Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I moved Christine outside yesterday. Our summer temps and environment are identical to what they like.

This is the hide box, which is in a recessed area that's about 2 feet wide, located directly in the middle of the enclousre. The other half of the recessed area is filled with sand. I also put a lot of large bark mulch in there for her to dig around in, but she doesn't really dig much.

I almost forgot this funny pic:

I have her cage sitting on top of some centerline rims and some Yokohama tires. Gotta be the fastest enclosure around!

I figured I'll use those instead of the bricks and use the bricks to start a new outdoor turtle enclosure instead.

What state or country do you live in? What kind of outdoor temps do you get? How about inside the enclosure? Just wondering if this is a viable option for me, living in South Florida.

I live in southern Arizona, about 10 miles from the border of Mexico. However, since my elevation is almost 4000 feet, it gets WAAAAAAAAAY too cold in the winter. They'd surely die outside here in the winter. However, during the spring, fall and summer it's not too bad. I keep her inside probably 4 or 5 months a year, the rest of the time it is in there.

If I lived in Phoenix or maybe even in Tucson I'd be able to keep her outside with some outdoor heating during the winter.

The enclosure is basically made from 2s4's, 2x2's, 3/8" plywood and 1/4" hardware mesh. It's about 5 1/2 feet long and 3 feet wide and about 2 feet tall or so. The center section has a recessed floor where one can place sand, dirt or whatever. That's also where the hide is. I decorate it with lots of variously sized rocks, logs, sand, hay and mulch.

This enclosure could work inside, but it's rather bulky, I don't have room for it downstairs and I'm not dragging it upstairs (at least not right now).

As for the winter house, for the past it's just been a 55 gallon aquarium, way too small. I'll be building her a winter retreat this summer though.