We are trying to brumate our Hermann's tortoise Scout (approx. 5-10 y.o.) for the first time, following the instructions in Tom's brumation thread, and have been having some difficulties, hoping to get some advice. She has nominally been brumating for about 11 days as of this writing.
Our setup: We are trying to brumate her in the insulated night box in her outdoor enclosure, as we don't have space for a refrigerator that can be kept at tortoise temps. The box is built of plywood, about 24"x24" (I know, smaller than ideal, but what fit in our space), with 1.5 inches of foam insulation on all sides, below the floor, and in the lid, plus weather stripping around the lid and small tortoise-door. During the summer, even with the door open, the box stayed a solid 10-15F degrees below ambient. I've got this Inkbird wireless thermostat in the box to control the heat elements (now off) and monitor temperature. The temperature probe is about 1.5" above the floor in the corner farthest from the door.
The problems: First, we've been having a puzzling amount of difficulty keeping the box at the desired temp. When we'd finished the slow lowering of the box temperatures and were ready to put her down, I turned off the heat by setting the thermostat down to 40F, and gave the tortoise one last soak, leaving the box open to the ambient temperature of about 45F while we did that. Then put the tortoise in, closed the tortoise-door and lid, and monitored the temperature over wifi.
After the first day, the temperature on the thermostat was reading 51F or so, too warm, with no sign of dropping, so we put some icepacks in, which dropped the temp down to 45F. But then despite having a week of weather where we had cloudy skies and temperatures between 40F and 48F all day and all night (grim, but should have been perfect for this), the temperature in the box kept gradually rising toward 50. We kept swapping out the icepacks to keep the box in the desired 40F-50F range.
Then today we had a warmish day with temps approaching 65F, and the box went from 49ish up to 53. Went out to add more ice, and the tortoise was awake and looking for the exit. We put the ice in anyway in hopes she'll settle back down.
Things I'm wondering: Any ideas what is causing this box to gradually warm despite being at or above outside ambient temperature? I don't think it's the heating equipment When I checked on it the other day I got out my IR temperature gun, and while the Inkbird thermostat was reading 49.5F, the IR gun said the surfaces in the box (floor, walls, should-be-off heating elements) were 45F, although the plastic box with all the wires, attached to the wall near the top of the box inside), read more like 48F. Is it possible the thermostat unit is putting off heat?
Bigger question: What to do we do with the tortoise having woken back up? Should we keep trying to keep her in and the temperature down and hope she settles? Give up and bring her in for the winter (we have an indoor enclosure, but it's definitely small for her, at 2'x4', compared to the outdoor which is 16'x12')? The one other thought would be bringing in some coco coir or other substrate to bury her a bit in the box? She has a strong burrowing instinct, and a few times as the nights were getting cold we had to find her and move her to the box before bed because instead of staying in the nice warm box she wanted to go dig in somewhere.
Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for any help!
Our setup: We are trying to brumate her in the insulated night box in her outdoor enclosure, as we don't have space for a refrigerator that can be kept at tortoise temps. The box is built of plywood, about 24"x24" (I know, smaller than ideal, but what fit in our space), with 1.5 inches of foam insulation on all sides, below the floor, and in the lid, plus weather stripping around the lid and small tortoise-door. During the summer, even with the door open, the box stayed a solid 10-15F degrees below ambient. I've got this Inkbird wireless thermostat in the box to control the heat elements (now off) and monitor temperature. The temperature probe is about 1.5" above the floor in the corner farthest from the door.
The problems: First, we've been having a puzzling amount of difficulty keeping the box at the desired temp. When we'd finished the slow lowering of the box temperatures and were ready to put her down, I turned off the heat by setting the thermostat down to 40F, and gave the tortoise one last soak, leaving the box open to the ambient temperature of about 45F while we did that. Then put the tortoise in, closed the tortoise-door and lid, and monitored the temperature over wifi.
After the first day, the temperature on the thermostat was reading 51F or so, too warm, with no sign of dropping, so we put some icepacks in, which dropped the temp down to 45F. But then despite having a week of weather where we had cloudy skies and temperatures between 40F and 48F all day and all night (grim, but should have been perfect for this), the temperature in the box kept gradually rising toward 50. We kept swapping out the icepacks to keep the box in the desired 40F-50F range.
Then today we had a warmish day with temps approaching 65F, and the box went from 49ish up to 53. Went out to add more ice, and the tortoise was awake and looking for the exit. We put the ice in anyway in hopes she'll settle back down.
Things I'm wondering: Any ideas what is causing this box to gradually warm despite being at or above outside ambient temperature? I don't think it's the heating equipment When I checked on it the other day I got out my IR temperature gun, and while the Inkbird thermostat was reading 49.5F, the IR gun said the surfaces in the box (floor, walls, should-be-off heating elements) were 45F, although the plastic box with all the wires, attached to the wall near the top of the box inside), read more like 48F. Is it possible the thermostat unit is putting off heat?
Bigger question: What to do we do with the tortoise having woken back up? Should we keep trying to keep her in and the temperature down and hope she settles? Give up and bring her in for the winter (we have an indoor enclosure, but it's definitely small for her, at 2'x4', compared to the outdoor which is 16'x12')? The one other thought would be bringing in some coco coir or other substrate to bury her a bit in the box? She has a strong burrowing instinct, and a few times as the nights were getting cold we had to find her and move her to the box before bed because instead of staying in the nice warm box she wanted to go dig in somewhere.
Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for any help!
