Outdoor

[tiley junior 1]

Does your tortoise have to have a outside place to

 

[Yvonne G]

In my opinion, yes, Russian tortoise belong outside. They are much happier in a large, safe, outdoor habitat. Then when bad weather rolls around in the Fall, they hibernate, and really have no need of ever being brought indoors.

 

[Tom]

Do they HAVE to? No. They can survive indoors their whole life IF you do everything correctly, but why? Outside is much easier and much better for them in most cases. Outside time is very good for them. Grazing, exercise, sunshine... Its really easy to do. Click the links in my signature for some simple ideas.

 

[wellington]

I agree, yes they do. Think of it like this. They were made too live outside. We weren't. Would you want too live indoors your whole life, never getting outside? Now think about them, they were suppose to live their whole life outside. A simple outside enclosure for those nice days can be as simple as a plastic kiddie pool, some substrate, shade, water and done. Then bring them in at night.

 

[tiley junior 1]

K but she is really happy I doors aswell so

 

[Yvonne G]

K but she is really happy I doors aswell so

You're putting YOUR feelings on your tortoise. How do you know she's "happy?" Tortoises really don't feel happiness. They are either ok with their living arrangements or they are stressed out by them. If your tortoise doesn't dig at the corners or try to climb the walls..if it eats and just wanders around occasionally and sleeps in its hide, then I'd guess the tortoise is ok with its living arrangements. Are you providing the tortoise with UVB?

 

[tiley junior 1]

Yeahhhhhhhhhh

 

[wellington]

Is there a reason you can't provide an outdoor living space? You don't have to set her up permanently outside, but daily grazing and natural UVB would do her a lot of good, physically and mentally. Mine can't live outside 24/7 in the winter months. But in the spring and summer they will. My Russian gets put inside every night during the spring and summer and spends the nice days outside. Even if you can't provide a yard grazing area, a kiddie pool is a cheap outdoor enclosure to at least get fresh air and natural UVB.

 

[sueb4653]

I had a great outdoor enclosure until we moved and now I am really torn about putting them outside, 1st it gets so darn hot here
2nd harvester ants we have them I know I got bit last year and man it hurts how do I protect my torts from them? 3rd snakes we have them too will they bother the torts?
I'm torn as to what to do this summer

 

[wellington]

You need to make them a snake proof enclosure. Also, there are things to keep ants away. Many deal with fire ants. We all have some sort of predator we need to protect our torts from. It's just something we need to do, so they can get outside.

 

[sueb4653]

You need to make them a snake proof enclosure. Also, there are things to keep ants away. Many deal with fire ants. We all have some sort of predator we need to protect our torts from. It's just something we need to do, so they can get outside.

I would love some ideas if anyone has any

 

[Tom]

Its really easy to build a 4x8 planter box and put it up on legs. Then you can make a 2x4 frame covered with welded wire and attach it to the top with hinges.

Add some tortoise appropriate soil and plant some squash for shade and some weeds and grass for grazing.

You can see what I'm talking about here: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-50846.html

See the lids on the ground enclosures? I use those same lids on the raised boxes until the sprouts really take off. Once it gets growing, I take the lids off. For your purposes, you could leave the lid on.

 

[turtlegirl13]

Where I live, it gets way to cold at night year round for a tortoise to "live" outside overnight. But I certainly think they need daily time outside when it is warm enough for them to be out there. My girl loves digging so I would definitely have some dirt that they can dig in available

 

[WillTort2]

One interesting idea that was used by a forum member involves having the enclosure up on legs, as Tom mentioned, and putting each leg inside a bucket filled with water or some other liquid to prevent ants from entering the enclosure.

 

[TMK1971]

How cold is too cold for a healthy Tortoise to spend the night outside?
What temperature is too hot to be outside?

 

[babushka8]

I was wondering if hawks or another predator will come and pick op the tortoises in an open outdoor enclosure

 

[Tom]

I was wondering if hawks or another predator will come and pick op the tortoises in an open outdoor enclosure

They can. Depends on the area and size of the tortoise. This is why some people choose to put covers on their tortoise enclosures.

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How cold is too cold for a healthy Tortoise to spend the night outside?
What temperature is too hot to be outside?

This depends on the time of year and daily highs during that time. It would be no problem for a Russian to spend the night outside in 40 degree weather, IF it had some sort of in ground shelter where temps would not be dropping that low, and the next day was going to be sunny and warm.

Same thing for heat. When it gets too hot, they will seek cooler refuge. When its 118 degrees in Phoenix, all the Russian tortoises living there dig into the ground in the shade of bushes or they use some sort of shelter to stay cooler.

So how hot and cold they can tolerate has a lot to do with enclosure design, the climate, the current weather, the season, etc. When in doubt, its nice to have a large well designed indoor enclosure to bring them into.

 

[Yvonne G]

Please, let's don't hijack Tiley 1's thread. If you all have questions of your own about tortoises living outside, please start your own thread.

 

[tiley junior 1]

Ahahahaha
Thank you

 

[lynnedit]

That said, outside is simply best.

*the sun is the best, best, best source of UV there is.
*Dehydration under hot lights is less of a concern.
*usually outside enclosures can be larger, so the tortoise gets more exercise.

I think most of us like a chance to get outside, as much as we can, at least part of the year!