Ken A
New Member
I am a new (2 weeks) owner of a Russian tortoise and I have been learning a lot from the forums. Other than introducing myself I haven't posted much and this is my first question.
I built a 6 ft x 10 ft outdoor enclosure that I intent to house him in year round. I am in the central coast area of California. Morning fog and 50 degrees mornings and sunny 75-80 daytime highs. I built a box for them out of a rubbermaid deck box similar to this:
http://www.russiantortoise.net/deck_box.htm
I don't have a ceramic heater but have a 40W ZooMed heating pad like this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003Z0B52Y/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20
The box stays in the high 60's to low 70's at night. When the sun hits it during the day it gets close to 100. He roams around during the morning and eats, poops and pees just great. Usually I find him in his box even in the hottest part of the day. It's almost 100 in the box and the shady side of the pen is around 75. Is this OK for him to hang out in the heat?
Is my plan to keep them outside all year ok? Our winter lows rarely get below freezing but it does happen several times each winter...never below 25 and daytime temps getting into the 60's. I am getting a ceramic heat emitter and thermostat for the box when we need it.
I built a 6 ft x 10 ft outdoor enclosure that I intent to house him in year round. I am in the central coast area of California. Morning fog and 50 degrees mornings and sunny 75-80 daytime highs. I built a box for them out of a rubbermaid deck box similar to this:
http://www.russiantortoise.net/deck_box.htm
I don't have a ceramic heater but have a 40W ZooMed heating pad like this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003Z0B52Y/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20
The box stays in the high 60's to low 70's at night. When the sun hits it during the day it gets close to 100. He roams around during the morning and eats, poops and pees just great. Usually I find him in his box even in the hottest part of the day. It's almost 100 in the box and the shady side of the pen is around 75. Is this OK for him to hang out in the heat?
Is my plan to keep them outside all year ok? Our winter lows rarely get below freezing but it does happen several times each winter...never below 25 and daytime temps getting into the 60's. I am getting a ceramic heat emitter and thermostat for the box when we need it.
