How cold is too cold?

[Kylee L.]

My Russian tort has a nice enclosure outside and I'd like him to be able to stay out over night. It still gets down to the mid or low 50s. Is this to cold for him?

 

[Tom]

My Russian tort has a nice enclosure outside and I'd like him to be able to stay out over night. It still gets down to the mid or low 50s. Is this to cold for him?

Yes. Make a temperature controlled night box for him. This will allow you to control the night temp and also keep him safe from predators, bugs and rodents. If you add a heat lamp on a timer, you'll be able to put him out in spring earlier and leave him out later in to fall, no matter what the weather does.

All of that is described and depicted here:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[wellington]

No lower than 60F. at night. But even then he should be in a hide not the elements.