Cold tolerant species

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-EJ

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My Aldabs just went in for the day. It was the 2 largest ones that were out. The little ones came out pretty early but went in just as early...

The temps... started at 39... ended at 58. They have a heat mat in their hide... and that's it. Thursday supposed to hit the upper 20s. They're all coming in for the night. I dread moving Big Al.

West Atlanta, GA... USA. Similar to South England.
 

Yvonne G

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I'm pretty sure my weather is milder than where you are.

I considered putting a hasp on the door to my Aldab shed, but every morning they push open the door and come out on their own because I'm too slow for them, so I won't put a hasp.

They come out regardless if its raining, foggy, cold or sunny. They forage around for a bit and if its cold they go back inside. On their own...thank goodness. One day I forgot to put the brick in front of the door to hold it open and they were both left outside in the evening. I had a HECK of a time nudging and encouraging them back indoors. I'M SO GLAD they go in on their own!

And keeping in tune with the subject line of this thread...My Manouria come out every day, 365 days of the year. They are one of the more cold tolerant species.
 

-EJ

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It's not really colder but the shifts in extremes are dramatic... that kills animals. We hit the same temperatures here but there is usually a little warning.

Like I tell everyone. Aldabras are the most cold tolerant/adaptable species I've ever come across.

emysemys said:
I'm pretty sure my weather is milder than where you are.

I considered putting a hasp on the door to my Aldab shed, but every morning they push open the door and come out on their own because I'm too slow for them, so I won't put a hasp.

I don't even keep my Manoria in a heated room... no supplemental heat... Their only hatchlings though. I might be able to make such comments about them given time.

They come out regardless if its raining, foggy, cold or sunny. They forage around for a bit and if its cold they go back inside. On their own...thank goodness. One day I forgot to put the brick in front of the door to hold it open and they were both left outside in the evening. I had a HECK of a time nudging and encouraging them back indoors. I'M SO GLAD they go in on their own!

And keeping in tune with the subject line of this thread...My Manouria come out every day, 365 days of the year. The are one of the more cold tolerant species.
 

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-EJ said:
Like I tell everyone. Aldabras are the most cold tolerant/adaptable species I've ever come across.

Or could it just be their size? Dudley (sulcata) comes out every day too, and stays out quite a while in the cold. I've always figured that because of his size his core temperature stays warm longer.

I just noticed that there's a sentence in my part of your post that I didn't put there. Do you mean to tell me that you have some hatchling Manouria? Yea!!! Mep or Mee??
 

-EJ

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Impressa. Didn't even know what they were before Daytona. A friend gave me one and I got 4 more from another friend.

My big(40+ lbs) Sulcata do not come out in the cold.

I totally agree about what you are saying and the core temperature. That is seriously important.

Side note... did you hatch the berlandieri? I can't rember the girls name but I was supposed to get some just before I was kicked out of SD.

emysemys said:
-EJ said:
Like I tell everyone. Aldabras are the most cold tolerant/adaptable species I've ever come across.

Or could it just be their size? Dudley (sulcata) comes out every day too, and stays out quite a while in the cold. I've always figured that because of his size his core temperature stays warm longer.

I just noticed that there's a sentence in my part of your post that I didn't put there. Do you mean to tell me that you have some hatchling Manouria? Yea!!! Mep or Mee??
 

Yvonne G

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No. There's a little old lady here in town...has to be over 90 years old. Lives in a very nice, clean house near St.Agnes hospital. Has $$$ and her yard is well taken care of. She has a pair of Texas tortoises and at one time had a male desert tortoise too. So she had some intergrade texas/desert adults that she kept from the original breedings. She's very hard of hearing, and we correspond by u.s. mail. She mentioned one time that she wished she had an incubator, so I gave her one.

This year her female Texas tortoise laid 3 clutches of eggs which hatched a month apart. And because of her success in hatching the eggs, she gave me the babies! But before I got those babies, I asked Diana if she would save one of her babies for me. I'm sure that it was Diana who told you she would give you some babies. Diana is keeping my baby until it is a year old to be sure it lives! I'm not that good with babies. (Diana is the secretary of the Cen-Val Chapter CTTC, and you can get her last name from a Gazette if you're still a member)
 

-EJ

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Was that the place you took me to?

Can you set it up to where I can get photos of the hybrids?

I'll get in touch with Diana for sure.

emysemys said:
No. There's a little old lady here in town...has to be over 90 years old. Lives in a very nice, clean house near St.Agnes hospital. Has $$$ and her yard is well taken care of. She has a pair of Texas tortoises and at one time had a male desert tortoise too. So she has some intergrade texas/desert adults that she kept from the original breedings. She's very hard of hearing, and we correspond by u.s. mail. She mentioned one time that she wished she had an incubator, so I gave her one.

This year her female Texas tortoise laid 3 clutches of eggs which hatched a month apart. And because of her success in hatching the eggs, she gave me the babies! But before I got those babies, I asked Diana if she would save one of her babies for me. I'm sure that it was Diana who told you she would give you some babies. Diana is keeping my baby until it is a year old to be sure it lives! I'm not that good with babies. (Diana is the secretary of the Cen-Val Chapter CTTC, and you can get her last name from a Gazette if you're still a member)
 

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No. This lady isn't in the club. The place I took you to was the then treasurer of the chapter. I tried real hard to NOT take people there unless I wanted to give a lesson on how to NOT take care of your tortoises. She has since passed on and her husband now lives in another city. I believe most of the tortoises were dispersed throughout the club (I'm no longer a member of that chapter), and **** took the sulcatas to his new home and is trying to sell them from there. I believe its Springville.

Anyway, this lady doesn't have the intergrades any more. She only has 1.1 berlandieri left. She thinks that her gardener used a chemical that killed most of her tortoises.
 

-EJ

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I wish I had digital capability at that time. From what I remember most of her animals were fantastic looking.



emysemys said:
No. This lady isn't in the club. The place I took you to was the then treasurer of the chapter. I tried real hard to NOT take people there unless I wanted to give a lesson on how to NOT take care of your tortoises. She has since passed on and her husband now lives in another city. I believe most of the tortoises were dispersed throughout the club (I'm no longer a member of that chapter), and **** took the sulcatas to his new home and is trying to sell them from there. I believe its Springville.

Anyway, this lady doesn't have the intergrades any more. She only has 1.1 berlandieri left. She thinks that her gardener used a chemical that killed most of her tortoises.
 

Yvonne G

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-EJ said:
I wish I had digital capability at that time. From what I remember most of her animals were fantastic looking.

Yes, but she got them as adults. You must not have seen the ones in the house. She had a 50 gallon aquarium in her entry way with several Greek tortoises inside. They were about the size of your palm and almost as flat as a pancake (not counting the pyramid bumps). She had 8 or 10 aquariums of box turtles behind her couch that were so deformed as to make you cringe just looking at them. She had 5 or 6 50 gallon aquariums with wall-to-wall baby sulcatas already showing signs of pyramiding at only weeks old. I could go on, but it hurts my head remembering the poor animals.
 

-EJ

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I specificly remember you pointing that out... I also remember that I took the same stance. The animals looked good and well cared for.

I don't remember the animals you mentioned.

I don't think we want to take this conversation in this direction...

emysemys said:
-EJ said:
I wish I had digital capability at that time. From what I remember most of her animals were fantastic looking.

Yes, but she got them as adults. You must not have seen the ones in the house. She had a 50 gallon aquarium in her entry way with several Greek tortoises inside. They were about the size of your palm and almost as flat as a pancake (not counting the pyramid bumps). She had 8 or 10 aquariums of box turtles behind her couch that were so deformed as to make you cringe just looking at them. She had 5 or 6 50 gallon aquariums with wall-to-wall baby sulcatas already showing signs of pyramiding at only weeks old. I could go on, but it hurts my head remembering the poor animals.
 

Yvonne G

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No, you're right. Its time for the Ed and Yvonne show to go off the air!
 
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