How cold is too cold for my Sulcata

Lovebrickuk

New Member
Joined
Sep 5, 2021
Messages
14
Location (City and/or State)
Ilfracombe
Of course. Please do. Zolasmum is also around here, think nearer Okehampton. She had a well travelled older tortoise. We plan to meet up at some point. Keep to keep in touch with devonian tortoise enthusiasts, we're a rare breed ?
I got mine a year ago. His previous owner, kept him pretty cold, around 10 degrees throughout winter, through ignorance rather than malevolence. I'm not sure how he survived, even though Sully's are pretty resilient. I joined this forum and sought advice on heating and lighting options until we had him at the right temps. Tom was one of the fellas who advised me. Plus Yvonne, Maggie and others.
In terms of winter food I'm buying 'readigrass' as his staple. You can get it at equestrian supply place or even amazon! A huge bale for around £15. Worth it for when Winnifred gets bigger.
Welcome and keep asking questions until you are happy with Winnifred's habitat.
 

Lovebrickuk

New Member
Joined
Sep 5, 2021
Messages
14
Location (City and/or State)
Ilfracombe
Of course. Please do. Zolasmum is also around here, think nearer Okehampton. She had a well travelled older tortoise. We plan to meet up at some point. Keep to keep in touch with devonian tortoise enthusiasts, we're a rare breed ?
I got mine a year ago. His previous owner, kept him pretty cold, around 10 degrees throughout winter, through ignorance rather than malevolence. I'm not sure how he survived, even though Sully's are pretty resilient. I joined this forum and sought advice on heating and lighting options until we had him at the right temps. Tom was one of the fellas who advised me. Plus Yvonne, Maggie and others.
In terms of winter food I'm buying 'readigrass' as his staple. You can get it at equestrian supply place or even amazon! A huge bale for around £15. Worth it for when Winnifred gets bigger.
Welcome and keep asking questions until you are happy with Winnifred's habitat.
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,269
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
Hi Tom, I'm wondering where this information comes from. I've looked into temperature data from many parts of the Sahel where the Sulcata lives in the wild, and the overnight lows commonly reach into the 60'sF--much lower than the 32C, (89.6F) often stated on this forum. Please feel free to check the links below to verify that I'm not just making this up. This forum (and your advice) is the most consistently accurate place I've found in our tort journey, but this inconsistency in temperature information keeps coming up, and I'd like to learn more.








Etc.
Fair question. The temps I listed were the daily highs in areas where sulcatas occur. I looked up the current range map that was shown in "The Crying Tortoise" and found the cities nearest those area that had temps listed. I put all those cities on my "dashboard" on my lap top and watched them for about 3 years.

The overnight lows you listed are not relevant because the sulcatas are deep underground at night. Geological surveys from those areas tell use ground temps hover between 80 and 85 all year. THIS is where the sulcatas are at night in the wild. @Markw84 found some areas with ground temps close to 90 at some times of the year. When I randomly click on some of your links I see day time temps near 100, as I stated. In some areas and at some times of the year, those day time high temps are significantly higher.
 

Fred Savill

New Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2018
Messages
7
Location (City and/or State)
London. UK
Hi all ,
I have an almost 11 month old Sulcata weighing 226g, his shell is almost 5 inches long..
I live in England North Devon and the weather here is getting colder now, Usually Winnifred spends a couple of hours per day outside but now the weather has turned colder (12° today and 9° forecast for next week) I am not sure how long or if I should put him out at all ?
I have been bringing him in after an hour to warm him up before putting him out again.. is this necessary?
Please help
Many thanks
Hi there, I live in Gravesend, Kent and asked the same question a few weeks ago. Many people were shocked at how low the temperatures were that I was putting my 10 year old Red Foot out in. But Harry 2 was born and raised in cold UK so is used to running around in temperatures way below those recommended of 30c and above. A very helpful guy in Canada helped by saying put him out if it is sunny and he can gain some warmth. He has been out on sunny days of 12c but is now in for winter as it is colder. However, I would suggest as your little Sulcata is so you it may be worth taking extra care if he is outside, just keep an eye on him. If he is moving about I would suggest it’s warm enough, but if he hunkers down somewhere it’s probably best to bring him in. It was also suggested that although it may be warm enough for him to walk around it may be warm enough for his digestive system to work. I hope this helps as much as it helped me. Fred S.
 

Emmawilly

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2020
Messages
161
Location (City and/or State)
Plymouth
I agree. Take care with the little ones so they don't get too chilly.
It's 6 degrees c in my back garden at the moment. Rodney's shed is 27 degrees. He's already out munching and I've left food in his shed but he prefers the grass whilst there is still some there to eat. I've watched him do 2 circuits of the garden so far. I'll check that's he's gone back into his hut in next hour. 20211122_085831.jpg20211122_090503.jpg
 
Top