Overnight practices w/outdoor tortoises

MNGuy

Member
Joined
Nov 12, 2020
Messages
39
Location (City and/or State)
Minneapolis, MN
Do people bring their outdoor tortoises inside over night? Or, do you keep them outside 24/7?

Asking as I plan to make plans/enclosures to adopt a smaller species (Russian, Hermann's, etc.) some day soon, hopefully. Bringing a tortoise in every night adds to the work and space demands (indoors), but it's also safest. I live in Minnesota and we have plenty of the typical predators.

I plan to make a fully enclosed and locked outdoor enclosure, but the paranoia in me makes me feel like I should still bring in any outdoor tortoise. Maybe I'm overreacting.

Thanks.
 

zovick

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Nov 17, 2013
Messages
3,388
Do people bring their outdoor tortoises inside over night? Or, do you keep them outside 24/7?

Asking as I plan to make plans/enclosures to adopt a smaller species (Russian, Hermann's, etc.) some day soon, hopefully. Bringing a tortoise in every night adds to the work and space demands (indoors), but it's also safest. I live in Minnesota and we have plenty of the typical predators.

I plan to make a fully enclosed and locked outdoor enclosure, but the paranoia in me makes me feel like I should still bring in any outdoor tortoise. Maybe I'm overreacting.

Thanks.
If you can make a predator-proof enclosure outdoors, there is really not a valid reason to bring your tortoise(s) inside at night unless the temperature warrants doing so. Moving them in and out disrupts their normal activity patterns and can be stressful to them as well.

I kept numerous tortoises outdoors in the northwestern CT mountains from Memorial Day to Labor Day each year. I only brought them inside for the night if the temperature was going to be under 50 degrees. Believe it or not, there was one year that we had frost all 12 months of the year!

An exception to the above routine would be if there were 4-5 days of rain with no sun and temps remaining in the 50's or low 60's. Then I would bring them in to keep them from being too cool and damp with no chance to warm up in the sun.
 

MNGuy

Member
Joined
Nov 12, 2020
Messages
39
Location (City and/or State)
Minneapolis, MN
If you can make a predator-proof enclosure outdoors, there is really not a valid reason to bring your tortoise(s) inside at night unless the temperature warrants doing so. Moving them in and out disrupts their normal activity patterns and can be stressful to them as well.

I kept numerous tortoises outdoors in the northwestern CT mountains from Memorial Day to Labor Day each year. I only brought them inside for the night if the temperature was going to be under 50 degrees. Believe it or not, there was one year that we had frost all 12 months of the year!

An exception to the above routine would be if there were 4-5 days of rain with no sun and temps remaining in the 50's or low 60's. Then I would bring them in to keep them from being too cool and damp with no chance to warm up in the sun.

Great! Good to know; thank you.
 

wellington

Well-Known Member
Moderator
10 Year Member!
Tortoise Club
Joined
Sep 6, 2011
Messages
49,660
Location (City and/or State)
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Yes, my leopards, in the warm weather stay outside. However at night they have a shed they go into on their own and I turn the lights off and lock it up.
My russian has a hide he goes into.
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,269
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
Do people bring their outdoor tortoises inside over night? Or, do you keep them outside 24/7?

Asking as I plan to make plans/enclosures to adopt a smaller species (Russian, Hermann's, etc.) some day soon, hopefully. Bringing a tortoise in every night adds to the work and space demands (indoors), but it's also safest. I live in Minnesota and we have plenty of the typical predators.

I plan to make a fully enclosed and locked outdoor enclosure, but the paranoia in me makes me feel like I should still bring in any outdoor tortoise. Maybe I'm overreacting.

Thanks.
I do both at different life stages.

For babies I have secure outdoor pens and properly set up indoor enclosures. I take them outside for sun, exercise, and grazing when the weather is nice. If the weather is too hot or too cold, or if I'm busy, they stay inside all day.

For older tortoises, I make outdoor temperature controlled shelters and they live outside full time. Every night 365 days a year, I go around and make sure every tortoise is in its night box, check the temperatures, and then latch them in for the night to keep them at the right temperature and safe from any predators. Every morning I pop the doors open and they can come out when they want.

In this thread I explain all this and show pics of how to do the boxes.
 

New Posts

Top