Habitat temperature

[eachdayisnew]

Trying to get info and thoughts for our 3 year old female sulcatta.
We live in Charleston, SC so it's very humid and hot during the summer here. We want to move Voldetort outside but have some questions. We've got the pen set up and got a large dog house to be her keep.
Haven't moved her out yet as we're making sure it's good. We got a temperature probe that is inside the house and during the day, this is showing air temps of 100-100F with a heat index up to 135+... This feels like it would be much too hot but wanted to ask.
We're going to have a soaking area with a fountain in it so she can hang out there if she wants as well.
Should we shade the side of the enclosure with the house to try and get it cooler or will she be alright outdoors?

 

[wellington]

That is to warm. You need to plant or build shade and put the house in shade. Also sprinklers and misters can lower the temp some.
Temps should go no lower than 80 and a basking temps of 95-100. The rest of the enclosure would be 80-85. That's the temps needed for an inside enclosure.
So the outside temp is even hotter then what a basking temp should be.

 

[Tom]

Trying to get info and thoughts for our 3 year old female sulcatta.
We live in Charleston, SC so it's very humid and hot during the summer here. We want to move Voldetort outside but have some questions. We've got the pen set up and got a large dog house to be her keep.
Haven't moved her out yet as we're making sure it's good. We got a temperature probe that is inside the house and during the day, this is showing air temps of 100-100F with a heat index up to 135+... This feels like it would be much too hot but wanted to ask.
We're going to have a soaking area with a fountain in it so she can hang out there if she wants as well.
Should we shade the side of the enclosure with the house to try and get it cooler or will she be alright outdoors?

That is much too hot. You need deep heavy shade for that kind of heat as well as misters and sprinklers.

Dog houses don't work for tortoises. You need a tortoise night house that is insulated, built the correct dimensions for a tortoise, and it needs safe and effective heating installed for most of the year when its not boiling hot outside. Here ae two examples:

Single Tortoise Night Box

I like my larger tortoises to live outside full time. My climate permits this year round with a little help. For people who live where it snows all winter, this type of box is still good for warmer weather, getting them out earlier in Spring, and keeping them out a bit later into fall. You'll...

tortoiseforum.org

Double Door Night Box

As the years have gone by and I build more of these boxes, I learn more and more each time. This one is the latest and I incorporated everything I've learned over the years. I also tried to take lots of pics so I can explain in more detail some of what is going on. It will take multiple posts to...

tortoiseforum.org

The insulation resists temperature change. Meaning it keeps the heat in in winter, and it keeps the heat out in summer. My boxes stay in the high 80s here when daytime highs are 100+.

 

[S2G]

Im close to you in the SE. What i did was have different areas he could pick or choose. I had a shaded pool area, an insulated house, & a huge half giant planter that i half buried. During these hot months he'd go chill in the burrow i made. Before that hed start digging