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- Jan 15, 2014
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How warm does it have to be outside for me to be able to safely bring my Russian tortoise outside for a hour or so?
Temperature?
- Thread starter ErinLaForce16
- Start date
I bring mine out once it hits 70 for a while.
If its 60+, sunny, dry, and low winds, he should be fine. Use your infrared temp gun to check surface temps and monitor his carapace temp. It can be 90+ in a sunny spot on a 60 degree day.
George's Granny
New Member
Thanks Tom, I had the same question in mind cos I don't like George to be indoors all the time just because it is no longer summer.
Depends upon if you're talking about a baby Russian tortoise or a full grown tortoise. My full grown Russians stay outside all the time, day and night, no matter how cold it gets. (They brumate indoors though)
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@ErinLaForce16 you don't say or have in your profile where you live in the world....
It also depends very much on where in the world you are. And what time of year. Ground temperatures play a major role for a tortoise. The keratin of their shell is very good at absorbing IR from the sun. (Feel a dog or cat's fur after they have been laying in the sun just a few minutes) They can heat well above air temperatures quite quickly. The latitude of where you are and the time of year will affect this greatly as the angle of the sun makes a big difference. But tortoises are designed to use the conduction from the ground to stabilize temperatures as well. Their flat bottoms maximizing contact with the ground means the ground temperature will play just as big a role in their ability to maintain or achieve a decent body temperature to be outside. A 70° day in Florida is much different than a 70° day in Alaska. A 70° day in late summer is also very different than a 70° day in spring.
As @Tom advises. An IR heat gun is your best friend for determining this for your particular circumstances.
It also depends very much on where in the world you are. And what time of year. Ground temperatures play a major role for a tortoise. The keratin of their shell is very good at absorbing IR from the sun. (Feel a dog or cat's fur after they have been laying in the sun just a few minutes) They can heat well above air temperatures quite quickly. The latitude of where you are and the time of year will affect this greatly as the angle of the sun makes a big difference. But tortoises are designed to use the conduction from the ground to stabilize temperatures as well. Their flat bottoms maximizing contact with the ground means the ground temperature will play just as big a role in their ability to maintain or achieve a decent body temperature to be outside. A 70° day in Florida is much different than a 70° day in Alaska. A 70° day in late summer is also very different than a 70° day in spring.
As @Tom advises. An IR heat gun is your best friend for determining this for your particular circumstances.
George's Granny
New Member
George is 5 years old and I love him to be outdoors. But I worry about temps. We are here in northern France and at night at the moment we have 12 degs C, with daytime temps of between 17 and 22 degs C. I like him to go out every day but we are in a very windy spot so we try to only put him out when the wind is not too strong. What do you think?
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