We have been taking our 4yr old Russian outside to enjoy the sun as much as possible, however, our weather has not yet stabilized to a steady warm temp, so we bring her back in just before dark. She seemed fine at first, but lately we have had some afternoon showers or heavy winds so her time outside has been even more sporadic. Our tortoise definitely seems to be reacting to the changes as she is not eating as much as she used to and when she is in her indoor enclosure, she doesn't seem to want to bask in the light near as often. She seems happiest when she is outside. At what temperatures can I feel confident to leave our tortoise outside all the time? Her outdoor enclosure has plenty of space, good weeds for eating, a water/soaking bowl and a couple of hides to burrow in. Our temps have still dropped down into the low 60s.
Outside full time
- Thread starter ErikaO
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Cool temps are okay as long as they have the ability to warm up each day. Personally I opt to keep mine inside and only put them out when the weather is nice until they are older. Once they are old/big enough I move them outside but give them an appropriate temperature controlled shelter.
Cool temps are okay as long as they have the ability to warm up each day. Personally I opt to keep mine inside and only put them out when the weather is nice until they are older. Once they are old/big enough I move them outside but give them an appropriate temperature controlled shelter.
Tom, i'm the "albuquerque-an" so I live in the high altitude desert climate. We are expected to be hitting the 90s later this week, but our weather is a total hit or miss during Spring or Fall. Yesterday started out beautiful and we almost took our tortoise out for the day but we decided against it because we knew we'd be gone for most of the day and wouldn't be able to bring her in if the weather changed. Well i'm glad we kept her in because our temperature dropped quick and we ended up with some pretty nasty gusts of wind and rain. I am not positive if our tortoise is 4yrs old or not; that is what someone on this forum suggested when I first got her and posted pictures. So I am not sure if she is full grown or not. I assume so because I used to have a RT years ago and she seems to be around the same size. I just want to be sure she is as comfortable as a tortoise can realistically be.
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Maggie Cummings
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If he's a Russian and you provide shelter and good protection for him, I would think you can leave him outside now 24/7. Can you provide some sort of heat at night? Russians can stand a big drop in nighttime temperature, so as long as it's 60 or above you'll be alright. But...do you have predators? if so bring him in, if not make sure he has a good shed or something like that and leave him out...
maggie3fan said:
Soon, we won't have to worry about low temps as New Mexico weather will quickly get into the 100s with night time temps dropping only into the 80s, so its just this crazy interim period that I'm concerned about. We do not have any sort of outdoor heating (other than natural sun source); what would you suggest? As for predators, we absolutely have predators! We live in what we call a mesa. There are hawks, roadrunners, and we now have a peregrine falcon tgat has discovered our pond.
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Maggie Cummings
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I would absolutely not leave him out at night even when the weather warms up. You have animals who like to eat tortoises. For his own safety either make him a dogloo that locks or bring him in...
My husband plans to have the outdoor enclosure covered with coop type wire on a hinged lid so while we are out and during the night, the pen area would be safe from predators. I would still like to know what type of outdoor heat sources would be good and how to keep the wiring safe.
ErikaO said:
Get this http://cozywinters.com/shop/kh-1060.html and build it into the bottom of a hide-box.
You can hook it up to a solar switch, so that it will come on when the sun goes down and turn off when it the sun rises again.
For a Russian, if your night temps are in the 60's, you can leave her outside, as long as your tort is safe from predators as Maggie mentions.
Even with rain, if the tort can stay dry, they will be fine until the sun comes out. So a small shed, dog house, igloo all work. You can add heat, but with those temps you may not need to. You can put Aspen or Cypress mulch, etc. in the bottom of the house for the tortoise to burrow in.
A secure outdoor enclosure sounds essential in your area, and can lead into the shelter.
If the weather is bad, she has the choice to go into the dry area, even if it is all day. They seem to like having the choice. Of course, for the first week or two, you may have to 'show' it to them (put them in at night, etc.), but the tort will get the hang of it.
Then, when the sun comes out, they can go out and bask.
With your summer temps, having a shady area is essential, with plants that they can burrow under. At those times, the shelter may be too hot. So be sure to place your outside enclosure so it gets some shade during the summer too.
Even with rain, if the tort can stay dry, they will be fine until the sun comes out. So a small shed, dog house, igloo all work. You can add heat, but with those temps you may not need to. You can put Aspen or Cypress mulch, etc. in the bottom of the house for the tortoise to burrow in.
A secure outdoor enclosure sounds essential in your area, and can lead into the shelter.
If the weather is bad, she has the choice to go into the dry area, even if it is all day. They seem to like having the choice. Of course, for the first week or two, you may have to 'show' it to them (put them in at night, etc.), but the tort will get the hang of it.
Then, when the sun comes out, they can go out and bask.
With your summer temps, having a shady area is essential, with plants that they can burrow under. At those times, the shelter may be too hot. So be sure to place your outside enclosure so it gets some shade during the summer too.
@ terry allan hall, thanks for the link. Just before I read your response, my hubby commented on hoping to find something that we could use with solar power.
@ lynnedit, thanks for the input. We do have plenty of shade areas and are currently growing plenty of ground cover plants for her to burrow in. I always thought that torts would be just fine weathering out the wind and the rain, but with so much talk about keeping the torts warm on this site, I guess I got a little paranoid. I just want to make sure we get it right. We are wanting to eventually bring in a leopard or sulcata so getting everything just right is important to us.
Thanks to everyone for your input.
@ lynnedit, thanks for the input. We do have plenty of shade areas and are currently growing plenty of ground cover plants for her to burrow in. I always thought that torts would be just fine weathering out the wind and the rain, but with so much talk about keeping the torts warm on this site, I guess I got a little paranoid. I just want to make sure we get it right. We are wanting to eventually bring in a leopard or sulcata so getting everything just right is important to us.
Thanks to everyone for your input.
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