Keeping heat on cold nights

[Mrs.T]

It's getting frosty here through the night and my tort is in a glass tank. I have a heat lamp on through the day but nothing at night, as advised by the pet shop. The temperature in the tank is dropping to at least 14 degrees celcius possibly lower, is there anything I should do to keep her cosy through the night or should she be ok? Was going to put a wee hot water bottle in tonight until I figure out what to do?

 

[Tom]

What species and where? What are you night temps dropping to?

 

[Mrs.T]

She's a Russian baby, the lowest I have seen it is 14 degrees celcius but it could be lower earlier in the morning, I'm not sure. I'm in Scotland, keep her indoors but its quite a cold house temp dropping to 0 through the night outside

 

[ILoveTortoises2]

I would deff get her a heating lamp. I think that temp is very low for a tort. They need to be warm ALL day ALL night. I would deff go get her a heating lamp ASAP.

 

[Mrs.T]

Are there any that don't light up? Sorry if that sounds silly but she hates bring woken up by lights so is there anything I can get that's purely heat without light for nights

 

[TommyZ]

Re: RE: Keeping heat on cold nights

Are there any that don't light up? Sorry if that sounds silly but she hates bring woken up by lights so is there anything I can get that's purely heat without light for nights

Yep, try a Ceramic Heat Emitter also called a CHE, im not sure about Scotland but here, they sell CHEs at almost every pet store ive seen. I bought mine online however, since it was a few bucks cheaper than in store, it was 18$ with free shipping.

 

[ILoveTortoises2]

Are there any that don't light up? Sorry if that sounds silly but she hates bring woken up by lights so is there anything I can get that's purely heat without light for nights

I must ask you is the lamp you have now is this a UV light? What kind of Light Bulb do you have right now in your enclosure? If I were you I would get a CHE (Ceramic Heat Emitter) asap. Can you show us some photos of your enclosure?

 

[Tom]

You can use a heat lamp on a timer for day time, and then set a ceramic heating element on a thermostat to maintain whatever ambient you want. I think 14 is a little too cool. I'd set it to go no lower than 19 or so for a russian baby. Adjust the height or wattage of your daytime basking bulb to get a temp of around 37 directly under the bulb.

If you find your babies stops eating and becomes much less active at this time of year, you might need to lengthen your days on your light timer to 13-14 hours and warm up the temps all around.

 

[Mrs.T]

Thank you so much for the help. Right now she eats as much as ill give her and she's always on the move. I am aware each night is getting colder though so I will try and sort her out with some extra heating tomorrow thank you

 

[danandvicks]

Russians are absolutely fine in a night without additional heating. As long as the temp does not drop below 5c then they are fine. You would be surprised at how low temperatures go in their natural habitat at ground level.
If your worries then yes get a ceramic heater but make sure it's on a thermostat so it only kicks in when it's needed. Otherwise the lack if "climate" change could start to have a negative effect on your little one.


Dan & Vicks
Proud owner of Russian Torts

 

[Mrs.T]

Thanks for that dan, she has over the past couple of days just started digging a lot and going to sleep in the holes she digs but I'm sure I read that it is normal for them to dig I'm just not sure if she's looking for a heat or just a bit of comfort

 

[danandvicks]

It's a bit if both. In nature they dig down where the ground has "stored" some heat from the sun during the day and also it is for comfort as the soil deeper down is somewhat more humid then what it is at ground level. I have personally just got back from b&q with more top soil and sand so I can add an extra few inch to my enclosure so they can start to build there "homes" for the winter. Russians will always go back and use tunnels and hidey holes over and over again instead of digging a new one everyday.
So just monitor the ground temp of your enclosure. Give it a spray with water every now and then to help them with their burrowing and you will see they will be fine.


Dan & Vicks
Proud owner of Russian Torts

 

[Mrs.T]

I was advised not to let her hibernate at least this year as I've only had her a couple of weeks and she is young, I'm using tortoise life Mediterranean substrate at the moment, it came as part of a starter kit. I've only put about an inch at the bottom of the tank. Will maybe put more Down for her what do you think?

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Heather:

Because Mrs. T is a young tortoise, I would take the two Toms' advice and buy a CHE:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/200938659844?lpid=82

This is what they look like. If you do your own GOOGLE search it will come back with places in the UK where you can buy them.

 

[bextort]

Hi mrs t, I live in Manchester and have a Russian, I've been concerned about night temps too as we have hit autumn for sure.
My tort is not inside in a glass tank in my bedroom so didn't fancy having the light on at night. I bought a heat may from eBay positioned under her hide and placed under the tank and table stand. I have also bought a ceramic hey emitter which is a bulb that doesn't light up but provides heat apparently. I ordered this off Tesco website and it currently has free delivery, it was around the £20 mark. This is my first year with my tort and although she's not a baby I've been advised not to let her hibernate so I've invested in those to keep my temps up. I'm even considering getting a timer for her regular heat and uvb lamp that comes on early as I find it's super cold when I get up despite having heating on and her temps are pretty low, around 15-20

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That's supposed to say she is inside in a glass tank

 

[Mrs.T]

Mrs t seems to be heading to bed a bit earlier at night so I might try her heat light going off a bit earlier and then coming on early in the morning. It's already on a timer but I might play about with the times as its quite a mild night tonight mornings are definitely freezing though. I've just given her extra soil in one corner of the tank and she is loving it! She is so easily pleased lol I can't wait to get this winter out the way, I'm sure next year ill worry less!

 

[bextort]

Mrs t seems to be heading to bed a bit earlier at night so I might try her heat light going off a bit earlier and then coming on early in the morning. It's already on a timer but I might play about with the times as its quite a mild night tonight mornings are definitely freezing though. I've just given her extra soil in one corner of the tank and she is loving it! She is so easily pleased lol I can't wait to get this winter out the way, I'm sure next year ill worry less!

I'm very new to caring for a tortoise but so open to the advice and guidance on here, along with finding my own feet and figuring out her little personality. My madam is super fussy with foods and makes me feel guilty when I try add variety. I think I'm going to get a timer, mainly for the mornings now it's getting bitter