yrs
Indoor Enclosures and Outdoor Housing
Your sulcata tortoise needs a shelter that will keep it safe, secure from predators, and either warmer or cooler than the surrounding air temperature as necessary. In the wild, sulcata tortoises dig extensive burrows underneath the ground, and they will retreat to these burrows at night or when the weather is too hot, too cool, or too dry. Burrows also protect the tortoises from predators of all kinds, including man.
Most sulcata keepers don't have the room to allow our pet tortoise(s) to dig a 30-foot burrow, so we need to provide a substitute form of shelter for our pet(s). Depending upon the size of your tortoise, you should provide either an indoor Tortoise Table or an outdoor Tortoise Shed for your tortoise to use at night or when the weather is too hot, too cold, too wet, or too dry.
Indoor Enclosures: Tortoise Tables
If your sulcata tortoise is under five years in age, or weighs less than about 25 pounds, we recommend that you build an indoor enclosure called a Tortoise Table to provide your tortoise with nighttime accomodations.
With a Tortoise Table, you will have to take the tortoise outdoors each morning, and bring it back indoors at night. You should also provide various shelter areas in the tortoise's outdoor pen to allow it to thermoregulate properly. A cool, slightly moist, shady area allows the tortoise to cool down, and a warm sunny area allows it to heat up as needed.
We have built two different Tortoise Tables to house our sulcata tortoises. To see photographs and a line drawing of our Tables, please click on the following link:
Table 1 (for hatchling and small tortoises)
Table 2 (for juvenile tortoises up to about 25 pounds)
Outdoor Housing: Tortoise Sheds
Once your tortoise becomes too big or too heavy to safely lift and carry to an indoor enclosure, you should provide an outdoor Tortoise Shed. A Tortoise Shed is a heated, insulated shed or small barn in which the tortoise can stay at night or during inclement weather. The shed should be designed to keep the tortoise warm at night, safe from bad weather either day or night, and sheltered from predators and human thieves (we've heard many sad stories of tortoises being stolen from their owners!).
You have two basic choices when designing a shed for your tortoise:
1. You can purchase and adapt a doghouse, greenhouse, or small gardening tool shed to suit your tortoise's needs,
OR
2. You can build a shed using residential construction techniques. While this option can be more expensive and more difficult, you are more likely to get a secure and safe shelter for your tortoise.
Adapting doghouses / greenhouses / gardening sheds
We have heard of people buying and adapting Dogloos® (round, insulated plastic dog houses), Rubbermaid® garden sheds, and even small greenhouses for use as tortoise sheds. There are pros and cons to each of these choices.
Dogloos® tend to be used frequently because they are widely available, relatively inexpensive, and don't take up a lot of room on your property. One significant drawback to using a Dogloo® is that it is very difficult to put a square or rectangular heating pad (see Heating Tortoise Sheds, below) inside a circular Dogloo®. You have to purchase one of the smaller pads, and thus you risk your tortoise not receiving sufficient heat at night.
Rubbermaid® garden sheds can be found at home improvement centers, farm and ranch supply stores, and some membership warehouses (such as Costco or Sam's Club). They are more expensive than Dogloos®, ranging in price from 200 to 400 U.S. Dollars. However, they also tend to make better tortoise sheds than Dogloos, for three main reasons:
-- Rubbermaid® sheds are rectangular, which makes it easier to use a square or rectangular heating pad (see Heating Tortoise Sheds, below) inside.
-- The shed is taller and has a retractable roof, making it easier to clean up after your tortoise.
-- The Rubbermaid® shed also has a lockable door, making it easier to keep your tortoise in and potential thieves out.
For some examples, click the following links:
How Derek Davis adapted a Rubbermaid garden shed for his sulcata
How Sulcata Station is converting an existing greenhouse into a tortoise shed
Heating Tortoise Sheds
Providing sufficient heat for your tortoise throughout the night or during cold, windy, and/or rainy days is crucial to your tortoise's health. Most areas in North America get too cold to allow sulcata to stay outdoors all year around, so a warm, secure house is a must for your sulcata tortoise.
The best way to provide heat within a tortoise shed is to use Heat Mats. These are rigid plastic or fiberglass pads that have a heating element built into them. The two recommended brands are Osborne Industries and Kane.
Of these two, we strongly recommend the Osborne Industries' Stanfield® Heat Pad because they are much more likely to stand up to the wear and tear that a large sulcata tortoise can dish out. These pads are available in various sizes, so you can probably find one to fit your tortoise's shed or enclosure.
You will also need to purchase a Heat Pad Controller, preferably from Osborne as well, to regulate the pad's temperature safely. The Osborne Automatic Regulator F920A is the recommended controller. Please note that the F920A is NOT a thermostat. It is actually a rheostat, which means that it only controls the amount of electricity going to the pad, not what temperature the pad's surface will reach. To use the F920A controller correctly, here is what you should do:
Information posted by Brad Morris to one of the tortoise-related lists at Yahoogroups:
Date: Sun, 31 Oct 1999
From: Brad Morris
Subject: Re: sulcata winter shelter in southern AZ
Here is the best way to do this:
First, I cannot recommend heat lamps for situations like yours. Under the right conditions, a heat lamp will burn the carapace scales enough that they will die and fall off the animal, leaving bare bone exposed. Not a pretty sight.
Far better to use a pig pad sized for your doghouse. This, with the proper controller is much more expensive than a heat lamp but worth it in the long run. Depending on your doghouse's r-factor (it has insulation I hope?) the pad will do just fine for your specimen. You will want to use a controller from the source I cite below that has a probe to sense the inside temperature of your doghouse as it regulates how much electricity to cycle to the pad(s).
As far as temps and your questions, you wrote:
>I would like some expert input on my tortie's winter accomodations.
>I live in southern AZ and my 14" sulcata stays outside year-round.
>He has a doghouse with a raised wooden floor and a carpet flap
>over the door and a heat lamp inside that could be put on a rheostat.
>Please tell me how best to use the heat lamp. When would you turn it
>on? As in, you would turn on the heat source if it is expected to be
>below ?? degrees at night.
When the nights in your area cool down to 60 degrees Fahrenheit, turn on the pad controller to the lowest setting, 1 or 2 on the dial. The controller has no on and off switch, so you will need to control the unit with a twenty amp-rated regular light switch in a weather proof box.
>And what is a good temperature for a 14" sulcata, as in, you
>would adjust the rheostat so that the temperature doesn't get
>below ?? degrees.
With the controller dial setting I mentioned this will keep the surface of the pad at about 80 to 82 degrees Fahrenheit. This is important: I said the pad's surface, not the air temperature in your doghouse. The air temp inside the doghouse should be cooler. You won't have to concern yourself with heating the air temperature if this is done right.
Pad source: I can only recommend the pads from Osborne Industries, 1-800-255-0316. If you are going to do this, now may be a good time to upgrade the size of your doghouse (I don't know its size) and purchase as large a pad as possible. I use the three by four foot single cord pads. Coat the underside of the pad with a quality epoxy paint. The controller you want is part# F920A.
For G. sulcata, these pads are superior to the poly Kane pads that the Bean Farm sells, and of course they have no pads in the *industrial G. sulcata* size anyway. Nor will their products stand up to the abuse that a large specimen dishes out over time, and not to mention the number of electrical cords which one must deal with goes up about one hundred percent. That's just the way it is, folks.
Securing Tortoise Sheds
You should consider locking your tortoise shed each night. This will make sure that your tortoises stay inside the shed, and will help keep any unwanted predators (human thieves in particular) out. Adding a padlock hasp to any door is a relatively easy task.
Keep the padlock key on a hook right beside the door closest to the shed so that you can grab it quickly in the event of an emergency. An even faster way to open a padlock, in the event of a fire or some similarly immediate danger, is to use boltcutters.
Your sulcata tortoise needs a shelter that will keep it safe, secure from predators, and either warmer or cooler than the surrounding air temperature as necessary. In the wild, sulcata tortoises dig extensive burrows underneath the ground, and they will retreat to these burrows at night or when the weather is too hot, too cool, or too dry. Burrows also protect the tortoises from predators of all kinds, including man.
Most sulcata keepers don't have the room to allow our pet tortoise(s) to dig a 30-foot burrow, so we need to provide a substitute form of shelter for our pet(s). Depending upon the size of your tortoise, you should provide either an indoor Tortoise Table or an outdoor Tortoise Shed for your tortoise to use at night or when the weather is too hot, too cold, too wet, or too dry.
Indoor Enclosures: Tortoise Tables
If your sulcata tortoise is under five years in age, or weighs less than about 25 pounds, we recommend that you build an indoor enclosure called a Tortoise Table to provide your tortoise with nighttime accomodations.
With a Tortoise Table, you will have to take the tortoise outdoors each morning, and bring it back indoors at night. You should also provide various shelter areas in the tortoise's outdoor pen to allow it to thermoregulate properly. A cool, slightly moist, shady area allows the tortoise to cool down, and a warm sunny area allows it to heat up as needed.
We have built two different Tortoise Tables to house our sulcata tortoises. To see photographs and a line drawing of our Tables, please click on the following link:
Table 1 (for hatchling and small tortoises)
Table 2 (for juvenile tortoises up to about 25 pounds)
Outdoor Housing: Tortoise Sheds
Once your tortoise becomes too big or too heavy to safely lift and carry to an indoor enclosure, you should provide an outdoor Tortoise Shed. A Tortoise Shed is a heated, insulated shed or small barn in which the tortoise can stay at night or during inclement weather. The shed should be designed to keep the tortoise warm at night, safe from bad weather either day or night, and sheltered from predators and human thieves (we've heard many sad stories of tortoises being stolen from their owners!).
You have two basic choices when designing a shed for your tortoise:
1. You can purchase and adapt a doghouse, greenhouse, or small gardening tool shed to suit your tortoise's needs,
OR
2. You can build a shed using residential construction techniques. While this option can be more expensive and more difficult, you are more likely to get a secure and safe shelter for your tortoise.
Adapting doghouses / greenhouses / gardening sheds
We have heard of people buying and adapting Dogloos® (round, insulated plastic dog houses), Rubbermaid® garden sheds, and even small greenhouses for use as tortoise sheds. There are pros and cons to each of these choices.
Dogloos® tend to be used frequently because they are widely available, relatively inexpensive, and don't take up a lot of room on your property. One significant drawback to using a Dogloo® is that it is very difficult to put a square or rectangular heating pad (see Heating Tortoise Sheds, below) inside a circular Dogloo®. You have to purchase one of the smaller pads, and thus you risk your tortoise not receiving sufficient heat at night.
Rubbermaid® garden sheds can be found at home improvement centers, farm and ranch supply stores, and some membership warehouses (such as Costco or Sam's Club). They are more expensive than Dogloos®, ranging in price from 200 to 400 U.S. Dollars. However, they also tend to make better tortoise sheds than Dogloos, for three main reasons:
-- Rubbermaid® sheds are rectangular, which makes it easier to use a square or rectangular heating pad (see Heating Tortoise Sheds, below) inside.
-- The shed is taller and has a retractable roof, making it easier to clean up after your tortoise.
-- The Rubbermaid® shed also has a lockable door, making it easier to keep your tortoise in and potential thieves out.
For some examples, click the following links:
How Derek Davis adapted a Rubbermaid garden shed for his sulcata
How Sulcata Station is converting an existing greenhouse into a tortoise shed
Heating Tortoise Sheds
Providing sufficient heat for your tortoise throughout the night or during cold, windy, and/or rainy days is crucial to your tortoise's health. Most areas in North America get too cold to allow sulcata to stay outdoors all year around, so a warm, secure house is a must for your sulcata tortoise.
The best way to provide heat within a tortoise shed is to use Heat Mats. These are rigid plastic or fiberglass pads that have a heating element built into them. The two recommended brands are Osborne Industries and Kane.
Of these two, we strongly recommend the Osborne Industries' Stanfield® Heat Pad because they are much more likely to stand up to the wear and tear that a large sulcata tortoise can dish out. These pads are available in various sizes, so you can probably find one to fit your tortoise's shed or enclosure.
You will also need to purchase a Heat Pad Controller, preferably from Osborne as well, to regulate the pad's temperature safely. The Osborne Automatic Regulator F920A is the recommended controller. Please note that the F920A is NOT a thermostat. It is actually a rheostat, which means that it only controls the amount of electricity going to the pad, not what temperature the pad's surface will reach. To use the F920A controller correctly, here is what you should do:
Information posted by Brad Morris to one of the tortoise-related lists at Yahoogroups:
Date: Sun, 31 Oct 1999
From: Brad Morris
Subject: Re: sulcata winter shelter in southern AZ
Here is the best way to do this:
First, I cannot recommend heat lamps for situations like yours. Under the right conditions, a heat lamp will burn the carapace scales enough that they will die and fall off the animal, leaving bare bone exposed. Not a pretty sight.
Far better to use a pig pad sized for your doghouse. This, with the proper controller is much more expensive than a heat lamp but worth it in the long run. Depending on your doghouse's r-factor (it has insulation I hope?) the pad will do just fine for your specimen. You will want to use a controller from the source I cite below that has a probe to sense the inside temperature of your doghouse as it regulates how much electricity to cycle to the pad(s).
As far as temps and your questions, you wrote:
>I would like some expert input on my tortie's winter accomodations.
>I live in southern AZ and my 14" sulcata stays outside year-round.
>He has a doghouse with a raised wooden floor and a carpet flap
>over the door and a heat lamp inside that could be put on a rheostat.
>Please tell me how best to use the heat lamp. When would you turn it
>on? As in, you would turn on the heat source if it is expected to be
>below ?? degrees at night.
When the nights in your area cool down to 60 degrees Fahrenheit, turn on the pad controller to the lowest setting, 1 or 2 on the dial. The controller has no on and off switch, so you will need to control the unit with a twenty amp-rated regular light switch in a weather proof box.
>And what is a good temperature for a 14" sulcata, as in, you
>would adjust the rheostat so that the temperature doesn't get
>below ?? degrees.
With the controller dial setting I mentioned this will keep the surface of the pad at about 80 to 82 degrees Fahrenheit. This is important: I said the pad's surface, not the air temperature in your doghouse. The air temp inside the doghouse should be cooler. You won't have to concern yourself with heating the air temperature if this is done right.
Pad source: I can only recommend the pads from Osborne Industries, 1-800-255-0316. If you are going to do this, now may be a good time to upgrade the size of your doghouse (I don't know its size) and purchase as large a pad as possible. I use the three by four foot single cord pads. Coat the underside of the pad with a quality epoxy paint. The controller you want is part# F920A.
For G. sulcata, these pads are superior to the poly Kane pads that the Bean Farm sells, and of course they have no pads in the *industrial G. sulcata* size anyway. Nor will their products stand up to the abuse that a large specimen dishes out over time, and not to mention the number of electrical cords which one must deal with goes up about one hundred percent. That's just the way it is, folks.
Securing Tortoise Sheds
You should consider locking your tortoise shed each night. This will make sure that your tortoises stay inside the shed, and will help keep any unwanted predators (human thieves in particular) out. Adding a padlock hasp to any door is a relatively easy task.
Keep the padlock key on a hook right beside the door closest to the shed so that you can grab it quickly in the event of an emergency. An even faster way to open a padlock, in the event of a fire or some similarly immediate danger, is to use boltcutters.
MORE INFORMATION
CONTACTING US:
Sulcata Station
P.O. Box 1487
Socorro, NM 87801
USA
info@sulcatastation.com
575-835-5690
Sulcata Housing