Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, I have a redfoot tortoise, she is only about 4 inches now but I'm aware shes going to get bigger. Right now i have her in a guinea pig cage with heat lamps on top of it. Although i let her run around the house I know she'd like a bigger enclosure. Shes indoors because I live in New York and its pretty cold during fall and winter. I'm thinking about buying a bigger cage but before I do I was hoping someone could give me suggestions on what they keep their tortoises in. I heard that they dont like tanks because they can see through it and they try to get out more. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

I live in New York too and I plan on putting my soon to come sulcata in a baby pool for the first couple of years when it gets big I am going to put it outside and then when Winter comes I am bringing it to my uncles in Florida hopefully.If not I have an extra room that it can live in.the baby pool I have right now is 6 ft in diameter.If anybody thinks that is too small for a sulcata please post saying so.Anyways hope I have helped atleast a little bit.

How big a baby sulcata is this. If it is small to med small six foot diameter is fine.

Sounds like a game plan with the Florida thing but I am trying to envision how you are gonna get this big boy down to your uncle's place when he is tipping the scales at 100lbs plus or even a bit smaller than that. LOL!! I guess you have a little time to plan it.

Keeping a big boy like that indoors here for the Winter is gonna take some planning a head. NOT impossible just a bit of work $$ and dedication on your part. Good luck with him however you work things out. Sulcata's are great torts but just a bit too much for me handle living on Long Island.

Steve

This sulcata is I guess a newly hatchling and I am getting it at the end of the month.When It does get huge I am having my dad come and load it up in his pick up truck being stabilized in the back of course so it doesnt move around a lot.It will also have plenty of heat packs and all that stuff.I have been planning for about a year and doing all I can to educate my self about them.Still I just barely started getting so into them to the point of where there isnt one day I dont think about what could go wrong or how much I will be spending money and almost everything I could think of.I am hoping that I could adopt one but there isnt anyone around here who adopts them out.

Turtlehomes does but will not adopt them out to any one locally because of the problems associated with housing them in our climate. I am glad to see though that you are considering all the options and doing all your homework ahead of time. This way you can give this the sulcata a good life. The only concern I would have would be the stress of shipping back and forth each year and what effect it will have on him. I mean he can't exactly be overnight expressed all that easily.

Anyway just keep doing what your doing. Figure out all the ins and outs and what will be best for him.

Steve

I didnt even think of that, I didnt even realize that shipping could cause stress if it felt secure.Thank you very much for bringing that up.But yeah I want to study the sulcata so I dont mess up like some people I have talked to on other forums.I do have some time to think about the shipping part but still I want to be prepped instead of scrambling to figure out what to do in the future.There is a cap on the back so that it wont get too windy.

Well you just have to check with people who are really knowledgeable about shipping large torts and see what their experiences are. I am no expert on that subject for sure. But it is just one more thing to check out.

Hi,

Look down at the posts dated Sept 28: Redfoot enclosure needs:
The post after that states "Heres Mine" by Linda G. My
little guy is about the size of yours. This was my most
recent update for the winter. My guy really likes all the
room

Hope this helps
Linda

Why not get him a long Rubbermaid tub to start with? They have those 55 gallon size. Then just put him on some cyprus mulch an he should be fine (be sure to keep the humidity up for him too.
I live on Long Island and have a 13 inch female redfoot a 7-8 inch male and a 9 inch male yellow foot. I just built them a 4'x4' pen and put fine grade cyprus mulch in it for their indoor Winter enclosure. This way they have room to move around and stretch when I can let them floor time.

The biggest problem is the humidity though. It gets so dry indoors during the winter. I just keep misting the mulch and running a humidifier.

I have a baby Hermann's (5 mos.) a little smaller than yours. I started him in a Rubbermaid, but it seemed just a bit small, so I bought a melamine bookcase from Walmart that is 2' x 3', and that is working out very well for now. The sides are lower than a Rubbermaid, and it seems to be easier to maintain heat once I figured out the right height for the lamps. He also has a 6' x 6' outdoor pen, but he's only outside 1-3 hours a day now, depending on how sunny it is.

In a year or so, when he's bigger, I'll build him a full-size tort table.
-----
Sohni
(aka Jeannie, but other people have similar names, too confusing, so I switched)
0.1 Baja de L.A. Rosy Boa (Bella)
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake (Bess)
1.1 Rubber Boas (Esther & Isaiah)
1.0 Leopard Gecko (George)
0.0.1 Hermann's Tortoise (Moxie)
2.0 Adopted DSH Cats (Amos & Silas)
1.0 Rescued English Springer Spaniel (Jimmy)
and...
2.0 Kids (Riley & Noah) w/ 0.0.1 California King
Snake (Rex), 1.0 Mexican Rosy Boa (Lucas), 0.1
Leopard Gecko (Geico)
1.0 Husband (no pets, just us, lol)