Room temperture/ exercise question

[rhondak]

I like to take my Russian tort, Boris, out of his enclosure sometimes to get more exercise but worry that the room temperature isn't warm enough for him. I have a ferret playpen that I set up to keep our min pin, 2 ferrets and cat away from Boris while he is out of his cage. The playpen has a cloth cover that I place on the floor and Boris walks around on that.

This gives him lots of room to walk around (safely) but I worry that with our room temp of 72 is not warm enough for him. I also don't know how long to keep him out of his cage at this temperature. I usually do this for him on the weekend since he is usually in bed by the time I get home during the week.

When spring/summer arrives and it's nice enough outside I will take him outside to et more exercise. I am getting a lot of good ideas from this forum for an outside play area for him. Thanks to all that post on this forum!! I would be so lost without all this information.

 

[wellington]

The room temp of 72 means the floor is colder. If you have a temp gun, you can shoot the temp of the floor. I dont own a Russian, However, they can take cooler temps then other types of torts. My room temp is 70, I just temped my floor and its 69 with no sun shining in and very cold outside. I would guess your floor temps probably 70-71 which should be fine.

 

[mctlong]

Its easy to tell if its not warm enough. If he's too chilly, he won't be active.

 

[Eloise's mommy]

Does he like the exercise time? Eloise scrambles when she's out of her indoor enclosure...I wonder if it's because she likes it or because she's scared...how does Boris react to exercise time?? I don't know about the temps.

 

[Tom]

How about just building a bigger indoor enclosure? Then you'll have the best of both worlds.

 

[lynnedit]

Until you can build a bigger enclosure, yes, let him walk around. Give him about 30 minutes; they can retain heat for awhile. Then stick him under his basking light; if he needs it, he will stay there.
Often getting out and walking (supervised) will calm them down.

I am not sure it is possible to build enclosures large enough for some Russians, at least inside!

 

[Spn785]

Until you can build a bigger enclosure, yes, let him walk around. Give him about 30 minutes; they can retain heat for awhile. Then stick him under his basking light; if he needs it, he will stay there.
Often getting out and walking (supervised) will calm them down.

I am not sure it is possible to build enclosures large enough for some Russians, at least inside!

I'm not sure if it is possible to build a big enough OUTDOOR enclosure for some Russians. LOL A friend of mine had one and it had over a third acre to itself and would still do everything it could to escape.

The room temp of 72 should make the floor about 70 which should be fine. I would try and build a bigger indoor enclosure though, maybe 3' x 6'.

 

[rhondak]

Does he like the exercise time? Eloise scrambles when she's out of her indoor enclosure...I wonder if it's because she likes it or because she's scared...how does Boris react to exercise time?? I don't know about the temps.

He seems to like it. He walks around and usually heads towards the sliding glass door, looks outside for a little bit and than goes wondering around. He was cute over the weekend when it was snowing and we had inches of snow on the deck. He was looking out and looked like he was wondering what all the white stuff was,lol.

I usually put him under his basking spot when I put him back in his cage so he can warm up. I used a little space heater over by his playpen area this weekend just to give him some more warmth while exploring.

I am planning on making him a bigger indoor enclosure. I just have to figure out exactly how I want to do it. Than I will probably buy a young tortoise and put him/her in Boris's current enclosure. I am debating on getting another Russian or a Hermann's tortoise.

 

[lynnedit]

I'm not sure if it is possible to build a big enough OUTDOOR enclosure for some Russians. LOL A friend of mine had one and it had over a third acre to itself and would still do everything it could to escape.

Well, I guess I won't worry about expanding mine then, lol.

Sounds like you are making it work, rhondak!