Interesting Neal and I am glad your sri lankans are ok. Thanks for sharing. I never had issues with them getting like that. I hear sri lankans can tolerate cooler weather than indian stars (some say 40s-50s though I never chanced it-adults are hardier to cold). THough mine were only in the high 60s and lower 70s every once in a while, they seemed good. THough I let my radiateds get cooled to 60s pretty frequently without any ill effect....but I do let them warm up to the 70s on these winter days. A friend of mine found a baby leopard in a pen that looked like it survived a few winters here in AZ (where he lives drops down to low 20s)
Reptiles are pretty tough. The mountain rattlesnakes in SE AZ can be found basking when there is snow on the ground. There are AZ reptiles that are active in the 50s and 60s. Sometimes, desert tortoises will be under a bush in freezing temps and seem ok in the spring. Though, this isn't the case for all reptile species....I think that they need to be subjected to temps that are similar to their natural habitat. I think it also helps build their tolerance in the cold (and in some cases, fertility). I heard fertility increased for some zoos/private breeders when they let their burmese stars and radiateds be subjected to lows of 40s and 50s (but they probably let them warm up for part of the day). I am sure if my power went out for a week, my tortoises will be ok. If I didn't subject them to cooler temps, then I may have a problem. Though, I don't think I would subject forest hingebacks to dry and cool temps (which I am sure they do encounter in the wild-but it is probably like a 5-10 degree drop or something minimal like that).
All my russians are hibernating, but I have a male that I adopted that is in the backroom, and the temps are 50-60...and he is always active except at night. He is being quarantined before I put him with the rest of them. The temps outside are in mid 70s to low 40s, and the tortoises are completely inactive. I find it interesting that that male russian is consistently active/eating at a more constant 50-60, while the rest of the group is inactive at 40-75. Maybe the lone male isn't situated yet.
The incubator thing seems interesting....my only thing is that there is no escape if they wanted to. I think bumping up the temps is a good idea, but also providing them a way to escape the heat is necessary.
But yeah, it is great protocol to check timers and heaters. Great reminder.
This is getting long... so I will cut it short.
Too bad we didn't get to talk at the conference.....actually I didn't get to talk to any TFO members (other than saying hi to Tom).
Reptiles are pretty tough. The mountain rattlesnakes in SE AZ can be found basking when there is snow on the ground. There are AZ reptiles that are active in the 50s and 60s. Sometimes, desert tortoises will be under a bush in freezing temps and seem ok in the spring. Though, this isn't the case for all reptile species....I think that they need to be subjected to temps that are similar to their natural habitat. I think it also helps build their tolerance in the cold (and in some cases, fertility). I heard fertility increased for some zoos/private breeders when they let their burmese stars and radiateds be subjected to lows of 40s and 50s (but they probably let them warm up for part of the day). I am sure if my power went out for a week, my tortoises will be ok. If I didn't subject them to cooler temps, then I may have a problem. Though, I don't think I would subject forest hingebacks to dry and cool temps (which I am sure they do encounter in the wild-but it is probably like a 5-10 degree drop or something minimal like that).
All my russians are hibernating, but I have a male that I adopted that is in the backroom, and the temps are 50-60...and he is always active except at night. He is being quarantined before I put him with the rest of them. The temps outside are in mid 70s to low 40s, and the tortoises are completely inactive. I find it interesting that that male russian is consistently active/eating at a more constant 50-60, while the rest of the group is inactive at 40-75. Maybe the lone male isn't situated yet.
The incubator thing seems interesting....my only thing is that there is no escape if they wanted to. I think bumping up the temps is a good idea, but also providing them a way to escape the heat is necessary.
But yeah, it is great protocol to check timers and heaters. Great reminder.
This is getting long... so I will cut it short.
Too bad we didn't get to talk at the conference.....actually I didn't get to talk to any TFO members (other than saying hi to Tom).
