Advice on outdoor warming of adult Greek tortoises

[orli bein]

We moved our 2 adult Greek tortoises to large outside enclosures over the summer. They have thrived in the new spaces. I live in Oakland, CA so we don’t get extreme cold but our nights are getting cool now and we’ve gotten as low as 38 degrees F. I moved them into un-heated indoor enclosures overnight for 2 of our colder nights recently but sense they were unhappy with being moved back & forth. I’ve ordered new heated outdoor houses but they won’t be ready for another month. Any advice for this in between time? Should I just let them be, even on cold nights? They burrow in their current enclosures, which aren’t heated but they might get a bit of ground warmth. Alternatively, I could get heat pads for temporary warming at night where they sleep. Please let me know any suggestions.

 

[orli bein]

Just following up on this. Any tips on keeping Greek tortoises outdoors in the cooler months? I’m hoping our new tortoise houses with built in heat lamps arrive by mid-December. But for now they just have unheated shelters. The weather ranges from low 40s at night to low 60s during the day. They seem ok but I’d love input since this is the first winter they will live outside.