Russian tortoise “minimum” temperatures?

Hello! I live in Colorado with my Russian tortoise and it is finally starting to look nice outside. Which means it 70 degrees or so, is it ok if me and my tortoise can go outside for about a hour or is that too cold for them?

Thanks!

If you have An infrared thermometer you may find that there are parts of your garden that are way hotter than 70 if that’s the air temperature.

Because they have a place to dig into the ground for the night, I've had my Russian tortoises outside at nights as low as 45 °F. The real danger for them is a freezing temperature or a prolonged cold/damp spree. I bring them inside if the forecast calls for lows below the 40s or if there are 3-4 days of forecast with no sunny days.

So lower temperatures are okay as long as they have a sunny spot that they can warm up during the day and digest their food. On a sunny 60°F day I've measured my tortoises' shell temperature in the 80s °F (using a infrared thermometer). Along those lines if you put them outside in the summer on a 90°F day, a tortoise in a small enclosure in the sun might not have a place to retreat from too hot of a temperature.

70 and sunny is perfect for them. They can tolerate hotter, but 70 is a nice temp for them.