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Indoor Housing During the cooler months, when my tortoises cannot go outside, I prefer to use indoor housing to extend the summer at both ends. This is beneficial in the UK climate because it does not allow us to keep tortoises outdoors year round. Many people believe that you need expensive and extremely complicated housing to keep a tortoise correctly. This is untrue. Some petshops and other retailers hood wink their customers into buying an expensive and totally unsuitable vivarium or fish tank set-up for their tortoise. This type of housing is unsuitable for a number of reasons, the main one is that too much humidity builds up in these enclosures, and there is not enough airflow for a Mediterranean tortoise. This can cause respitory infections and lead to major ill health with your tortoise. A much more effective method of housing your tortoise is a 'tortoise table'. This is an open top pen with wooden sides so that the tortoise cannot escape.
These are much more effective than vivarium because they allow correct airflow and do not allow too much humidity to build up. Building a tortoise table is fairly cheap and is quite easy. The Tortoise trust has a guide to build your own tortoise table. This can be adapted in size and shape to suit your own tortoises needs: http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/Tortoisetable.htm For smaller tortoises, such as hatchlings and juveniles, a good housing solution is an 'under bed storage box' these can be bought fairly cheaply from places such as IKEA and Asda. They are ideal for smaller tortoises, and if used properly could be easily moved outdoors to double up as outdoor enclosures during sunny times. Always remember to protect smaller tortoises from birds who might think your tortoise is a tasty treat, using chicken wire or netting. What 'Bedding' should I use for my tortoise's enclosure? Tortoises do not use bedding in the same way mammals do. Tortoises will bury down into their substrate (bedding) to cool down, as they are cold blooded. Until Recently I have advised people to use 'hemcore' this has now been found to be unsuitable and has actually killed a few tortoises because the sharp pieces that where ingested can pierce through stomach lining and other internal organs. I have now switched to a 40/60 Sand/soil substrate mix for my indoor tables. It is more natural. Please make sure your substrate is dried out before using and then spray lightly so that it is not dusty. Should I provide Water for my tortoises? A lot of people believe you do not need to provide water in a tortoises enclosure, however, I prefer to include a small dish of water in my tortoises enclosure so that they can have a drink and soak themselves if necessary. My tortoises often soak themselves in their water dishes. Alongside their water dish, I bath my tortoises daily, for 20 minutes, in Luke warm water. This is because tortoises absorb water through their cloaca (vent) and will also drink during their baths. How can I make my tortoise's enclosure more exciting? To stimulate my tortoises, I have plants, obstacles and hidey holes in their enclosure. Plant pots half buried in the substrate make ideal hiding places for tortoises, and mine use them extensively. Suitable plants are things such as lavender and heather, and also grazing plants such as pansies and dandelions. What Heating and Lighting should I use for my tortoises? When my tortoises are indoors, I use artificial lights should be used to replicate the daylight hours of a tortoise. Personally, I much prefer to use a UVB combined bulb, such as a power sun or a mega ray lamp. I suspend them about 14" from the substrate, this creates a basking spot of 30c. This is ideal for tortoises as they need to bask to heat up, and then they can go about their day, grazing and exercising. As well as a hot end of the enclosure, tortoises also need a cool end so that they can escape the heat. I leave this at room temperature. Overnight, tortoises benefit from a drop in temperatures, so I don't use any form of artificial heating overnight, I simply leave the tortoise table to drop to room temperature. Click here to go back to the homepage
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