1. Cold hardy. I plan on keeping him outdoors in san diego. It rarely freezes and i would provide it with a heated, wooden shelter.
I know of one that is truly cold hardy, and would probably do very well in your area. But it definitely doesn't meet your 2nd requirement: the russian tortoise. I live in Missouri, and I can leave my russians out (in dry weather) with the temps down to about 45 at night without any supplemental heating. As long as it warms up into the 60s that day, with some sun, they will come out. Of course if this weather pattern continues for more than a few days, they might hibernate for awhile. If it were raining and below 50, I'd be sure that they either stayed inside their dry tortoise house or came inside my house.
2. I would like a larger tortoise that easily grows over 1 foot.
My russians are about 5.5" for the male and 6.5 to 7.0" for the females. Supposedly the females can get up to 10". I think Burmese mountain tortoises can tolerate cooler temps and get moderately large, but require high humidity. So that may be hard to do in your area.
3. How big of an enclosure would i need for one?(dont worry i have plenty of lumber to use for it!) A minimum of 16 sq foot for an outdoor pen. And since a russian isn't real large, you might want to put a screened lid over it to prevent other animals/humans from carrying it away.
4. What diet regime would work the best based on your personal experience? Strictly herbivorous. Broad-leafed weeds like dandelion, plantain, and other things from the yard or garden (areas without chemicals!) like clover, hibiscus flowers and leaves, mulberry leaves, cactus (no spines).
From the grocery store: endive, collards, kale, mustard greens, etc. A little bit of carrots and squash.
For further info www.russiantortoise.net and for further info on keeping torts in California www.tortoise.org. Maybe they can point you toward a larger tort that would work for you.
Good luck!
