Outdoor Housing

I thought I would talk about outdoor housing today. Firstly whilst you have a baby tortoise, it will  live indoors in an open top tortoise table or I reccomend an indoor rabbit hutch which is light ;  made of plastic so it is very easy to clean  and has a metal  mesh clip on lid that can be removed indoors but easily put on when you want your little one to spend time in the garden. They come with a tunnel area at one end which is useful as well because your tortoise will go into this at night.You can also have an out door run so you know where your tortoise is and you won,t lose it on the lawn! Trust me they can run. Year 4 is when they go into the garden from Spring to the early Winter .This is when they need a safe garden and by that I mean one that you know there are no holes where they can get into other peoples gardens !  You will  need an outdoor home for them to use. Now, you could get a rabbit hutch which is wooden and can rot  or I use large garden plastic boxes made by "Keter" or similar. I think they say its used for cushions. Anyway, put it somewhere in the garden that is safe and not in complete shade. Next cut a hole into the front and fix a wooden drop down door which you can close for the Winter. You can cover this with sticky back plastic to stop it getting too wet, I bought a roll from the pound shop.During the Summer this remains open so that the tortoise can get in and out when it feels like it . Put bark chippings on the floor inside and a little hay. Because it has a top opening lid it is easy to look inside at the tortoise and also it is easy to clean. This will be their home ,they will get used to it immediately and will come and go when they want. As Winter approaches they will come out less and less until finally they bed down for the winter; you then cover with hay , blow them a kiss, thank them for a lovely summer and wish them a lovely sleep !!!  Fill with hay ,close the lid and the drop down door and leave them for the winter. You can check now and again if you want by just opening the top lid. When spring arrives you will hear them scratching, so take them out  give them a warm bath wash their eyes  and mouth and then put them back into their enclosure. So there you are, I have posted a picture of  the outdoor plastic box housing so take a look .