The 5 Best Tortoise Enclosures to Keep You Pet Safe

Best Overall

Aivituvin Wooden Tortoise House

$90 $50 at Amazon $100 at Chewy View on Aivituvin.com

A good tortoise enclosure needs to be able to protect your companion while giving them enough room to move around. This wooden house from Aivituvin gives you a solid foundation that’s easy to fill with dirt or bedding without leaks. The solid wood exterior is combined with a waterproof, plastic bottom, making it easy to wipe up messes.

The Aivituvin Tortoise House is divided into two sections, separated by an 8.3-inch square door: a larger “public” compartment with acrylic viewing panels and a screen top, and an adjacent, fully enclosed compartment where your pet can find darkness and privacy. Each compartment has a separate latch and prop, so you can open either compartment separately and keep it open for airing or cleaning.

Heat sources are crucial to any tortoise enclosure, and this house has an adjustable lamp holder that extends from 30.3 to 39 inches high and from 13 to 21.1 inches out. Combine that with the lamp holder’s 360-degree rotation, and you have enough adjustability to place light wherever your tortoise needs it most.

Though it's appropriate for outdoor or indoor use, its relatively small size and lamp configuration inclines us to recommend it more for indoor use. Its primary limitation is its size, which is only appropriate for some tortoise species, or as a starter enclosure for a juvenile tortoise. 

The Aivituvin Wooden Tortoise House is also available in an elevated configuration with legs. It requires some assembly after purchase, with pre-drilled holes.

_{Dimensions: 38.1 x 22.4 x 39 inches | Materials: Wood, acrylic, metal | Included Accessories: Lamp holder}

Best Overall, Outdoor

Rockever Wooden Tortoise Habitat

$120 $100 at Amazon

The Tortoise House Habitat enclosure is perfect for many types of smaller or medium-sized tortoises, like leopard or red-footed tortoises. The wire top is divided into three panels, which can be partially or fully opened for easy access to the interior. 

At 49 by 36 inches, the Tortoise House Habitat provides plenty of open space for tortoises to bask in the sun, with a 13 by 36-inch interior that provides secure privacy. While the door to the interior space can be closed, we do wish the wire window could be sealed as well to provide the pet with as much darkness as possible.

The enclosure does require some assembly, though the tools and instructions do come in the box. Overall, it's a great enclosure for outdoor tortoise aficionados looking for a place that will give them the confidence to leave their shelled friend outside. Plus, it’s also available in a smaller size that’s suitable for indoor or outdoor use.

The main downside to the Tortoise House Habitat is that it doesn’t have a floor, which makes it easy to escape from, particularly for burrowing tortoise species.

_{Dimensions: 49 x 36 x 14 inches (large), 36 x 24 x 14 (small) | Materials: Fir wood | Included Accessories: Not listed}

Best Fencing

Lan Jia Hardware Cloth

$95 at Amazon

Since many of the enclosures sold by major retailers are too small for larger tortoise species, many people opt to build their own enclosures, typically using wire. But while standard chicken wire can work to keep your tortoise hemmed in its large, hexagonal openings are less effective at repelling predators. Instead, consider a hardware cloth, like this highly-rated fencing from Lan Jia. Hardware cloth has square instead of hexagonal openings, and they’re really narrow, so raccoons or other opportunistic predators can’t reach through. 

You can use hardware cloth in combination with a wood or PVC frame to build a custom outdoor enclosure for your tortoise. It can also be used to build a top to an existing enclosure, or even buried along the perimeter of your enclosure to keep your tortoise from burrowing out.

Lan Jia Hardware Cloth is galvanized after welding for a full seal that prevents the steel wire from rusting. Its square openings are each a half-inch across, which offers maximum protection while still giving your tortoise full visibility of their surroundings. The 19-gauge wire is also sturdy enough (the lower the gauge number, the thicker the wire) that your tortoise shouldn’t be able to bend it.

_{Dimensions: 24-inch height, variable length | Materials: Galvanized steel wire | Included Accessories: Not listed}

Best for Hatchlings

PawHut Wooden Tortoise House

$70 at Amazon

Having newborn tortoises can be a blessing and a curse since now you have to figure out how to take care of them. Having enough space for them to wander without getting hurt is a must, which is why the PawHut enclosure is a great choice. Made of wood, it offers two different sections to offer some privacy and a wire top that allows for a heating lamp to shine through. 

If you’d prefer not to splurge on a big cage, just use a plastic container that’s around two feet long and 15 inches deep. And make sure to have a heating lamp attached to a digital thermostat since hatchlings are more susceptible to heat differences.

_{Dimensions: 37 x 24.75 x 13 inches | Materials: Pine, plywood | Included Accessories: Not listed}

Best Multi-Level

PawHut Three-Room Tortoise House

$190 at Amazon $170 $150 at Walmart $186 at Home Depot

The multi-level design of PawHut's Three-Room Tortoise House encourages a tortoise to roam from floor to floor, and the mesh roof invites sunbathing with ample airflow. The enclosure also features an openable roof for easy access, a tortoise ladder, and a plastic bottom tray for quick clean-up. This PawHut house can be situated indoors or outside, and it is made of metal and wood coated with a weather-resistant stain for protection from the elements.

Open the roof to give your tortoise some fun in the sun, and then close and lock it at night for privacy and protection from predators. The unique design allows your tortoise to find its comfy space, either under the wire mesh in the breeze or down below in the hiding space. This durable structure requires more assembly than other tortoise habitations on our list, but the instructions included are easy to follow.

_{Dimensions: 44 x 25.5 x 23.5 inches | Materials: Fir wood, galvanized mesh wire | Included Accessories: Not listed}