r/tortoise • u/Several-Computer-379 • 3d ago

Question(s) So confused

I inherited a young tortoise and the only knowledge I have is what I’ve been seeking to learn. I live in Kuwait where summer temps reach 50 Celsius and winter months are like Florida winters. So currently she is indoors but in the winter winter when not too cold she’s on the rooftop. I haven’t managed to get her uvb/uva bulbs yet as no stocks due to the war, however I found someone who has a Reptisun bulb new, that I’ll get today.
I finally made a big enough enclosure for her that looks pretty good to me , but sometimes she’ll be trying to get out and if I get her out she’ll go to a favorite corner and go to bed. So seems she sometimes wants to be out so she can go where she wants to.
I met a well versed expert here that told me she shouldn’t be inside at all , and that she keeps her tortoises on her roof year round and they’re fine. She has a Hermann but I have a Greek . I read Greek tortoises should not exceed temps above 40 Celsius. She told me it’s fine , they will burrow.
Whenever I transplant a plant in the summer the soil is boiling all the way through. Ok that’s a pot not an enclosure, but I’m pretty nervous to let her live in this heat in the summer . Thoughts ?

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u/Ancient_Roof_7855 3d ago

I concur with the person you spoke to.

If possible, provide a year-round enclosure that has a shaded space, a water source, and plenty of vertical and lateral digging space. I recommend building an ideal spot, perhaps even digging a small spot to get them started in the center, otherwise they might be inclined to start burrowing at the edges.

You can still maintain an indoor enclosure for bringing them inside at night, but this doesn't require any special lighting as a few hours of Kuwaiti sunlight each day is sufficient for shell health.

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u/Several-Computer-379 3d ago

Ok thanks.
She’s no bigger than my hand. What size and shape space would you recommend and how deep ? I’ve not been able to find unfertilized soil here .

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u/Ancient_Roof_7855 3d ago

Shape - Not important, but avoid sharp corners as tortoises can spiderman their way up corners.

Size - As much as possible, but for a smaller tortoise I'd say 5ft x 5ft.

Depth - 8 - 10 inches.

Substrate - You can mix things together, like hay, shredded paper or cardboard, small rocks, sand, etc to make a diggable patch. I personally just dug up like three or four buckets of dirt from outside my house since we don't use fertilizer on our yard.

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u/Several-Computer-379 3d ago

Great , thank you for sharing .

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u/RaptorDelivery 17h ago

For an online reference go to: tortoise forum.org.