First night outdoors

[george.T.tort]

My little guys are spending their first night outdoors tonight. They are snug in their cold frame. Has been the first night here in uk that has been mild enough. Will be out there first thing to check on them!

 

[ascott]

First night "ever"???? How exciting!!! I bet they feel FABULOUS

 

[george.T.tort]

Yep first night ever! Until recently I had them indoors on a tortoise table but they had started to out grow it. I've just moved to a property with a garden so built them an outdoors pen. They are still tucked up in their cold frame as its rather overcast this morning. Good ol predictable English weather!!

 

[JoesMum]

Don't be afraid to bring them in under the heat lamp for a couple of hours to warm up if the sun fails to emerge as it has here in Kent.

Joe has been under his lamp in his dog-kennel since 7.30am. It's on a timer and goes off at midday. He'll emerge by 11.30am... earlier if the sun comes out.

 

[george.T.tort]

Thanks joesmum. The heat lamp is indoors at the moment, I need to set them one up in their outdoor enclosure asap. My two are quite a bit smaller than joe. I can't have them roaming the garden freely yet as they will escape. How old is joe?

 

[JoesMum]

Joe is 50ish... my husband's 7th birthday present back in 1970.

With a tort Joe's size, I wouldn't worry too much about a couple of days inactivity due to poor weather. Today has been overcast all day with the temperature a steady 12C all day. He may have bothered to get up, but probably wouldn't. As it is, we have the kennel-lamp and that charges him up for a few hours of activity. You'll notice there's no ramp. that's because the step is plenty low enough for Joe to get in and out safely as he chooses. Being Joe, he chooses to come out, but not go back in usually!

With smaller torts like yours, they really need to eat and the heat lamp boost, indoors or out, is more important.

 

[thatrebecca]

Wow, Joe's house is a beaut! How'd you build it? Here in LA you could rent that out to a wannabe actor for 1200 a month.

 

[JoesMum]

Wow, Joe's house is a beaut! How'd you build it? Here in LA you could rent that out to a wannabe actor for 1200 a month.

I bought it from Amazon and assembled from a flat pack with the help of my son. The flat pack was basically 4 walls, the roof and the floor. It wasn't hard to do, just a bit heavy. The hardest bit was attaching the roof to it's hinges. (Hinged roof essential for maintenance!)

The doorway has a clear plastic "curtain" that helps to retain the warmth. Joe doesn't seem to have any issues with pushing through it.

We have insulated the interior with silvered bubble wrap stuff that you can buy in DIY stores for putting behind radiators, etc and we have used a plastic mat on the floor so that it is easily wiped clean.

The heat lamp hangs from a standard reptile lamp stand and has a slate coloured paving slab under it that warms up a treat for basking.

 

[Andrea M]

Could we see some pics from inside the kennel please? I have a 7 month old THB but am always after ideas for when he's big enough to go outside for longer than an hour or 2