Red foot torts not using winter house

jeannettep

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I have 3 red footed torts 5 inch. Healthy in outside habitat in southeast Tx. We just got them a few months ago. I got in a rush with the last cold fronts, this is January weather! Needless to say I didnt have things planned out yet. I got them this bunny house PawHut Small Wooden Bunny Rabbit/Guinea Pig House https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D61CWQK/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20
I have it heated to maintain 70 degrees. On the inside I put a reptile mat, orchard hay & coco coir. I kept checking on them, they used it all day back & forth, sitting in their heated water spa. Night comes 30 degrees & they wont use it! So I fixed them up a little spot inside for the few days it gets below 50. Do I make them use it or give up?
 

ZEROPILOT

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My oldest Redfoot will come inside her night box.
The others I must physically pick up and place them inside when it's cold. And even then, I will often find one or two out in the cold in the morning.
I've read that they can sense heat and will go towards a warm area instinctively. But that has not been my experience.
 

Yvonne G

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Some tortoises are just like that. It may be a species thing, or maybe just an individual. None of my YF tortoises go 'home' at night, but all of my desert tortoises do. Every night I go around the different tortoise yards and make sure all the tortoises are put away. It's just part of taking care of them.
 

Tom

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I have 3 red footed torts 5 inch. Healthy in outside habitat in southeast Tx. We just got them a few months ago. I got in a rush with the last cold fronts, this is January weather! Needless to say I didnt have things planned out yet. I got them this bunny house PawHut Small Wooden Bunny Rabbit/Guinea Pig House https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D61CWQK/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20
I have it heated to maintain 70 degrees. On the inside I put a reptile mat, orchard hay & coco coir. I kept checking on them, they used it all day back & forth, sitting in their heated water spa. Night comes 30 degrees & they wont use it! So I fixed them up a little spot inside for the few days it gets below 50. Do I make them use it or give up?
That house ins't going to work and 70 is too cold since it isn't warming up during the day. You need something insulated that is sized and designed for tortoises. The big door on that house will let all the heat out, and its too tall inside. Here is an example of one way to do it:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/double-door-night-box.129054/
 

jeannettep

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That house ins't going to work and 70 is too cold since it isn't warming up during the day. You need something insulated that is sized and designed for tortoises. The big door on that house will let all the heat out, and its too tall inside. Here is an example of one way to do it:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/double-door-night-box.129054/

That is awesome! Thanks! We can do that smaller scale & enlarge it later
 

jeannettep

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I'd love to take down my husband's lime tree that has THORNS to make the 4x4! But I am making it where we can remove a panel & enlarge it. I'm expecting in our area we will have to rebuild it every 6-8 years. Too wet & humid all the time. If that doesn't take it out, just safety sake they should get a new build. Even the best intentions there always mold or the termites that got into the other habitat & I thought cypress mulch was a deterrent under the wood & outside the enclosure.
 

jeannettep

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They got the point now & wont come out. I put a dish in there for them to soak & cactus pad pieces. I'm going to fix them a good dish of food and soak them before the cold front on Monday evening. Its suppose to be 83 F today.
 

Yvonne G

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It is my experience that tortoise that come from all-the-time-warm climates, like, for instance, RF tortoises, don't understand cold. So you have to go find them every night and put them away, closing and blocking the door so they can't come right back out.
 

jeannettep

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It is my experience that tortoise that come from all-the-time-warm climates, like, for instance, RF tortoises, don't understand cold. So you have to go find them every night and put them away, closing and blocking the door so they can't come right back out.
That makes perfect sense! Thanks!
 

TammyJ

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Hmmm. I wonder if some of them might also not understand too much heat, and just sit and get burnt under a too hot heat lamp?
 
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