To house outside or inside?

siobhanc37 · 26-12-2013, 05:48 PM

My tortoise (horsfield, 4-5 years old) currently lives in a table indoors with heat lamps, in the summer I put him outside each day and brought him back in every night. While he was outside he was very docile and would go straight into a little burrow every day and stay there until I fetched him in. One day he escaped and went missing for 3 weeks, I kept him indoors from then on (it was cold anyway) and he's been pretty active in his table, he's been climbing over the sides and trying to escape his table all the time. I've just bought a new house with a large garden and a garage with electricity supply, I don't have any space for the tortoise to live in a table in my new kitchen, so was considering setting his table up in the garage, and building him a more permanent run in the garden.
Here's my plan, I was wondering if anyone had any advice/ alterations?

I'm going to build a run in the garden against the garage, Can I leave him in it overnight during the summer months? When it starts getting cooler I'll move him into the garage (I won't be keeping my car in the garage) and house him in his table with heatlamps, then hibernate him during winter.

any pointers?

Pussygalore · 26-12-2013, 07:04 PM

I'd suggest if you are building an outside run to use a layer of wire or similar under the soil, horsfeilds are known for their digging so need a barrier a couple of foot down to stop them digging out I don't know whether sinking the 'fence' would be sufficient. Also you could give him a wooden house for nights which he could be shut into for his security and safety, and yes if he has a shelter he can stay out all summer. You might also find if he has a nice warm house he might use that instead of digging down.

burnt toast · 26-12-2013, 07:59 PM

Às well as the wire wooden corners at the top of the fencing should stop himescaping over the top. If you insulate his house wekk and its high enough to take a lamp you could leave him out all year except for hibernation. One of those wooden garden storage chests would be fine, insulated with a small tube heater for cold nights.

siobhanc37 · 29-12-2013, 08:55 PM

Something along the lines of this?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/tortoise-h...item540200b52e

I wouldn't be able to get electricity to the outdoor run without knocking through the garage which I don't really want to do. I suppose I could knock a couple of bricks out the bottom so he can access the garage where his lights would be on? but as I say i'd rather avoid that if possible.

Thanks for the help!

Luckyjim · 30-12-2013, 06:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by siobhanc37

Something along the lines of this?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/tortoise-h...item540200b52e

I wouldn't be able to get electricity to the outdoor run without knocking through the garage which I don't really want to do.

Surely you wouldn't need to knock through? Just drill a hole for an extension cable (but make sure that whatever's on the end of the cable is protected from the elements! Also running the cable through a piece of hosepipe or some other tubing would be good practice, to protect it from abrasion as it passes through the wall.

siobhanc37 · 01-01-2014, 08:12 PM

I suppose I could, however I wouldn't know where to start with protecting the lamp from rain, would the fitting simply need covering with plastic?

burnt toast · 01-01-2014, 08:36 PM

You can get outdoor extension leads that are suitable whatever weather. Your actual lamp would be inside? Either his house if tall enough or you could include coldframe mounted on wood. To keep lamp dry and him warm.

siobhanc37 · 01-01-2014, 08:59 PM

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1812100748...84.m1423.l2648

In my indoor table I use just a normal desk lamp with a halogen bulb to warm him up the have a tube lamp for UV light. I could put the desk lamp into the corner of a hut like this one.

So thats the issue of heat sorted, do I need to provide him a light for basking in or will he get sufficient natural light? I did once have a combined bulb which provided heat and UV light, but I think it required a fancy lamp holder.

burnt toast · 01-01-2014, 11:31 PM

Please be careful 2 things, that house looks very low to have a heat bulb in. He would probably knock over a desklamp in a house like this

I would go with higher house or depending on how long you want lamp on for (some people only use for hour in morning to get them warmed up) you might get away with one of those lamp fitting that are angled downwards but attach to wall, sorry not explaining very well, will see ifI can find link.

The house looks fine as a hideout in enclosure.

26-12-2013, 05:48 PM	#1
siobhanc37 Junior Member Egg Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 19	To house outside or inside? My tortoise (horsfield, 4-5 years old) currently lives in a table indoors with heat lamps, in the summer I put him outside each day and brought him back in every night. While he was outside he was very docile and would go straight into a little burrow every day and stay there until I fetched him in. One day he escaped and went missing for 3 weeks, I kept him indoors from then on (it was cold anyway) and he's been pretty active in his table, he's been climbing over the sides and trying to escape his table all the time. I've just bought a new house with a large garden and a garage with electricity supply, I don't have any space for the tortoise to live in a table in my new kitchen, so was considering setting his table up in the garage, and building him a more permanent run in the garden. Here's my plan, I was wondering if anyone had any advice/ alterations? I'm going to build a run in the garden against the garage, Can I leave him in it overnight during the summer months? When it starts getting cooler I'll move him into the garage (I won't be keeping my car in the garage) and house him in his table with heatlamps, then hibernate him during winter. any pointers?

26-12-2013, 07:04 PM	#2
Pussygalore Senior Member Adult Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Cambridge Posts: 6,479	I'd suggest if you are building an outside run to use a layer of wire or similar under the soil, horsfeilds are known for their digging so need a barrier a couple of foot down to stop them digging out I don't know whether sinking the 'fence' would be sufficient. Also you could give him a wooden house for nights which he could be shut into for his security and safety, and yes if he has a shelter he can stay out all summer. You might also find if he has a nice warm house he might use that instead of digging down.

26-12-2013, 07:59 PM	#3
burnt toast Senior Member Adult Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 5,245	Às well as the wire wooden corners at the top of the fencing should stop himescaping over the top. If you insulate his house wekk and its high enough to take a lamp you could leave him out all year except for hibernation. One of those wooden garden storage chests would be fine, insulated with a small tube heater for cold nights.

29-12-2013, 08:55 PM	#4
siobhanc37 Junior Member Egg Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 19	Something along the lines of this? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/tortoise-h...item540200b52e I wouldn't be able to get electricity to the outdoor run without knocking through the garage which I don't really want to do. I suppose I could knock a couple of bricks out the bottom so he can access the garage where his lights would be on? but as I say i'd rather avoid that if possible. Thanks for the help!

01-01-2014, 08:12 PM	#6
siobhanc37 Junior Member Egg Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 19	I suppose I could, however I wouldn't know where to start with protecting the lamp from rain, would the fitting simply need covering with plastic?

01-01-2014, 08:36 PM	#7
burnt toast Senior Member Adult Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 5,245	You can get outdoor extension leads that are suitable whatever weather. Your actual lamp would be inside? Either his house if tall enough or you could include coldframe mounted on wood. To keep lamp dry and him warm.

01-01-2014, 08:59 PM	#8
siobhanc37 Junior Member Egg Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 19	http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1812100748...84.m1423.l2648 In my indoor table I use just a normal desk lamp with a halogen bulb to warm him up the have a tube lamp for UV light. I could put the desk lamp into the corner of a hut like this one. So thats the issue of heat sorted, do I need to provide him a light for basking in or will he get sufficient natural light? I did once have a combined bulb which provided heat and UV light, but I think it required a fancy lamp holder.

01-01-2014, 11:31 PM	#9
burnt toast Senior Member Adult Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 5,245	Please be careful 2 things, that house looks very low to have a heat bulb in. He would probably knock over a desklamp in a house like this I would go with higher house or depending on how long you want lamp on for (some people only use for hour in morning to get them warmed up) you might get away with one of those lamp fitting that are angled downwards but attach to wall, sorry not explaining very well, will see ifI can find link. The house looks fine as a hideout in enclosure.

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