Mojave Desert Tortoise advice.

daveyjones1972

New Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2020
Messages
26
Location (City and/or State)
Sierra Madre
We’ve recently inherited a Mojave Desert Tortoise. I’ll keep this quick, as I’m hoping to get some responses as soon as possible. He came out of hibernation on Tuesday. The temperature is going to drop down to 44 degrees tonight in Pasadena, and it’s supposed to rain. His previous owner had him in a dog house because he had a problem with the burrows the Tortoise had dug on his own flooding. We inherited the dog house and he’s been okay in it so far.

My question is at 44 degrees, post hibernation, should we bring him inside for the night until we come with a better outdoor heated solution?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts you may have.

Davey Jones
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,405
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
Your tortoise's body is acclimated to the cold. If you bring him in and warm him up, you have to then keep him indoors until summer and warm weather. Just put him into the dog house and block the door so he can't come out. Allow him out during the day to sun (if its not raining) and block him in at night.
 

daveyjones1972

New Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2020
Messages
26
Location (City and/or State)
Sierra Madre
Thanks so much for the responses! I think I’m going to leave him out. I draped a couple of heavy towels over the door to his house, which should be enough to keep him inside. To be honest, once he’s parked for the night he doesn’t usually leave again anyway, so hopefully he won’t test the towel door I rigged up
 

daveyjones1972

New Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2020
Messages
26
Location (City and/or State)
Sierra Madre
Just put a piece of plywood in front of the doorway and hold it in place with a brick. A towel won't do it. Just find something he can't move.

Thank you so much for your help. Would you happen to know if there’s a temperature that would be considered too cold for a Desert Mojave? I was mistaken, and tonight is actually the night it’s going to dip to 45 degrees. Last night was in the low 50’s. After that it looks like we’re back to a string of nighttime temps in the low to mid 50’s, with daytime highs ranging from mid 60’s to high 70’s. Last week we even had several days in the 80’s, and he was out and about and all over the place.
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,405
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
It will be fine. Just make sure he's in the shelter every night and on rainy days and allow him out during the day to sun himself and warm up naturally. If you think the inside of the shelter will get down to 32F or below, that's when you need to worry. But anything above freezing is fine.
 

daveyjones1972

New Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2020
Messages
26
Location (City and/or State)
Sierra Madre
Haha I live in pasadena as well. I would move him in a heated area is he’s coming out of hibernation. I cant help much, im new to torty keeping. Cool to see a fellow pasadena guy.
After a few decades in California, you’d think I’d know the weather can be a bit unpredictable! What kind of Tortoise are you keeping?
 

daveyjones1972

New Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2020
Messages
26
Location (City and/or State)
Sierra Madre
It will be fine. Just make sure he's in the shelter every night and on rainy days and allow him out during the day to sun himself and warm up naturally. If you think the inside of the shelter will get down to 32F or below, that's when you need to worry. But anything above freezing is fine.
Thank you!
 

Tony the Tort42

Active Member
Joined
Jan 7, 2020
Messages
233
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
Your tortoise's body is acclimated to the cold. If you bring him in and warm him up, you have to then keep him indoors until summer and warm weather. Just put him into the dog house and block the door so he can't come out. Allow him out during the day to sun (if its not raining) and block him in at night.
Lol that wont be long here in California. Thats interesting... Do they go back into hibernation?
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,265
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
We’ve recently inherited a Mojave Desert Tortoise. I’ll keep this quick, as I’m hoping to get some responses as soon as possible. He came out of hibernation on Tuesday. The temperature is going to drop down to 44 degrees tonight in Pasadena, and it’s supposed to rain. His previous owner had him in a dog house because he had a problem with the burrows the Tortoise had dug on his own flooding. We inherited the dog house and he’s been okay in it so far.

My question is at 44 degrees, post hibernation, should we bring him inside for the night until we come with a better outdoor heated solution?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts you may have.

Davey Jones
Yes. Bring him in, and ideally, provide a place to warm up during the day too.
 

daveyjones1972

New Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2020
Messages
26
Location (City and/or State)
Sierra Madre
Yes. Bring him in, and ideally, provide a place to warm up during the day too.

Thanks for your advice! If I do bring him inside for the one cold night, will I then need to continue bringing him in every night until it warms up, as Yvonne suggested above? Also, how cold would you say is too cold? As with most reptiles there seems to be a lot of conflicting information out there.
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,405
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
In my opinion, Tom's advice isn't suitable in this situation. If you bring him in and allow him to warm up clear into his core, you must then keep him in until summer weather comes. As it is now, he's been brumating and he's acclimated to the cooler weather. Just make sure he's in his shelter at night and if it rains, and let him warm up slowly, like he would be doing in the wild in this kind of weather.
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,265
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
In my opinion, Tom's advice isn't suitable in this situation. If you bring him in and allow him to warm up clear into his core, you must then keep him in until summer weather comes. As it is now, he's been brumating and he's acclimated to the cooler weather. Just make sure he's in his shelter at night and if it rains, and let him warm up slowly, like he would be doing in the wild in this kind of weather.

In the wild he'd stay underground in a 50 degree burrow until it was time to come up.

If he's already up, warmed, and been allowed to eat, I wouldn't let him get cold again. Too late for that. He can take nights in the 60s as long as he can warm up during the day.
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,405
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
In the wild he'd stay underground in a 50 degree burrow until it was time to come up.

If he's already up, warmed, and been allowed to eat, I wouldn't let him get cold again. Too late for that. He can take nights in the 60s as long as he can warm up during the day.
I didn't see anything about him eating. I interpreted the story that he has just come out of brumation and they thought the night temperature wss too cold for him.
 

daveyjones1972

New Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2020
Messages
26
Location (City and/or State)
Sierra Madre
Yes. He’s already eaten a good deal. He came out of hibernation on an 80 degree day. It’s been relatively warm since then but dropped into the 50’s last night.
 

New Posts

Top