Creating an Outdoor Sulcata Tortoise Pen

If you’re looking at creating an outdoor Sulcata tortoise pen, you’ve come the the right place! We have years of experience with these magnificent creatures and have experienced tremendous success keeping them in captivity.

Sulcata tortoises (Geochelone sulcata), aka African Spurred Tortoises, are excellent pets for many reasons. They live incredibly long lives, are very easy to care for, eat a plant-based diet, and enjoy human interaction.

Many people start out with a hatchling sulcata tortoise, but eventually that baby tortoise will mature into a large animal that can weigh anywhere from fifty to 200 pounds! When caring for a reptile that large, it’s important to make sure that it has a space big enough to call home, and for most people, this means keeping the tortoise outdoors in their backyard.

Luckily, sulcatas thrive in outdoor environments, provided that the temperatures don’t fluctuate too high or too low. In fact, if you visit almost any zoo, you’ll see that the sulcata tortoise exhibit houses the animals outdoors in the open because that’s just the best habitat for these docile reptiles.

building a sulcata tortoise pen
Adult sulcata tortoises thrive in outdoor environments.

How to know if your sulcata is ready to live outside

We feel we should specify that not all sulcatas can or should be kept outdoors. Babies need to be kept inside in an area safe from predators like birds, dogs, and cats. It’s also wise to keep young tortoises indoors because they are more sensitive to temperature fluctuations and illnesses. Plus an indoor tortoise’s diet can be very closely monitored so you can be sure that your growing hatchling is receiving the proper nutrients and consuming the proper amount of food.

If your tortoise meets these requirements, then it is more than likely safe to move it outdoors:
-Its shell should be at least a foot long, six to eight inches wide, and four to six inches tall.
-Your tortoise is too large for a 100 gallon tank.
-Your tortoise eats and defecates regularly and burrows normally.
-Your tortoise seems healthy and has no abnormal behaviors that would indicate issues with its well-being.

Building your sulcata’s enclosure

So, you have determined that your sulcata is suited for outdoor living. But keeping a tortoise outdoors is not as simple as releasing it in your backyard. What should you do next?

adult sulcata tortoise
Sulcatas are grazers and will gladly eat the natural vegetation in your yard, so make sure all the plants are edible.

First of all, you’ll need to set up a designated area and make sure that your enclosure is safe. Depending on the size of your backyard and the size of your tortoise, you might need to put up fencing to make sure the tortoise can’t wander too far away.

We highly recommend setting up a pen within your backyard, even if your yard happens to already be fenced in. This is helpful because as your tortoise grows, you can expand its pen to accommodate its need for more space. Once your tortoise is very large, you can allow it to freely roam your backyard.

Just like any reptile habitat, an outdoor pen will need to include the things your tortoise needs to stay healthy. This includes a water dish or soaking facility, plenty of vegetation to graze on (both naturally occurring in your backyard and prepared meals), and any hide spaces and/or decorations you wish to include. Just keep in mind when adding objects to a sulcata enclosure that these tortoises can actually climb. Therefore, you want to avoid incorporating items that are tall enough to allow the tortoise to escape its pen by climbing on them. Tortoises can also fall off these tall items and land on their backs, which is very dangerous if you are not around to put the animal right side up.

If you plan on keeping your sulcata outdoors year round (which we only recommend if you happen to live in a climate with temperatures that don’t drop below the high 60s),  it will be necessary to provide a safe place for the tortoise to retire to if the weather gets too cold, rainy, or hot. Many sulcata owners build custom huts or houses with heat lights on timers so that the tortoise can always find a warm space to hide out if need be.

Geochelone sulcata
Sulcatas are burrowers, so be sure to have a brick, cement, or wood foundation below your fence to prevent them from digging out of their enclosure.

It’s also very important to be aware that sulcatas are burrowers. This means your fence must be tall and extend under the ground as well. Many sulcata owners will lay a foundation of cement bricks or wooden barriers under their fence to prevent the tortoise from burrowing out of the intended border of the enclosure.

Because sulcata tortoises are grazers by nature, be aware that an outdoor tortoise can and probably will eat any plants it can find in its area. We highly recommend checking that the plants in your yard are acceptable fare for a tortoise as you don’t want your tortoise to accidentally ingest anything toxic.

Conclusion – Sulcata tortoise pens

Outdoor sulcata tortoises can be great pets. They’re extremely docile animals that enjoy human interaction, so backyard life is perfect for them.

If you are ready to raise your own sulcata tortoise, Backwater Reptiles has them for sale, and we’re always here to offer advice if you’re building an outdoor pen for your’s.

 

Baby Reptiles and Amphibians

This week it’s been all about the little things…or rather, the little critters! Right now we’ve got an abundance of baby and juvenile reptiles for sale at Backwater Reptiles. Check some of them out below!

We’ve currently got baby Sulcata tortoises for sale. These gentle tortoises are very hardy and make great outdoor reptiles if you live in the proper climate-zone. Check out our Sulcata Tortoise species profile published earlier this week for more information on how to care for Sulcatas and what to expect if you adopt one.

Backwater also had a baby Panther chameleon born this week. The little guy is currently smaller than a penny, although we’re sure he or she will grow quickly.

baby reptile (lizard)
Here’s a baby Panther chameleon we hatched at our facility.
baby chameleon lizard
This shows just how small baby Panther chameleons are upon hatching. We held up a penny for scale.

We’re currently running a special sale on Eastern Box Turtle hatchlings. These captive bred turtles are also currently small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, but they grow quickly when fed properly and will reach up to five or six inches in length. They can grow to recognize their owners’ voices, so get yours when it’s young and teach it good habits from the get-go.

baby turtle
Here’s one of our captive hatched baby Box turtles.

Baby Newts

Get your final dose of teeny tiny cuteness from our baby Fire Bellied Newts for sale. These tiny amphibians are currently about the size of a quarter but will grow to  be four to six inches in length. They are popular because they are nearly black on top, but their under carriages are a brilliant reddish-orange color, making for a surprisingly colorful critter.

baby newts (amphibians)
Who doesn’t love a baby Fire-bellied newt?

Sulcata Tortoise Care (Geochelone sulcata)

Would you like more information on Sulcata tortoise care in captivity? Sulcata tortoises (Geochelone sulcata) hail from Africa and have also been called African Spurred, African Spur Thigh, or just plain old Spurred Tortoises. They’re pretty common nowadays in the U.S. due to being bred successfully coupled with their ability to adapt easily to being kept in captivity.

Sulcata tortoise care sheet
Below we’ll explain how we care for these wonderful tortoises.

Sulcatas are the third largest tortoise species and it’s not uncommon for them to grow to 100 pounds or more. They grow rapidly for the first five to ten years of their life, but their growth rate slows with age.

Sulcata Tortoises as Pets

These particular tortoises are appealing pets to many people who live in warmer climates because the animals can be kept outside in the backyard instead of in a bulky cage or terrarium. They are perfectly happy outdoors so long as they are provided with hide boxes from the sun and places to dig as they are burrowers.

At Backwater Reptiles, we have baby Sulcatas that still fit in the palm of your hand. It is generally acceptable to keep the young tortoises indoors in a box-like enclosure with the same requirements as adults, although it is not unheard of to allow the younglings to live outdoors with the adults.

baby sulcata tortoise care
Here’s a baby Sulcata tortoise in motion.

Sulcatas are grazers and will eat plant matter in the yard as well as vegetative matter prepared and served to them by their owners. Outdoor babies generally have a hard time eating natural vegetation, so it is recommended they be served prepared meals of leafy greens.

While you can handle your Sulcata tortoise, the young ones are more susceptible to stress, so it is best if they are allowed to meander and carry on in their own little tortoise-y ways undisturbed. Adults tend to be hardier and not as bothered by being handled.

If you’re looking for a Sulcata of your very own, Backwater Reptiles has got you covered! We’ve got baby Sulcata Tortoises for sale now!

Sulcata tortoise
Sulcata tortoise (Geochelone sulcata)