Newbie

[jojoM83]

Hi all,
Wow what a fantastic place to be for a newbie tortoise mum!
I collected Roy at the weekend to come live with us. He's a 10 year old spur thighed and has been living outside in the UK and brought inside in winter. Not been hibernated yet.
He has a wooden insulated house outside. The weekend was hot and he was out zooming about the garden all weekend. However it's now 17c and raining. Should he be under his indoor lamp? Can he go under it to recharge and go back out or do I leave him? Advice greatly appreciated please.
Jo

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Hello and welcome!
I think our UK members can share how they keep their tortoises. @zolasmum @MaNaAk @idcowden, please?

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome
Yes, you can bring him inside during conditions that are not ideal and put him back out when it's better out.
You can also build him a heated outdoor hide that he can choose to go into, to warm up, on those kinds of days too.
You may have to teach him it's the place to go, by placing him in it a few times before he catches on.

 

[MaNaAk]

Dear @jojoM83,

Welcome! Roy is very cute and you have a lifetime of hilarious moments ahead of you. Jacky is an 88 year old Spur-thighed Tortoise and here in Essex I have tried to get her out as much as possible. She has not eaten when it was colder but it is going to warm up again and today she has started to eat again. I would leave the heat lamp for a little while as the expect 30 degrees Celsius at the weekend but please keep posting so that we can keep advising you. How old is Roy?

Natrah

 

[Tom]

Hi all,
Wow what a fantastic place to be for a newbie tortoise mum!
I collected Roy at the weekend to come live with us. He's a 10 year old spur thighed and has been living outside in the UK and brought inside in winter. Not been hibernated yet.
He has a wooden insulated house outside. The weekend was hot and he was out zooming about the garden all weekend. However it's now 17c and raining. Should he be under his indoor lamp? Can he go under it to recharge and go back out or do I leave him? Advice greatly appreciated please.
Jo

Hello and welcome!

Here is the care info for your species. In this thread I show pictures and explain a way to do outdoor housing that helps to compensate for uncooperative weather. You might be able to retro-fit your existing shelter.

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

And much more helpful info here:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

Questions are welcome!

 

[jojoM83]

Dear @jojoM83,

Welcome! Roy is very cute and you have a lifetime of hilarious moments ahead of you. Jacky is an 88 year old Spur-thighed Tortoise and here in Essex I have tried to get her out as much as possible. She has not eaten when it was colder but it is going to warm up again and today she has started to eat again. I would leave the heat lamp for a little while as the expect 30 degrees Celsius at the weekend but please keep posting so that we can keep advising you. How old is Roy?

Natrah

He's very inquisitive and funny already! He's 10 years old. Thank you so much x

 

[jojoM83]

Hello and Welcome
Yes, you can bring him inside during conditions that are not ideal and put him back out when it's better out.
You can also build him a heated outdoor hide that he can choose to go into, to warm up, on those kinds of days too.
You may have to teach him it's the place to go, by placing him in it a few times before he catches on.

Thank you so much. I do appreciate it x

 

[TammyJ]

Welcome to you and Roy!

 

[jojoM83]

Hello and welcome!

Here is the care info for your species. In this thread I show pictures and explain a way to do outdoor housing that helps to compensate for uncooperative weather. You might be able to retro-fit your existing shelter.

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

And much more helpful info here:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

Questions are welcome!

Thank you so much Tom. I will take a look. I've been reading so much on here. All so helpful x

 

[idcowden]

Hi, this is what my tortoise run looks like (I'm in Surrey). The cold frame in the corner I bought on Amazon. In side I hang a ceramic UV heat lamp from the ceiling (it's a ceramic heater as they don't need artificial light, and it means it can be on at night). The heater is connected to a thermostat (INKBIRD ITC 306T) which lives in that grey box on the wall, with the probe inside the cold frame. It means I can use my phone to check the temp and also set up to keep the cold frame so it doesn't get too cold. Mine retreat in there when it's cold and wet and come out when it's sunny.
The top is fully covered in chickenwire (the lids come out for cleaning - and are not in this photo) which protects from foxes, cats and ambitious birds.

During the winter, mine have just dug down naturally for brumation when they felt that the weather just wasn't worth bothering with any more*.
I have found that the lowest temperature that the cold frame got down to was about 6 to 8 degrees c on cold nights. We had one super cold snap where I was a bit worried and dug up coco to move her back into the cold frame as she was a long way from it. She dug down again and found a sweet spot just outside the perimiter of the frame.




*note - Tom is not a fan of this approach

 

[Fluffy]

Hi, this is what my tortoise run looks like (I'm in Surrey). The cold frame in the corner I bought on Amazon. In side I hang a ceramic UV heat lamp from the ceiling (it's a ceramic heater as they don't need artificial light, and it means it can be on at night). The heater is connected to a thermostat (INKBIRD ITC 306T) which lives in that grey box on the wall, with the probe inside the cold frame. It means I can use my phone to check the temp and also set up to keep the cold frame so it doesn't get too cold. Mine retreat in there when it's cold and wet and come out when it's sunny.
The top is fully covered in chickenwire (the lids come out for cleaning - and are not in this photo) which protects from foxes, cats and ambitious birds.

During the winter, mine have just dug down naturally for brumation when they felt that the weather just wasn't worth bothering with any more*.
I have found that the lowest temperature that the cold frame got down to was about 6 to 8 degrees c on cold nights. We had one super cold snap where I was a bit worried and dug up coco to move her back into the cold frame as she was a long way from it. She dug down again and found a sweet spot just outside the perimiter of the frame.

View attachment 374657


*note - Tom is not a fan of this approach

Very nice! Do you have a pump and filter on your water feature or is that just rain water filling it?

 

[Tom]

Hi, this is what my tortoise run looks like (I'm in Surrey). The cold frame in the corner I bought on Amazon. In side I hang a ceramic UV heat lamp from the ceiling (it's a ceramic heater as they don't need artificial light, and it means it can be on at night). The heater is connected to a thermostat (INKBIRD ITC 306T) which lives in that grey box on the wall, with the probe inside the cold frame. It means I can use my phone to check the temp and also set up to keep the cold frame so it doesn't get too cold. Mine retreat in there when it's cold and wet and come out when it's sunny.
The top is fully covered in chickenwire (the lids come out for cleaning - and are not in this photo) which protects from foxes, cats and ambitious birds.

During the winter, mine have just dug down naturally for brumation when they felt that the weather just wasn't worth bothering with any more*.
I have found that the lowest temperature that the cold frame got down to was about 6 to 8 degrees c on cold nights. We had one super cold snap where I was a bit worried and dug up coco to move her back into the cold frame as she was a long way from it. She dug down again and found a sweet spot just outside the perimiter of the frame.

View attachment 374657


*note - Tom is not a fan of this approach

This is a fantastic enclosure!

Note: Its not that I'm not a fan of the approach of leaving a tortoise outside to fend for itself in winter. The problem is that with the rain, rodents, unexpected temperature extremes in either direction, and many other factors, many of them die this way, and then the people go online and say that brumation (they call it hibernation...), is too dangerous and scary and they are afraid of it.

Simply put, it is not safe to leave them outside on their own in winter.

 

[EppsDynasty]

@jojoM83 .... Welcome. Your Tortoise does not Hibernate (Brumate) in the winter. I am in the camp of keeping them warm all year, in the winter this is a little trickier. There is a ton of info on the forum of how to accomplish this.

 

[Yvonne G]

Welcome to the Forum!

 

[jojoM83]

Thank you everyone.
Roy has run of our small walled garden. It's completely secure, shaded at the bottom and a sun trap closer to the house. He has a wooden insulated house for bedtime, terracotta saucers dotted around and lots of hiding places. We would like to hibernate him but he hasnt been hibernated in his previous home in 10 years. I will be back for advice and help when the weather cools if not before!!!!

 

[Tom]

Thank you everyone.
Roy has run of our small walled garden. It's completely secure, shaded at the bottom and a sun trap closer to the house. He has a wooden insulated house for bedtime, terracotta saucers dotted around and lots of hiding places. We would like to hibernate him but he hasnt been hibernated in his previous home in 10 years. I will be back for advice and help when the weather cools if not before!!!!

All of that sounds positively perfect!

Here is the brumation info so that you can read up on it anytime you like. You do not "have" to brumate him if you don't want to, but I generally think it is a good idea to SAFELY brumate a tortoise in captivity, if it is a species that would brumate in the wild.

Tom's Brumation Thread

Every fall we get bombarded here on the forum with all sorts of questions and problems regarding hibernation and tortoises "slowing down" for winter. The purpose of this thread is to talk about all aspects of this subject, to dispel some of the myths and mysteries, and give a "how to" list of...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[jojoM83]

I agree. I have an ex colleague and friend of a friend who have Hermann's outside and they always brumate theirs safely but those two tortoises are over 70 so well established! Thank you for your help and advice. I'll take a look. Jo x

 

[EppsDynasty]

@jojoM83 .... Welcome. Your Tortoise does not Hibernate (Brumate) in the winter. I am in the camp of keeping them warm all year, in the winter this is a little trickier. There is a ton of info on the forum of how to accomplish this.

Well I just learned something ....
surprised someone didn't tell me I was wrong or completely wrong.

He's a 10 year old spur thighed and has been living outside in the UK and brought inside in winter. Not been hibernated yet.

I mistakenly took it as you had a Sulcata or Spurred Tortoise.
If ya ain't learning here you are not paying attention!
Love the TFO

 

[MaNaAk]

Well I just learned something ....
surprised someone didn't tell me I was wrong or completely wrong.

I mistakenly took it as you had a Sulcata or Spurred Tortoise.
If ya ain't learning here you are not paying attention!
Love the TFO

Jacky 88 year old Spur-thighed Tortoise

 

[EppsDynasty]

@MaNaAk such a beautiful Tortoise! And Thank You for sharing that with me. I will never make this mistake again. Now Spur Thighed and Spurred Tortoise are in my vocab.
I was taken by the color and pattern of the shell, very similar to our 85 year old Desert Tortoise Homer.