Hermanns Ability to Control Temperature in UK

[Simon Carter]

I have looked for an answer to this question, because I'm sure it must be here somewhere, but there are so many posts I have given up searching.
I've had a Hermanns since December, he is about 4 years old 5 inches long, has been kept indoors until recently, we have built an outdoor enclosure, to allow him more space to roam, with a heated house 5 foot long, with a ceramic heater at one end, and a daytime basking light at the other, which is protected from the elements, dry and insulated, but not heated at night. Outside he has bark, digging soil, & grass areas too (total area about 20m sq) day time air temp is about 17-20 centigrade, night 12-15 centigrade. My concern is that he buries himself outside, and goes to sleep in the damp cold ground, when I pick him up after several hours he is very cold to touch, and sluggish...if I place him in the heated sheltered area, he wakes up again, basks, eats and then goes back out, explores and buries himself again... Am I just being paranoid? Will he cope with the cold? Or should I keep on being a helicopter parent, and putting him back in the warmth? (I have been locking him in the drier warm area at night, in the morning when I open the door he doesn't rush out, happily staying in the warm, but after a few hours with the basking light on he then emerges, explores, eats and buries himself in the cold...) I understood that they will return to warmer areas when they get cold, and regulate their temperature by moving between warmer and cooler areas, he seems to lack this ability...??

 

[lynnedit]

I live in the PNW of the US and keep Russian (Horsfield) tortoises, so our situations are similar.
Mine also live outside 24/7, and have cold frames or greenhouses to retreat to if needed.

I think you can be a helicopter owner for awhile. Since your tortoise is obviously not native to your climate, you have created an enclosure to meet his needs. But he has to learn how to use it; it isn't instinctual.
Lots of owners have to teach their tortoises to sleep in the hides for protection from predators or weather. In many cases, it doesn't happen naturally. Over time, they learn what they need.
So go ahead and move him in at night (or in the morning if you left him out because the weather was dry).
After about 2-3 years, living through the seasons, mine seem to have it figured out pretty well.

 

[Yvonne G]

Some very good advice from Lynne, and also, it might be a tad too warm inside the house for him. I would only have one heat source in there. Since he can come and go at will, he really doesn't need the basking light. Let him have a warm end and the other end the same temp as outside. Then do like Lynne suggests, with the exception, when you see he's through roaming around, even before night fall, put him in the shelter. He may come back out, that's ok. But make sure he's inside by nightfall.

...oh, and: Welcome to the forum!

 

[lynnedit]

Yes, if your outside run isn't covered (and it may not need to be during the day) then definitely put him in his hide at night.

How about some pictures of your set up, sounds wonderful!