Tortoise House
The perfect tortoise house
Having a pet tortoise is a wonderful experience, but you’ve got to have the right tortoise house to keep him safe. There are several different ways to build a tortoise house. It really just depends on whether you want to keep your tortoise indoors or outdoors. Obviously, the smaller the tortoise is, the easier it is to keep it inside, so keep this in mind when you’re planning a home for your tortoise. Many varieties of the tortoise get very large, so you need to plan ahead for a larger pet, even if you get the tortoise when it’s still small.
Whether you’re building the tortoise house inside or outside, it’s important that you keep the habitat as close to the animal’s natural home as possible. The easiest way to keep a tortoise is in an outdoor pen, but you may not be able to do this if it gets cold outside often. You may wish to set up an outdoor pen even just for part of the year, as this will make caring for your tortoise very easy.
If you want to keep your tortoise inside, then the first problem you’ll have to solve is floor space. This is easily solved while the tortoise is young, but you need to have a go-to plan for when the tortoise begins to get very large. You should not use an aquarium for your tortoise house. This is because many tortoises will now only outgrow the space, but they also need room just to roam around, and an aquarium does not provide the ability for them to do this.
Your tortoise house won’t need to be very tall because tortoises can’t climb very high walls. It just needs to be high enough so the tortoise can’t step over it. The reason you would rather have shorter walls rather than taller is to make sure you’ve got the right amount of ventilation for your pet. The tortoise needs plenty of air, and having high walls around an enclosure can prevent air from circulating enough to keep your tortoise safe. The tortoise house should also have opaque sides. This is because this type of animal likes to hide. They don’t like feeling exposed like a glass enclosure often makes them feel.
One of the best methods for indoor housing of a tortoise is a turtle table. This is a wooden enclosure that offers lots of floor space and short walls. You can easily build a turtle yourself with old scrap wood or by purchasing wood from the lumber yard. You’ll also need heat lamps and UVA/UVB lighting to suspend over the enclosure. Tortoises need the light and heat to keep warm, so it’s an important aspect of any tortoise house. You’ll also want a good floor that’s easily removed and cleaned. You might consider a plastic tray if you can find one large enough for the pen.
For your outdoor pen, you probably won’t need any special lighting. All you’ll need outside is the wooden enclosure, assuming the weather gets warm and sunny enough to suit your tortoise’s needs.