Hello all, me and my wife live in the south west of England and have had our Russian tortoise for around 4 years now. Unfortunately prior to us getting him off a friend he had quite a deprived little life of which he spent most time in a tiny viv :-( he's had numerous enclosures since living with us in an attempt to make him a happier tort, I'm glad to say we've succeeded. We've recently moved him int a huge outdoor enclosure which is basically our garden (approx 30 sq ft) he is the happiest he's ever been and is acting much more like the species I've read so much about on this and various other forums as apposed to the sad distressed tort that he used to be. Since moving him outside I've been constantly thinking up plans to improve our garden to make it all the more suitable for him while maintaining a relatively nice space for ourselves. (Easier said than done) we've just got another baby RT as well and I'm almost certain it's a girl which is what we wanted as we would like to introduce them after a long period of quarantine. This won't be a permanent thing as I'm aware they can get quite nasty, however I believe the summer months will allow the female to hide from the male under the different bushes and plants we've got growing. My plan is for them to eventually mate and have little Baby torts but I have a few questions in this area such as will they both need to hibernate to stand a chance of being successful parents, will the female be ok laying eggs outside or would it be best to take her back into her indoor enclosure when she starts showing signs of nesting, either way I know the eggs will have to be properly in incubated.
Another question slightly off subject, the male is currently outside but when winter inevitably happens he will need a dry heated area with a ceramic bulb for night time, which I'm going to build in the shed and still allow access to the garden if he wants it but when and at what temp should I set the thermostat to, to influence him to nod off for a good thew months? Baring in mind he's never hibernated before would this actually be detrimental to his health?
Sorry for the massive post, any comments or answers to questions above would be very much appreciated . Thanks.
Jen, bob and the torts Darwin and Florence.
Another question slightly off subject, the male is currently outside but when winter inevitably happens he will need a dry heated area with a ceramic bulb for night time, which I'm going to build in the shed and still allow access to the garden if he wants it but when and at what temp should I set the thermostat to, to influence him to nod off for a good thew months? Baring in mind he's never hibernated before would this actually be detrimental to his health?
Sorry for the massive post, any comments or answers to questions above would be very much appreciated . Thanks.
Jen, bob and the torts Darwin and Florence.