Another tortoise?+new tortoise owner tips

Krista S

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Really? I have never heard of that! Ok well I will do the best I can right now to get them warm. I just hope they will be ok for a little while until I get the night box. Is there anything else I can do in the mean time?
You haven’t heard of night boxes because you haven’t read the care sheet. This is why it was important to read it when it was linked to you last month on the other thread. It talks at great length about this. Without a temperature controlled night box, your tortoises should be housed in their respective indoor enclosures at night. They could stay indoors during the day if it’s too cold outside for them as well. Regardless, because they aren’t adults they should be indoors at night, but if you insist on keeping them outdoors, their best chance at surviving is with a night box.

In the link you gave me it said that adult tortoises can tolerate temperatures in the low 50's and 60's and right now the lowest temperature it is supposed to be is 55f so my tortoises should be fine. Right? Becuse they are almost adults.
You previously mentioned the female hatched 2 years ago. This is not close to being an adult. The occasional night at these temps might be ok IF they have a lot of warmth during the day to warm up. Consecutive days and nights of temps in the 50’s with no way to warm up is a recipe for disaster.
And do you know where I can get this temperature controlled night box?
As far as I know, you can’t buy it anywhere. You have to construct it yourself as shown in the care sheet. If you do some searches on the forum for night boxes, Tom has a lot of more in depth information regarding the construction of them which you might find helpful.

I am normally the friendly Canadian, so I am sorry that my responses may not be coming across as very nice. I am just terribly worried for your tortoises and want the best for them. They cannot thrive with how they’re living right now.
 

Lovethetorts!

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Yes I understand entirely I just have been very busy and will read the link you gave me soon. My tortoises seem to be eating fine and drinking fine they act normal so I don't think they are sick. But i will do everything I can to make them warm in the meantime.
 

Lovethetorts!

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But I am kind of worried about them is there anything I can do to keep them warm in the mean time? Does it help that they have something to borrow in to? Becuse they have a really big hay pile.
 

Lovethetorts!

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So i have a mud turtle and he lives inside in his aquarium and I have a UVB and heat bulb for him so I decided to bring the tortoises in for a little while to soak inside and I used the turtles heat and UVB bulb for the tortoises so it is like sunshine. Will that be enough to keep them warm and happy? Also how long should I let them soak?
 

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TeamZissou

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Any UVB bulb that screws in is no good for a tortoise. They have been shown to burn the eyes and cause horrible swelling if used for long enough. I wouldn't use it for your mud turtle either. You need a T5 UV bulb if you're going to use indoor UV lighting. Since yours spend lots of time outside, they don't really need a UV bulb. All this is explained in the linked care sheet.
 

shawngt2

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Quite honestly. There is a VERY detailed care sheet here and with common sense all problems can be prevented. If you read carefully, most of your answers are there.
 

ANGELA BRZECZKOWSKI

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Feb 22, 2021
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And I thought the rule of thumb for a tortoise encloser is every inch of space on a tortoises shell= a foot of encloser space. I thought everyone new that!
I did not know that and I'm glad I gave my daughters room to Charlie ;) He's almost 5.5 lbs and has his favorite few places to hide and this past weekend he got a special big boy treat with 3 feeding stations, 2 water stations and I left the baby gate crooked so he could walk around and I set a timer so he gets music in the daytime for a bit.
 

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