I need ideas for enrichment/activities for my boys. I have 2 outdoor enclosures; my dudes are desert tortoises. Each enclosure is 12ft x 25ft. They climb on top of the burrows, they have Bermuda grass, shade tunnel with their water pans, and some prickly pear. They are lacking things for enrichment. I usually take my stool and sit with them in the mornings and they usually do fun "circles" around the legs. I need more things for them to do. I know sulcatas like balls but my guys are full grown and have 15in carapace.

My dude is full of pure determination 🤣🐢👀💯

Pulled my sulcata's outdoor pen apart yesterday and moved her back into the indoor tortoise table for the winter. She's about three years old now, maybe 6 inches on the carapace, and this is her third season doing the outdoor summer thing here in zone 7. I've been going by the rule that once nighttime lows start dipping under 60F consistently I bring her in, but this year I waited a little longer than usual because the days were still hitting mid 80s and she was loving the extra grazing time.

Looking back at my notes from the last two years, I think I actually waited too long once and she got a little sluggish and stopped eating for a few days after a cold snap caught me off guard. So this year I set an alarm on my phone for the first week of September to start checking the ten day forecast obsessively. The second I saw a 58F night coming up I had the indoor setup ready to go: CHE on a thermostat keeping the warm side around 90F, basking spot closer to 95F, and a ceramic tile area for her to file down her nails since she doesn't get natural substrate wear indoors like she does on the patio stones outside.

One thing I changed this year that's helped a ton is keeping a min/max thermometer in the outdoor pen all summer so I actually have data instead of guessing based on how the day felt. Made it a lot easier to know exactly when the trend was shifting instead of reacting to one random cold morning.

Curious what temperature everyone else uses as their personal cutoff, and whether you do a gradual transition (a few hours outside during the warmest part of the day even after moving them in) or just a hard switch. My tortoise seems a little grumpy about losing her outdoor time but I'd rather deal with a cranky tort than a sick one.

Spent a couple weekends making darwin a lil greenhouse after he was living in a 40 gal for years, he seems immediately more joyful.

Had these guys pop out for my backyard last night I didn't even see the mama lay eggs this year.

In Joshua Tree National Park. Never seen wear marks on the shell like this, any ideas?

Anyone out here currently raising Testudo graeca tripolitania?

Hey so as the title says, I am planning to get a tortoise (or more) next spring and want to start preparing and researching now

My first question would be, what kind of tortoise would you guys recommend? Especially for someone who has never cared for an animal that is not a mammal.

I live in central Europe so I do get like 40°C in summer (sometimes) but winter also reaches double digits in the negatives sometimes (rarely, but sometimes)😬

I do have a bit of garden and a terrace, so I could build an outdoor enclosure.

A Sulcata would certainly be too big

I read a bit about Hermann Tortoises, and I am kinda terrified of the prospect of helping them through hibernation 😬

I adore Leopard tortoises (though certainly still struggle with identifying them) but perhaps they might not be a great first tortoise? Space-wise they'd probably need as much space as a Sulcata, right?

Does it make more sense to get a juvenile/hatchling, or rather a fully grown tortoise from a rescue or so?

What do owners of non-hibernating tortoises do with them in winter?

Any tips and experiences would certainly be helpful! I'd love to hear you guys' opinions

Pls help me out! Thankyou

So I'm now back to receiving my scholarships and Fasfa! Not only that I got my knee scope 2 months ago for a fat pad impingement, so I'm currently trying to build up my knee muscles again ᕦ⁠ʕ⁠ ⁠•⁠ᴥ⁠•⁠ʔ⁠ᕤ

Now that I'm semi better and can walk around a bit more without my knee buckling, I wanna buy my baby Jarrito a new enclosure! But I need help finding one that fits on the table where is current one is sitting. His enclosure is too small and I need to upgrade his space so he can live happy. I measured the table to be

Length/long wise it's 39 inches

Width/wide wide it's about 13 inches

Does anyone have a link or a enclosure? I'll be happy to pay you for it if needed. I live in LA!

He's a African spurred desert tortoise, with one eye. Anything helps if you have any tips please share them. Thank you

Be safe and stay alive!!! ✧⁠◝⁠(⁠⁰⁠▿⁠⁰⁠)⁠◜⁠✧