When you decide to take in a tortoise, one of your first purchases will be an indoor tortoise enclosure. While this can be an exciting time, it can also be expensive. In today’s article, I am going to review my favorite indoor tortoise enclosure, which is cheaper than you might think.
The Best Cheap Indoor Tortoise Enclosure
The best indoor tortoise enclosure is the Aivituvin Wooden Tortoise House. It is very cheap, and at the time of this writing only costs $137.
This tortoise enclosure is comprised of two main parts. The bigger side on the left is the basking area. It has a grey mesh wiring above, and is great for looking at your tortoise. This is where I feed my tortoise and keep his water bowl.
On the right side is the dark-room, which is covered by a wooden top that blocks light. This is where your tortoise can go to rest and get out of the light.
Aivituvin Tortoise House Review
The Aivituvin tortoise enclosure is made from fir wood, which is much more durable compared to other types of wood such as pine. It also does not rot easily, which is very important.
This indoor enclosure will last for decades as long as it is kept inside and well maintained.
Dimensions
This is a sizeable indoor tortoise enclosure, and can fit most tortoises that are 7 inches or less in length. The entire tortoise enclosure is 39 inches wide, 24 inches long, and has a height of 12 inches.
The basking area on the left has a width of 24 inches and a length of 23 inches.
The dark room on the right has a width of 13 inches and a length of 23 inches.
While I have never done this, you can apparently attach two sets of Aivituvin enclosures if you want a bigger space for your tortoise/tortoises. There are instructions in the manual that explain how to connect two sets.
Functionality
Each of the two compartments have their own lid, so you can open them up separately. There is also a metal built in pole which allows you to hold the lid open. This is perfect when you need to keep the lid open for a while to clean or feed your tortoise.
Both sections have a built in pad lock that you can use to keep your tortoise safe and secure. You probably only need to lock the enclosure if you have other pets in the house, or a young child.
If your tortoise does managed to escape from the enclosure, you should read my guide on how to find a lot tortoise.
Dark Room
As you might already know, tortoises require a dark area away from light in order to sleep properly. This wooden tortoise enclosure does a great job of trapping light in order to maintain a dark environment. I would also suggest that you put some plants or other ornaments in this area that your turtle can hide under.
Just make sure that you don’t put too many things inside this section so that your turtle can’t easily walk around.
Lighting
Just about all turtles will require some form of UVA and UVB lighting. This tortoise enclosure does a great job of accommodating lights. It actually comes with a wooden light support frame which can be used to hold a light. However, I think its easier just to remove this handle and put the light directly on the mesh (as pictured below).
I recommend using a combo light that emits both UVA and UVB light. This is because with a combo light you can direct all the light in one corner of the enclosure, and allow more shade in other parts. If you have two different lights, at least half of the enclosure will be exposed to light, which might annoy your tortoise.
Whenever you get a new light, make sure to check the temperature on the ground level of your enclosure in order to make sure it isn’t too hot. To learn more, check out my article on the best heat lamp for tortoises.
The tubes you see in the picture above are for the tortoise’s water bowls. You can stick the tubes directly into the mesh so that you don’t have to open it up each time you want to give your tortoise water.
Bottom of enclosure
The enclosure has a plastic covering on the bottom. It is 100% sealed and waterproof, so nothing will be able to leak through it. For substrate, I recommend using some form of dirt, woodchips, or coconut fiber.
Conclusion
All in all, the Aivituvin Wooden Tortoise House is a great indoor tortoise enclosure. It is very cheap, and takes less than 30 minutes to assemble. It is also not too heavy, so it is easy to move around.
While I would suggest using this for an indoor tortoise enclosure, you can keep it outside. However, you should know that it won’t last as long, and your tortoise might be exposed to predators.
If you have a larger tortoise such as a desert tortoitise, you should check out my article on Desert Tortoise Enclosures.
