Golden Greek outside

[AxelWolf]

I live in Las Vegas Nevada. I have a Golden Greek that's about 1.6 years old, give or take a few months. Last year we kept him inside, but he started to go a little stir crazy. During the early spring I built him an outdoor habitat with lots of plants, a waterfall, 3 rock caves and more. I keep expanding it, it's now 9 x 5.

So far, It gets down to about 45 degrees at night(it will get colder) I added a heat lamp for him, its the same one I used when I kept him inside and he seemed to love it. I Assumed with the heat lamp he would not want to hibernate, however he is avoiding the heat lamp like the plague. I moved the heat lamp to 3 different spots near the caves but he runs(walks) as far away from it as possible. I guess he is trying to hibernate and any heat lamps are not going to change that? Should I just move him inside? I cant match his current roaming area inside and I feel bad. What do you guys suggest? Just Let him hibernate or bring him inside? What's too cold for him?

 

[wellington]

With him outside you should have a heated hide for him to go into and also be locked up each night in the hide.
Hibernating outside on their own is really not recommended. If you want to hibernate her then proper steps need to be made and done under your control.
Or you can bring her in and keep her above 70 day and night in a brightly lit enclosure to keep her up.
@Tom can explain better how to hibernate.

 

[Tom]

I live in Las Vegas Nevada. I have a Golden Greek that's about 1.6 years old, give or take a few months. Last year we kept him inside, but he started to go a little stir crazy. During the early spring I built him an outdoor habitat with lots of plants, a waterfall, 3 rock caves and more. I keep expanding it, it's now 9 x 5.

So far, It gets down to about 45 degrees at night(it will get colder) I added a heat lamp for him, its the same one I used when I kept him inside and he seemed to love it. I Assumed with the heat lamp he would not want to hibernate, however he is avoiding the heat lamp like the plague. I moved the heat lamp to 3 different spots near the caves but he runs(walks) as far away from it as possible. I guess he is trying to hibernate and any heat lamps are not going to change that? Should I just move him inside? I cant match his current roaming area inside and I feel bad. What do you guys suggest? Just Let him hibernate or bring him inside? What's too cold for him?

You have to decide if you want to brumate him, or not, and then act accordingly. Its not up to him, and left to his own devices, he will likely not survive the winter. We can help you with either course of action, but you have to pick one.

 

[Tianyuzhou88]

What kind of golden Greek is this. Are you talking about terrestris. There is locale as well. I won’t put a 1.6 year old tortoise out. Specially those not cold hardy. They can not means they should. some people had success hibernate some don’t. even for so called golden Greek. There are ones from Jordan, Syria, even some part of Turkey. Didn’t locale had different tolerance

 

[ZEROPILOT]

It seems like a "no brainer". That a cold blooded tortoise would have the sense to stay in a warm spot on a cold night.
They don't
If you keep one outside, have a heated night house. Make it draft proof with a rubber mat door and make sure that the tortoise is inside. Then block the exit until morning.
Use a heat source that has no light for night time. A CHE. Or a heat panel. Not a traditional heat lamp.
The type of heat source and level of insulation will vary by your location and how low your overnight temps are.

 

[AxelWolf]

It seems like a "no brainer". That a cold blooded tortoise would have the sense to stay in a warm spot on a cold night.
They don't
If you keep one outside, have a heated night house. Make it draft proof with a rubber mat door and make sure that the tortoise is inside. Then block the exit until morning.
Use a heat source that has no light for night time. A CHE. Or a heat panel. Not a traditional heat lamp.
The type of heat source and level of insulation will vary by your location and how low your overnight temps are.

Thank you, guys. I don't want to risk it. I have since brought him inside and he is living in our 2nd bathroom while I set up a big indoor custom fish tank for him. it's about 6' by 3' (the height is moot for the most part I take it) It has been a few days and he still seems a bit sluggish and nowhere near as active as he has been in the past. I don't exactly what subspecies he is.

 

[LJL1982]

Thank you, guys. I don't want to risk it. I have since brought him inside and he is living in our 2nd bathroom while I set up a big indoor custom fish tank for him. it's about 6' by 3' (the height is moot for the most part I take it) It has been a few days and he still seems a bit sluggish and nowhere near as active as he has been in the past. I don't exactly what subspecies he is.

Just make sure he has some UVB light, not just heat.