Outdoor questions

PSLIMO

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Hi All,

I have a 12" long, 10lb, 4 year old leopard. She has her schedule of waking up from her hide eating then spreading out under her UV bulb. After an hour or two it's off to her 9" x 14" watering pan and eventually back into her hide. She always returns to her hide for the night.

I started taking her outside for some real sunlight in a pen that has a 2' x 2' shady area for a couple hours a day every other day. When I bring her back in I check the temp of her shell to she if she's overheating with real sunlight and it's between 90 and 92 degrees. After a couple hours outside when I brought her back inside, she slept in her water pan one night and under a heat lamp the next. By the second night not being outside it's back to the old predictable routine.

Am I doing any harm changing her daily routine? On the night after she's outside she'll rest way past her normal eating and basking time.

Please advise if bringing her outside may cause stress or do more harm than good.

Phil
 

Yvonne G

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She's eventually going to live outside full time, right? This is just the precursor to that time. In my opinion, it's a good thing.
 
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PSLIMO

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Hi Yvonne,

She's eventually going to live outside full time, right?

Unfortunately no, I live 50 miles NW of Chicago. I have an area staked out for a summer habitat next year that faces south and is 40' long by 22' wide with my deck covering 10' of the rear of it. I attached a couple pics of the area. I plan on putting a 2' bamboo fence around the inside of the retaining wall which is already a foot higher than the ground cover. We had a tough winter here and it killed the burning bushes in the picture that I'll remove and leave the ground cover adding fountain grasses. There's plenty of room for a large hide in the shade and I have power there.

What I'm concerned with is taking the tortoise out every other day stressful and should I wait until I have a place for the entire summer? Maybe only once a week? I dunno it's my first tortoise and I don't want to make any mistakes.20190728_163233_resized.jpg 20190728_165005_resized.jpg .

Phil
 

Blackdog1714

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If you make her own area outside that you take her to it shouldn’t she will see it as her own territory. Worst case she will expect you to take her to her second kingdom! Don’t forget nibble plants can’t go in halfway on spoiling her! Torting Ain’t Easy!
 

PSLIMO

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I'm going to take that advice and build the 40' x 22' enclosed area she can call her own next year for the entire summer. Dropping her for a couple hours a few days a week for real sunlight into the dog run pen that she can see through wasn't the best idea. And I agree "Torting ain't easy" but is very rewarding with these amazing reptiles.

Phil
 

Blackdog1714

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You have to troll some of the big dogs on TFO to get a true idea what it takes. My Russian’s outdoor is 3.5’x12’ so imagine what I have planned for my now baby Leopard [emoji38][emoji95]
 

Neal

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It is very likely that you will notice behavior changes when you adjust a tortoises daily routine. I am a believer that any safe outdoor time a tortoise can get is better than keeping him inside, so I usually tolerate some behavior changes while being slightly more observant to its behavior. If the tortoise refuses to eat or slows down its activity level significantly, then you may want to hold off until it returns to normal behavior.

Make any routine adjustments slowly. As in, instead of moving it from inside to outside every day, maybe do that every few days. Once it establishes that as its routine then do it every other day or so until it is completely comfortable with being moved in and out.
 
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PSLIMO

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Thanks for the voice of reason responses. I'll post a picture of her outdoor oasis when it's completed.

Phil
 

PSLIMO

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Hey Tom,

I've seen threads on your builds and they look straight forward and solid.

Couple questions. Do you lock them inside the night box every night as the name implies? Second, do you let any light in the box or do they like total darkness?

Phil
 

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