Hello from SW Arizona!

Anet

New Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2019
Messages
12
Location (City and/or State)
AJO, AZ
I live in sunny, hot southwest Arizona and love every minute of it. Thanks for all the great information on this forum. I have been scrounging around the internet for answers for my questions but have mixed information. I have two SW Arizona desert tortoises, a 5yr old named Target and a 3 year old named Arrow. I just acquired them and this will be the first time I will be going through the brumation experience. I have a pen set up for them outside but have only grown hibiscus so far. They eat a mixture of ZooMed grassland, paddle cactus, bermuda grass, carrots and bok choy.
Question # 1: When I feed them should it be only once a day as I have read? I tend to feed them twice because they still eat as if they are hungry.
Question #2: The winters in Arizona can reach freezing temperatures. Does anyone in SW Arizona leave their tortoises outside all winter long? Should they brumate in a refrigerator or should I leave them outside in their above ground burrow?
Thank you so much for any information!IMG_2397.jpg IMG_2397.jpg IMG_2397.jpg
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,390
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
Welcome!

I put enough food to last all day. That way they can come back throughout the day and nibble a bit more. So what if it's dried out at the end of the day? Makes no difference to the tortoise. . . he eats it anyway!
I have always felt 'water' during hibernation is not healthy for a brumating tortoise, so I box them up and bring them in. Here where I live we get too much rain during the winter, so it would be impossible to keep them dry outside.
 

Anet

New Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2019
Messages
12
Location (City and/or State)
AJO, AZ
Welcome!

I put enough food to last all day. That way they can come back throughout the day and nibble a bit more. So what if it's dried out at the end of the day? Makes no difference to the tortoise. . . he eats it anyway!
I have always felt 'water' during hibernation is not healthy for a brumating tortoise, so I box them up and bring them in. Here where I live we get too much rain during the winter, so it would be impossible to keep them dry outside.
Good idea, I will leave food out all day. Lizards can snack too I guess. How do you box them up?
 

Neal

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Apr 15, 2010
Messages
4,967
Location (City and/or State)
Arizona
Do they have the ability to dig into the soil? If so, I would suggest just letting them naturally do what they want to do during the winter. I've hibernated turtles and tortoises outside nearly every year for the past 20 years outside without any issue. The difficult part is that our winters are never long enough for them to really hibernate for long, but considering you're talking about Sonoran desert tortoises, they should be adapted to our short winters more-so than the box turtles I have.

Our winters are hit or miss with rain, but even during wet winters we usually dry out pretty quick. If you decide to let them hibernate outside, just make sure they're in an area where the water doesn't pool or sit for too long.
 

waswondering

Active Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2019
Messages
100
Location (City and/or State)
Arizona
I live in sunny, hot southwest Arizona and love every minute of it. Thanks for all the great information on this forum. I have been scrounging around the internet for answers for my questions but have mixed information. I have two SW Arizona desert tortoises, a 5yr old named Target and a 3 year old named Arrow. I just acquired them and this will be the first time I will be going through the brumation experience. I have a pen set up for them outside but have only grown hibiscus so far. They eat a mixture of ZooMed grassland, paddle cactus, bermuda grass, carrots and bok choy.
Question # 1: When I feed them should it be only once a day as I have read? I tend to feed them twice because they still eat as if they are hungry.
Question #2: The winters in Arizona can reach freezing temperatures. Does anyone in SW Arizona leave their tortoises outside all winter long? Should they brumate in a refrigerator or should I leave them outside in their above ground burrow?
Thank you so much for any information!View attachment 278837 View attachment 278837 View attachment 278837
Hello, I'm also new to the forum. I've had tortoise(mostly sulcatas) in the valley for 20 years! The tortoise you have in your picture are really small and shouldn't be left outside unsupervised, there are many things our here that can and will kill baby torts. If these are old photos can you post more photos that are up to date? As it stands they can't live outside in winter or summer unless you have a bunch of shade. They are good with heat but not unaffected by it and can pretty easily die from it as babys. When they are about 7-10 pounds they can be left outside in winter. However this isnt advisable, they mine reason is because they dont come out of there hole during hibernation. This means that if you had a really cold night and dont know how he is ge could be dead or near it and you wouldn't know or be able to help is the hole is deep enough.

If you have any questions please ask.
Hope this helps.
 

SweetGreekTorts

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 12, 2018
Messages
980
Location (City and/or State)
Tucson, AZ
Welcome to the Forum! I live in Tucson and have a Desert Tortoise that I've raised since he was about 2-3 months old. Right around Halloween he will go into brumation mode and I put him in a box with a little dirt in it and store him in my closet until February when he wakes up (usually right around the Super Bowl Game). That way it stays dark, quiet, dry, and no wacky change in temps during the winter.

But that's what I do. Other keepers have other methods, so consider all the advice and choose what you feel would be best for your tortoise.20190814_181847.jpeg
 

New Posts

Top