Night time stroll?

[Texastort]

Okay, so my torts are doing something strange. Each night this week around 930pm, a few of them are coming out of their heated house and grazing and walking around. Is this normal? I am wondering if the warm house is keeping them warm and hungry. Just kind of curious!

 

[CtTortoiseMom]

I am not sure if this is normal. When my Sulcata was outside he went to bed when the sun went down. Is it dark in their hide?

 

[Texastort]

I am not sure if this is normal. When my Sulcata was outside he went to bed when the sun went down. Is it dark in their hide?

I use infrared lamps at night, which I know is up for debate if they produce visible light. I've been using these for a month though and this is the first they've done this. They usually come out to eat. Maybe they are hungry? I also have a pretty well lit back yard for security, could that be the reason?

 

[jaizei]

What temperature is their heated house kept at?

 

[Texastort]

75-82 at night ambient air temperature. Probably 90 underneath the bulbs. My backyard is pretty bright for security at night, could that do it?

 

[dmarcus]

If its warm out, My guy will leave his house to roam around at night, but right now its cold and he won't leave the warm house for nothing...

 

[Tony the tank]

I sometimes hear Tony walking around the enclosure at night..one night I decided to see what he was doing...when I turned the lights on..he had this "oh s*^y" look on his face..I think he is a closet hay eater..

But seems he only does it when a little light from the laundry room shines in through the glass door..

 

[ascott]

I do not keep Sulcata tortoise....but I do keep CDTs and if I have found that a couple of times I noticed one of my guys out of his hide at a time he should be soundly tucked in for the night....so my first action was to go and check in the hide, I found a big ole hunky chunky black widow that had her web across the entire entrance about 3 inches in....so I became the death queen for the widow, as soon as I killed that spider....within 2 mins Haus was headed to his hide and right back in, never looked back....so when I have had a tort pop up when and where they should normally not be---I first check their hide/burrow....as this same thing happened with my other CDT Herman and he is clear on the other side of the property from Haus...black widow in the corner of the hide he likes to sleep in during summer months....death queen back into action...funny, Herman likes to watch....and once I was done and started to walk away....bum rush right into his hide....

So maybe check out their hide...check for critters and such...then if nothing I would begin to wonder if you need to put a shade above their house entrance to assure that light is not sparking them to come on out---especially since you have their house so nice and hot.....

I would be concerned due to night is when undesired critters come on out and that would be my concern....IMHO

 

[Texastort]

Thanks. I checked the hide and it's clear. I am gonna turn off some security lighting and see if that helps. Thanks!

 

[Yvonne G]

In the wild, the night time temperatures are slightly cooler than the day time temps. Maybe your houses are too warm.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I also keep a large Sulcata and at night he goes into his sleeping box and doesn't come out until morning. For one I think your house is too warm at night. It should be closer to 70 degrees. And instead of turning off some security lights I would block the door so the torts are protected at night and they can't leave. That's what I would do. Bob lives in a large (12'X20') shed with a sleeping box inside. I padlock the shed door and he sleeps in that sleeping box all night. Is there a reason you need bright security lights? HTH

 

[Texastort]

Thanks all. I will see about cooling the hide. Our weather has been so up and down, I am still calibrating the best temperatures. I will also build a door that I can lock.

 

[StudentoftheReptile]

I recently changed the lighting where my infrared bulb comes on 3 hours before and after my MVB turns on/off respectively. I noticed that Kobe likes to come out during that morning period and warm up under the red light at least a full hour before the MVB comes on.

I forget...are tortoises able to see in the infrared? or would it just seem like darkness to him?

 

[9see]

I sometimes hear Tony walking around the enclosure at night..one night I decided to see what he was doing...when I turned the lights on..he had this "oh s*^y" look on his face..I think he is a closet hay eater..

But seems he only does it when a little light from the laundry room shines in through the glass door..

this made me LOL!!!

---

When my tort was smaller, i kept him in my bedroom in his indoor enclosure at night. i always made sure the bedroom lights were off or else he would wake up and roam around and look for food