In lieu of winter garage brumation

[Elvis Fan]

20+ year old male desert tortoise. I am creating an additional adjacent 12' x 12' open space for Elvis in the hope he can just stay outside all year round. The space is 7' below a slatted view deck with a solid block wall on one side which will protect against the elements. Lots of dirt and a pre-burrowed home into a gentle sloped hill 5' - in. This area (up against a canyon) gets baked during the summer and during the winter can hit high 30's-low 40's for maybe 5 days, then mid to high 40's for an addition 14-21 days. I'm guessing that would be similar to the Mojave Desert where I assume Elvis came from. I want Elvis to figure it all out himself to where he is comfortable, rather than me playing God and trying to figure when is the right time for him to Brumate or wake. He has lots of area already to bask in, and plenty of grazing foliage. Thoughts? Is this a bad thing? Or should I Brumate Elvis in the garage come November?

 

[Tom]

20+ year old male desert tortoise. I am creating an additional adjacent 12' x 12' open space for Elvis in the hope he can just stay outside all year round. The space is 7' below a slatted view deck with a solid block wall on one side which will protect against the elements. Lots of dirt and a pre-burrowed home into a gentle sloped hill 5' - in. This area (up against a canyon) gets baked during the summer and during the winter can hit high 30's-low 40's for maybe 5 days, then mid to high 40's for an addition 14-21 days. I'm guessing that would be similar to the Mojave Desert where I assume Elvis came from. I want Elvis to figure it all out himself to where he is comfortable, rather than me playing God and trying to figure when is the right time for him to Brumate or wake. He has lots of area already to bask in, and plenty of grazing foliage. Thoughts? Is this a bad thing? Or should I Brumate Elvis in the garage come November?

Its not "playing god" to make sure your tortoise is in optimal conditions, or at least survivable conditions. Out in the wild, their burrow can be 90 feet long and 30 feet deep. Ground temps are very stable at those depths, and ground temps are highly variable to either extreme topside. These variable temps where we have one January day in the low 50s and two days later it 90 degrees, are what cause the problems for a tortoise that is trying to hibernate. What you need is stability. US Geological surveys tell us that ground temps in our area are stable at 50 in winter and 79 in summer, once you get deep enough. The only way to know if temps are stable in your proposed area is to stick a thermometer in there and check.

Unstable fluctuating temperatures are just one of the many reasons to not let them hibernate outside. Burrow flooding, burrow collapse, ants, rodents, and other hazards have a way of killing DTs left outside. Safety is the main reason to bring them in and keep them contained. Most garages are too warm and also fluctuate too much on those warm winter days we get.

I've found only two suitable ways to do it:
1. Fridge in the winter and an outdoor burrow for the summer. Read post number 19 of this thread for more explanation on that:

Looking for an RT Hibernation "Mentor"

In this thread, @Tom mentioned seeking out a "mentor" who has experience in successfully hibernating Russian tortoises. So I am looking for you! Or any ideas of potential helpful peeps... Thanks! :) A little background: My boyfriend and I are interested in hibernating Steve, our male Russian...

tortoiseforum.org

2. Make an outdoor box that can be temperature controlled, and closed up to keep pests out and away from a "sleeping" tortoise. My male Chersina has hibernated outside in this house for the last three winters. The sealed, insulated box keeps the temp stable on hot winter days and freezing winter nights. The ambient heat and basking bulb helps me get the gut empty going into hibernation, and helps me keep the little man up and running when those spring cold spells hit, like right now, and he's already up from hibernation and eating. Pics and more expiration here:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

It sure would be convenient and easy to just leave them outside to fend for themselves, but our yards are not the wild, and Mother Nature is a terribly cruel mistress. A good friend of mine, one of the first members of this forum, lost his DT this way. Burrow flooded and collapsed. He'd done it outside for years and everything seemed fine, right up until the day is wasn't fine any more.

 

[Elvis Fan]

Hey Tom. I appreciate the succinct and detailed response and will take all of it into consideration. For now, and based on the information given, I will be boxing Elvis up in the garage. Safety first. Thanks!