Sulcata: Too Hot Outdoors?

[ra94131]

This is a bit in the future since my little guy is barely 2 months old and will be in a temperature controlled indoor environment at least until he is 6" to 9". However I am looking forward to getting him outside on as regular a basis (or full-time) as soon as possible. My planned location for his enclosure gets full or partial shade for about half of the day, but temperatures (even at night) can be quite high in this area. Keeping the temperature up won't be a problem even in the winter, as either a CHE and/or a Radiant Heat Panel is easy enough to setup with a thermostat. (All of which I already own.) What I'm really concerned about is keeping the temperature down, if needed.

I've included the average highs/lows for Dallas throughout the year for those not familiar with the area.

January - H: 57°; L: 37°
February - H: 61°; L: 41°
March - H: 69°; L: 49°
April - H: 77°; L: 56°
May - H: 84°; L: 65°
June - H: 92°; L: 73°
July - H: 96°; L: 77°
August - H: 96°; L: 77°
September - H: 89°; L: 69°
October - H: 79°; L: 58°
November - H: 67°; L: 48°
December - H: 58°; L: 39°
(In recent years, the temperatures have been a few degrees higher than the long-term average.)

Our average humidity ranges between the low 50s and the low 80s.

Any insights or suggestions regarding the best age to house him outside, whether cooling may be necessary, and how best to achieve this are appreciated.

 

[Yvonne G]

It gets pretty hot here during the summer. August is almost always 100F or more. I built my sulcata, Dudley's, house in the shade. He also has a great big pineapple guava bush in the middle of his yard. When it gets really hot, you'll find him either in his house or under the bush.

The bad thing about baby tortoises, heat and outside is that they are usually inside some sort of small habitat. They're stuck there and can't go someplace else when it gets too hot. So just be sure that you offer places for your baby to get out of the heat and it should be ok.

In the real world, baby tortoises are never seen above the ground. How many Nature Programs have you watched where they showed baby tortoises? I'll bet not many.

 

[ra94131]

It gets pretty hot here during the summer. August is almost always 100F or more. I built my sulcata, Dudley's, house in the shade. He also has a great big pineapple guava bush in the middle of his yard. When it gets really hot, you'll find him either in his house or under the bush.

The bad thing about baby tortoises, heat and outside is that they are usually inside some sort of small habitat. They're stuck there and can't go someplace else when it gets too hot. So just be sure that you offer places for your baby to get out of the heat and it should be ok.

In the real world, baby tortoises are never seen above the ground. How many Nature Programs have you watched where they showed baby tortoises? I'll bet not many.

Yeah, the average temperatures above are a bit misleading because we definitely have multiple days over 100° from June through September. The plan is to have the tortoise in a modified garden that has his primary "burrow" (a half buried medium-sized wooden box, essentially), a few flat stones for basking/feeding, and a large water dish that he can easily enter/exit to soak himself. Additionally I will have grasses/weeds growing throughout and a few smaller bushes for additional shade (although I haven't figured out what plants would be the best fit in this role yet). The proposed location of the garden is half shaded for about half of the day and completely shaded for about a quarter of the day, leaving a few hours of complete sunlight in the middle of the day.

Overall, I think the habitat will be great for him and will take some time to set up. In the meantime he will be living comfortable inside with only occasional (every day or two) short visits to the outdoors under supervision. All he needs to do is get growing and enjoy the good life.

I think my biggest two questions are:

1) In a climate like mine (see above), what is a good age to reasonably place a young tortoise outside full-time in a garden-type scenario?

2) Does anyone have any good suggestions for keeping them cool outdoors when the temperatures get really high? (Small-scale, periodic misting? Different "burrow" design? Etc.)

I appreciate everyone's help. I've already gotten tons of information just from reading through old/new posts the past few weeks.

 

[Tom]

Your temps will be fine, as long as there are areas to escape the sun and heat. If people in Phoenix can do it, ANYONE can do it. Here's how I did it:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Daisy-s-New-Enclosure#axzz1bv5qbbcz

In my opinion, underground is the way to go. When temps are 110+ here everyday for weeks, my temps in that burrow creep into the low 80's. In the winter with night temps in the 20's, my burrow stays around 80 since that's where my thermostat is set for winter.

I move mine outside permanently when they are around 8-10". Once they are around 4" they stay outside all day everyday, weather permitting. I start brand new tiny hatchlings with an hour or two of outside time and gradually increase that as they gain size.

If yours grows "normally", you will be putting him outside in the spring and likely leaving him outside for the next winter...

 

[ra94131]

Have you ever run into a problem with water accumulation in your underground "burrows"? I'm not sure what your soil is like, but near me we can have a layer of clay that really holds water. Any suggestios for dealing with this?

My lot has pretty good drainage, but even at the highest point I think water would accumulate in a hole of any depth. The land is all pretty flat out here. I was thinking maybe some small-ish gravel ditches for water diversion, but that may end up useless in a real good storm.

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Once I get started on this project I will create a new post to catalog the whole process, but I'm still just doing a lot of preliminary research.