Lowest temperature

[Yodathetortoise98]

Hey Everyone,

This is just a random question I was wondering about. What's the lowest temperature a Red Foot tortoise can survive in?

 

[jaizei]

Survive as in just survive the temperature/stay alive after exposure or survive as in live, etc regularly?

Freezing is usually the hard limit. Can cause cell/tissue damage. If the cool down is gradual, anything above freezing is usually survivable. IDK if 'shock' is the right word, but a quick change from warm to cold seems less survivable. Or the other way. If heating fails, I would gradually warm them back up instead of putting them in a warm soak. Also wind chill removes heat, so 40s (f) with wind can be more dangerous than mid 30s (f) without wind.


For regular exposure, probably best to stay in mid 60s (f) and above.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

That question gets asked a lot.
And it's not too simple to answer. But I think that @Jazel has done a pretty good job of it.
Think of it this way...
Your family wouldn't die right away if it where up to 110° or down to 30° inside your house. But you may all get sick and eventually die. And in the meantime you'd all be miserable and very, very uncomfortable.
So if you're asking when to bring inside a Redfoot tortoise at night. I say at 55 degrees. As long as the daytime temps are warmer.
Can they survive it even colder?
Yes they can.
Should you allow it?
No.

 

[pawsplus]

I put my adult RF out when it's at least 65F and sunny. They need higher temps to digest food but are often quite active at lower temps. All summer when it's 85-95F, she is in her house except for early AM and evening. But right niw, when did cooler, she is matching around at lot. So exercise is good. I always bring her inside at night (no night box), and give her a warm soak if I think she's a little cool, so she gets warmer temps for digestion. I like her to get as much outdoor time as possible.

Working from home due to COVID has been great for Beasley--when I had to leave at 6:15 AM, I would never risk putting her out on a cooler day. But now, I can wait until 10 or 11 and decide then. So she's getting much more outside time this year!

 

[Markw84]

I'm always concerned when this question gets asked and answered. The air temperature is only one concern (and the least concern) of what is OK for a tortoise. What has already been said is good, but if we arbitrarily take 65°F as an example, 65° in Brampton is WWAAAYYYY different than 65°F in Florida. Tortoises use ground temperature and are affected by ground temperatures far more than air temperatures. They will spend most of their time pushed into a corner, a hide, under a bush to rest and rely on the ground temperature to stabalize their temperature. They have no "concept" of cold ground temperatures. They are not like mammals and feel cold. Their body simply slows down and starts to shut down. Their instinct tells them to wait and let the ground warm them and get the metabolism going so they can go out and bask and warm in the sun. However, if the ground is cold, they simply get colder and activity gets harder until they simply don't move at all.

65° in spring is different than 65° in summer, and much different than a warm 65° day in winter.
65° with no sunshine is different than 65° and cloudy. (Wind has much less affect on a tortoise than it would on a mammal as the cooling effect of wind is the result of evaporative cooling from our sweat glands on our skin, and the effect of constantly removing the warmer air arond our body from our own body heat. None applies to tortoises)
65° and full sun, at 44° N latitude (Brampton) is far different than 65° at 26° N latitude (S Florida) and vastly different than 5°-10° S latitude where redfoot come from.
65° as the daytime high, is way different than 65° as an overnight low.
65° when they have a way to heat their body temperature to the mid 80°s the next day is a far different story than 65° with no way to heat up the next day.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I'm always concerned when this question gets asked and answered. The air temperature is only one concern (and the least concern) of what is OK for a tortoise. What has already been said is good, but if we arbitrarily take 65°F as an example, 65° in Brampton is WWAAAYYYY different than 65°F in Florida. Tortoises use ground temperature and are affected by ground temperatures far more than air temperatures. They will spend most of their time pushed into a corner, a hide, under a bush to rest and rely on the ground temperature to stabalize their temperature. They have no "concept" of cold ground temperatures. They are not like mammals and feel cold. Their body simply slows down and starts to shut down. Their instinct tells them to wait and let the ground warm them and get the metabolism going so they can go out and bask and warm in the sun. However, if the ground is cold, they simply get colder and activity gets harder until they simply don't move at all.

65° in spring is different than 65° in summer, and much different than a warm 65° day in winter.
65° with no sunshine is different than 65° and cloudy. (Wind has much less affect on a tortoise than it would on a mammal as the cooling effect of wind is the result of evaporative cooling from our sweat glands on our skin, and the effect of constantly removing the warmer air arond our body from our own body heat. None applies to tortoises)
65° and full sun, at 44° N latitude (Brampton) is far different than 65° at 26° N latitude (S Florida) and vastly different than 5°-10° S latitude where redfoot come from.
65° as the daytime high, is way different than 65° as an overnight low.
65° when they have a way to heat their body temperature to the mid 80°s the next day is a far different story than 65° with no way to heat up the next day.

It is always difficult to answer.
And my situation is very different than most.
Getting below 50 only happens about twice a year. And then only at night.
Every time an answer is given, an other comment comes in about how they can survive it even colder. Or hotter.
I think you've done a great job of adding some clarification.
But be prepared. Because this will get asked again really soon.