ive just been looking at you post from 14th may!!!!!!!! is that the side of you tort house?can you tell me how deep it is? is it lined in wood ? and what did you insulate it with? I know this sounds a bit nosey, but im thinking about a new outside house for next year and i like the sound of the way you have done yours......tiggy

Hi Tiggs,

Yes that's my super-dooper tortoise house!!! Dosen't look much but it does an excellent job all year round! Here are some pictures of it....
This one is looking right down into bottom of the pit, the pit has a insulated concrete floor, it then had approx 2ft of topsoil chucked in for them to bury down for winter

This shows the outside, it measures 6ft x 4ft but obviously you lose some of that inside because of the insulation. The outside is made of breeze block

Here you can see the walls, they are obviously breeze block thick (about 2"), then have 2 or 3" (can't remember which off hand!) thick polystyrene insulating blocks, covered with hardboard all round.

The doorway (you can see just how thick the walls are here!) The door is just a piece of hardboard, in the winter I make a 'porch out of wood and breezeblooks so that they still get air, but are protected from rain and frosts - obviously the drop-down hardboard door is closed too

This last one shows the lid/roof. It is blooming heavy and needs to be propped open with a lump of wood! Again the lid is made from wood and is fully insulated the same as the walls, with roofing felt on the outside. I really need to get some of the hydraulic leavers fixed on it!!!


Last year, despite the freezing temps we had, the temp inside the house never fell below 1 - 2 degrees. I had the tubular heater set up but it rarely came on, showing that the insulation did its job! I am really happy with it, BUT there is a design flaw... It is hard for me to reach into the torts so I have 'grabbers' out there (the disability type - also used for picking up litter?) to help me get the torts! This was my fault as I didn't think of that! Initially I wanted it head height but as the builder rightly pointed out I will be wasting money heating up the void space. As well as a tubular heater, I have a heat lamp rigged up for the cooler months.

Still a brilliant idea Dawn:0)

Thank you Sandy xx

dawn, thats great!!!! so the pit is 2 foot deep? is this the first year that they are over wintering in it. i think its a great idea that they are in it all year round, saves them getting stressed out being moved.

thank you for letting me see it, its better than i thought. i couldnt really imagine what it would be like....tiggy

Thank you Tiggy, no this is their 2nd year out there (well 2nd hibernation!) It was built a year ago in September (I think!!) I love it, no more disruption, they stay out there come what may! I was rewarded this year with 14 eggs (tho only 3 were fertile ) but I still see that as they are happy with their surroundings Their enclosure is 14ft x 6ft and is fully enclosed by a timber frame with chicken wire that is head height. I would love this to be bigger but already it takes up a third of my very small garden!

Mind you I am also now cultivating a weed patch that takes up one fifth of whats left of the garden! So you could say they have more garden then we (me, my son & hubby) have! Oh, then on the rest of the garden I have an assortment of pots that have tortoise friendly plants growing in them.... so technically they probably have more garden than us!!!!!

You may know dawn, I have plans to develop a space for my torts with the idea they hibernate out doors naturally. I have been looking at loads of homes including bottomless sheds or rabbit hutches. I like your idea and David has looked interested..... And my gardener likes digging .... He has said a mixture of moss and Peat can seed a film to make like a garden wall. I feel a plan coming on!!! Can you tell me more about the heating and lighting system you have please x x x. Hugs xxx

I'll post a picture tomorrow, but all I've got is a combo heat lamp fitted down one end, and a tubular heater on the back wall. In all fairness I never use the heat unless I need to - i.e., when they first wake from hibernation and just before they go down for hibernation, the tubular heater is set to come on if temps drop down to 2 degrees. Very basic

just 2 more things dawn, how many torts sleep out there and if you were doing anything different what would it be?.....tiggy

Hmmmmmm, well I'll answer the easy question first...... all 8 of mine are out there all year round. The two babies born this year will go out there for most of next year - though I shall build an extension for them as they are smaller

Now, what would I change..... the only thing I would change is the two things that I was gonna do, but then changed my mind and now slightly regret it...... If I was to start again, I would make it easier for me to access - not sure how really, and the other thing would be to have two doors in it so that I can partition half off. The only problem with having these two options - and the reason I DIDN'T go for them in the end was because it would have made it harder to keep the temperature stable in there with having too many exits. Also how it is now it's economical to heat.

I think the only real modification I will do next year is to somehow get hydraulic arms put on the lid. For the babies I have a small house that I will insulate but won't be able to heat unfortunately and I will section them of a bit of the enclosure. Hopefully the following year they will be big enough to go into the main enclosure.

Hope that answers your questions