Night time concerns

Jenminer

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Joined
Feb 1, 2017
Messages
44
Location (City and/or State)
Northern California
I've heard the enlongated tortoises are more active in the evenings and early mornings, how do enlongated owners manage this? Do the tortoises get left out all night, temps allowing? Will these tortoises know to make use of a heated shelter? Do they get put to bed late and let out early? If left out how do you protect them from the raccoons?
 

SarahChelonoidis

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Apr 20, 2015
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Location (City and/or State)
Toronto, Canada
Yes, they do most of their activity after dark and before sunrise.
ImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1489487615.067783.jpg

I think your best option is having a fully predator proof enclosure outside and to use it when temperatures are suitable or to bring them in to a large enclosure inside for their after dark activity. Since I live in a climate that requires an indoor enclosure for a big part of the year, the indoor solution works fine for me, although I admit it is not ideal.

I have a heated box that is sometimes used and sometimes not. They can take colder temperatures than many species, but I don't think they have the best judgement about seeking warm shelter. I wouldn't trust them to go in a shelter if you know a particularly cold patch of weather is coming. If you live in a climate where they can tolerate your low temperatures, I wouldn't worry about it - have the heated box, but don't be concerned if they skip it on some nights.

If you require night heat where you are and don't want to go to the outdoor/indoor enclosure system, locking them in a heated night box *can* work depending on your sleep schedule. I see the most vigorous activity occurring from sunset to two hours post sunset and then two hours before sunrise to sunrise. This time of year, if I locked mine away at 22:00 and was willing to unlock at 5:00, I don't think much activity would be missed. In the summer, those times get stretched later and earlier than I'd like so it would be much harder to do.
 

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