Its 49F outside tonight

[mikeh]

Can anyone please tell me at what low night temp. do I need to bring my adult EBT inside. Its 48F tonight in Jersey suburbs. I peeked inside his hide in his outdoor pen and he is sleeping not dug in with his feet and head flat out.
Thanks, Mike

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[Millerlite]

Box turtles are cold hardy. Hes able to dig down if he needs to right? Its not concrete or solid floor? Also whats the high for tomorrow? and does he have access to the sun in the am? This will help him warm up after a cool night.

 

[mikeh]

He is able to dig down 5-6" before hitting rocks. The pen only gets sun in the pm hours and its suppose to only get to mid 70s late afternoon tom. Also he is originally from SC, where its much warmer. I noticed he likes it hot and humid. On days when its not above 75F he does not even come out, only sticks his head out.

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[SANDRA_MEISSNEST]

Not below 70 to 65
So get him inside poor little guy frezzing his nuts off..lol

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Yup just checkt not below 70 !
Daytime 75 to 85 is perfect

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[yagyujubei]

If you put a pile of leaves or grass clippings in there, he will bury in that instead of digging. Mine stay pretty active here until around mid to late October.

 

[SANDRA_MEISSNEST]

Or put a heater up

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[mikeh]

Thanks all for advice. I will be adding leaves and burrow material for him, also make the hide deeper, later in the season will add small pad heater. Here he is today all warmed up.

 

[johnsonnboswell]

Morning sun is usually better than afternoon sun, especially in the spring and fall. You need maximum sun to extend the season and compensate for lower temps. (It doesn't feel like summer any more at present so I've shifted into fall mode.) They won't eat if they're too cold.

45 is my absolute cut off for night time temps in September & October. In spring and summer my cut off for overnight lows is 60. However, anytime they seem to be inactive after a cold night I bring them in.

 

[txturtle13]

What beautiful coloring!


My Loves:
My Husband
2 Dogs
2 Three toed box turtles
1 Betta fish

 

[Millerlite]

I always put in a few factors with box turtles cuz they do hibernate and are rather cold hardy.
As long as the next day gets warm and there is sun for them to warm in I let mine stay out when it's in the 40 we have very cool nights here and our days can still warm up and I have never had a problem, box turtles were always out the next morning looking for good and basking. If its going to be a cold night and the next day looks cold and cloudy might want to have a heater or bring him in. Unless its only a one day thing cuz they will just dig in and sleep. If it last to long they will go into hibernation mod. I've seen wild turtles out in IL where I use to live up through October and on some good warmer years November. It can get in the 30 at night and I still saw them around during winter.

Give them leaf litter or moss for the top layer and give the the opportunity to dig, 6-8 inches is good giving them the option for deeper is better. If you measure the temps under ground where they dig its warm then outside temps.

Kyle


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[mikeh]

Thanks, everyone.
I realize now he needs little more sun, he is just too cold. I will move the pen to get little earlier sun, add leaf litter in his hide, and place small pad heater under the litter in his hide and add overhead CHE. He is in an outdoor mobile 6x3 pen.

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[txturtle13]

Wow! Nice pen!! I love it!


My Loves:
My Husband
2 Dogs
2 Three toed box turtles
1 Betta fish

 

[SANDRA_MEISSNEST]

It looks very nice,i love all the plants,do u have more then one? he is beautiful too

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[ILoveTortoises2]

Not below 70 to 65
So get him inside poor little guy frezzing his nuts off..lol

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Yup just checkt not below 70 !
Daytime 75 to 85 is perfect

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LMFAO... Omg I lost it when I read that... I was just sitting here going threw the replies then I seen yours and started laughin my hubby looked at me like I had 10 heads. LOL

 

[terryo]

I'm in Staten Island, and it's been cool here too. Mine are outside all the time. I have a load of leaf litter on one end of the turtle garden which is in a cave were they hibernate for the Winter. I leave it up to them wheather they want to dig under or not. The last few days I notice they have been goin in the cave, but they're still eating fine.

 

[johnsonnboswell]

The CHE is a good thing, but I would be wary of a heater in the leaf litter for several reasons. Dry leaves are a fire hazard. Underneath heat isn't good or necessary, and when those heaters go wrong they can hurt the turtles.

 

[SANDRA_MEISSNEST]

Yup that os true.
U have.to go either with leaves or the other

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[mikeh]

Re: RE: Its 49F outside tonight

It looks very nice,i love all the plants,do u have more then one? he is beautiful too

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Guess its back to square one on making it warmer with heaters on cold day.
BTW: I get that heating pad is a concern, but why is heat from below in general no good.???

Thank you all for compliments. He is the only one. I had a female there with him for short period of time but that didn't work out. He would relentlessly harass her, she wanted nothing to do with him. Luckily the breeder was nice enough to take her back. Now I think the pen is just too small for more then one. Thanks he is a looker. One more pic. Enjoy

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[SANDRA_MEISSNEST]

He is a bauty. I don't like heating pads because sometimes they can get burned from the bottom.
What i would do is put the heater on the outside side of yiur pen and have the warm air blow in there

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I do that with mine.

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[Saleama]

There is no way for a turtle to get heat from "below"in the wild is the theory behind not liking heating pads. There is some talk that they regulate from top down? I just got a Russian tort that was housed with a bunch of Box turtles and their heat source was the AC in the bedroom they stay in. LOL! I put him in my habitat and he went right to the basking spot and fell asleep. the little girl I got with him went to the cool side and dug down about 4 inches and went right to sleep. They LOVE basking! get him a good basking light and adjust the hight and brightness for 85. At night take him in until it warms up or get a small ceramic heater to keep the ambiant temp in his house about 70. Just make sure he does not have access to it.