Chilly Billy!!!! Help !!!!!!

[yillt]

Hi. It is a very cold week here in England and I have just made an outdoor enclosure for my current tortoise Billy and another tortoise arriving in Wednesday (Carly). The grass is damp and Billy is just snuggling up inside his sheltered house. I have put a towel and some ripped up newspaper in there to keep him warm. I would bring him inside but Carly won't be able to come inside as her owner INSISTED she is kept outside 24/7 this Summer. Do you have any suggestions as how to keep them warmer?Also a heating mat is off the list as the owner said it is bad to have heat coming up from under their shells. I don't want a little iced tortoise or (tortoises). What would you do?

 

[Yvonne G]

Well, first of all, once Carly comes to live at your house, with you, its YOUR tortoise and the previous owner has nothing to say in the matter. You are going to take care of the tortoise like the tortoise needs to be taken care of, not like the previous owner wants you to. So if the tortoise needs to come in because its too cold on any particular day, bring it in.

I don't know anything about marginated tortoises, so I can't help you with that, but some people run an extension cord out to the tortoise house and have a light or a ceramic heat emitter turned on for cold days. But if it's wet and rainy, I'd just bring them in.

 

[JoesMum]

What you need is an outdoor basking opportunity. Joe is out 24/7, but he does need a booster when the sun doesn't shine.

I agree with your tort's previous owner, if it used to being out 24/7 then don't bring it in. Jow goes nuts indoors. There isn't enough space.

Down here in cold, miserable Kent I have a dog kennel with a basking lamp in it. Generally he spends the night in a cold frame (hole cut in the side for a door) or under our Red Hot Poker plant.

I go find Joe first thing in the morning and stick him under the lamp to grill and when he is ready, he lets himself out to eat. Joe now weighs around 3.2 kg and takes about 3 hours under the lamp on a cold day like today. This will propel him for another 3 hours or so, longer if the sun comes out and he can bask in the sun.
The kennel on a typical British day


The cold frame


The kennel interior (Lamp on stand with timer, paving slab warms up to make a toasty basking spot, kitchen paper absorbs pee (!), lined with silver bubble wrap stuff used behind radiators, floor has plastic carpet protecting mat that makes it easy to clean)

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I have been using a heat mat for bob with the best success ever. He takes himself to bed every night at 6:30 and climbs right on that mat. They are not good for hatchlings, or small growing tortoises. Carly will need to be quarantined for about 6 months, they will need to be kept totally separate, I agree with Yvonne, once she is yours, you can do what you want with her and it sounds to me like it's still too could outside for them...

 

[JoesMum]

I have been using a heat mat for bob with the best success ever. He takes himself to bed every night at 6:30 and climbs right on that mat. They are not good for hatchlings, or small growing tortoises. Carly will need to be quarantined for about 6 months, they will need to be kept totally separate, I agree with Yvonne, once she is yours, you can do what you want with her and it sounds to me like it's still too could outside for them...

It depends where in the country he is. It isn't too cold outside in Kent at the moment. We have just had a bad few days. Joe has been out since March without any problems. If these are in the North West of the country, I would have more concerns, but it is not impossible for them to be out 24/7

 

[yillt]

Ok. Thank you everyone. Tomorrow I will let Carly outdoors. But first I will take thousands of photos to share with you guys. She has lived outdoors since she was born (apart from in Winter) so she should be ok out there.

 

[becky_tortoise]

Good luck !!!!!