sheldon, with his chicken friends in our yard.
I also thought you would get a kick of seeing how Sheldon travelled to us last fall - my husband flew him home to us in an airline bag.
He is quite pyramided from his past life... does that ever go away if we are able to correct his nutrition, humidity etc??
This weekend we are building him his new summer/fall outdoor home. We purchased a 4' x 6' Rubbermaid garden shed with a lid that lifts off for access for cleaning, which we will set up in a stable (which has a roof and stays dry) although the sides of the stable are open. He will be out in our fenced yard all day and then we will close him up at night so that he is warm and protected from predators (we have a lot of fox here).
We are going to insulate the inside of the shed, then cover that with plywood for the walls, use a pig mat on the floor on a timer at nights for warmth, and hang UVB and infrared lights on a timer on the inside. If that does not keep things warm enough we will put another Zilla type mini-oil floor heater in there.
My question is - we are debating whether to insulate and put plywood on the flooring too so that we can be really sure he stays warm enough (it can get down to temps as low as the 50's at night even in summer) or whether to leave the hard dirt which is the current floor of the stable, which I am sure he would like more.
If we insulate and put down plywood for flooring, what is the best way to keep this clean once he starts pooping his massive poops and urinating in there? I am wondering about adding top soil that we periodically change out.
Any comments or suggestions on our described setup would be appreciated.
We will still need to come up with a better option for him for winter rather than my laundry room! I am not convinced this outdoor shed setup will be warm enough in the cold winter months, although I do see posts from a number of folks have permanent outdoor tortoise housing in winter climates for their Sulcatas.
Here is a picture of sweet Sheldon, with his chicken friends in our yard.
I also thought you would get a kick of seeing how Sheldon travelled to us last fall - my husband flew him home to us in an airline bag.
He is quite pyramided from his past life... does that ever go away if we are able to correct his nutrition, humidity etc??