Should I keep my tort outside this summer?

[ben32hayt]

Hi, I recently starting debating whether to put my radiated tortoise outside during the summer this year. Let me explain my whats going on. First off I have an half an acre of land so yard size isnt my issue. I live in New York and temps in the summer are around 75 degrees farenheit and above during the summer and late spring. I am not worried about tempertatures but what worries me is predators and most of all my gardeners. I have never had an issue with racoons, dogs, ect. with my redfoots. Although the strories I have heard are quite worrisome to me. Most of all I have gardeners that come once a week and I do not feel very safe with them around my tortoises. I could easily make a predator proof pen but a person proof pen is a whole different story. If you have any tips, stories, or ideas please let me know!
Thanks,
Ben

 

[Tom]

Keep your indoor enclosure up and running for nights and gardener days. Put him outside during the nicer days and leave him inside on any questionable days.

 

[lynnedit]

What Tom said. Even a couple of days of outside time per week is well worth it!

 

[erdavis]

I would say not to put him outside on gardening days or nights. However I know someone who doesn't know when the gardener will come and she was worried about someone taking her tort. She put a sign saying something like "This tortoise has severe medical issues. Please don't feed or touch." And then every once in awhile when she would see gardeners outside she would walk out with gloves on and pick the tortoise up and pretend to try to syringe feed it. It was a funny sight. She said one time she heard the gardeners talk about why she'd want a pet that requires that much difficult care. I thought it was hilarious but it really did work. Everyone was scared to touch him. Not saying you need to take this severe of measures but I thought it was a funny story to share

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[lismar79]

I would say not to put him outside on gardening days or nights. However I know someone who doesn't know when the gardener will come and she was worried about someone taking her tort. She put a sign saying something like "This tortoise has severe medical issues. Please don't feed or touch." And then every once in awhile when she would see gardeners outside she would walk out with gloves on and pick the tortoise up and pretend to try to syringe feed it. It was a funny sight. She said one time she heard the gardeners talk about why she'd want a pet that requires that much difficult care. I thought it was hilarious but it really did work. Everyone was scared to touch him. Not saying you need to take this severe of measures but I thought it was a funny story to share


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That is a great idea & I am totally doing it!

 

[Ashes]

I would say not to put him outside on gardening days or nights. However I know someone who doesn't know when the gardener will come and she was worried about someone taking her tort. She put a sign saying something like "This tortoise has severe medical issues. Please don't feed or touch." And then every once in awhile when she would see gardeners outside she would walk out with gloves on and pick the tortoise up and pretend to try to syringe feed it. It was a funny sight. She said one time she heard the gardeners talk about why she'd want a pet that requires that much difficult care. I thought it was hilarious but it really did work. Everyone was scared to touch him. Not saying you need to take this severe of measures but I thought it was a funny story to share


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That is a great idea & I am totally doing it!

Haha. That's perfect and a good idea!

 

[Levi the Leopard]

I would say not to put him outside on gardening days or nights. However I know someone who doesn't know when the gardener will come and she was worried about someone taking her tort. She put a sign saying something like "This tortoise has severe medical issues. Please don't feed or touch." And then every once in awhile when she would see gardeners outside she would walk out with gloves on and pick the tortoise up and pretend to try to syringe feed it. It was a funny sight. She said one time she heard the gardeners talk about why she'd want a pet that requires that much difficult care. I thought it was hilarious but it really did work. Everyone was scared to touch him. Not saying you need to take this severe of measures but I thought it was a funny story to share

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This is HILARIOUS!!! hahahahaha

 

[bigred]

Torts need to be outside as much as possible, especially in the summer when the sun is shinning bright. I just have my front yard mowed and taken care of by the gardeners because I dont want them to know what I have in my backyard. I also have heard to many stories of the gate being left open by the gardeners and torts escaping. You can leave them in the house on gardener days. Its important for a tort to be able to act like a tort and be able to graze

 

[ben32hayt]

Thanks for all of your responses. I have decided I will keep the tortoise outside during daytime and for now take the tortoise indoors on gardener days, that is until I begin doing the gardening myself.

 

[MsBijou]

I used to have puppy/dog that would pee submissively whenever anyone would bend down to pet her. I was trying to get people to stop bending down and petting her on the head and back because it just makes the whole thing worse. I would ask, plead, BEG people not to do it and they still would.

So one day I said to someone, please don't try to pet her or she'll pee on you. I meant to say "she'll pee" but accidentally added the "on you" part. WOW! I've never seen anyone do an about face so fast! So, after that I would tell EVERYONE not to pet her because she would pee on them. You know not ONE single person would pet her after I would announce that!?

Anyway, after that I had other friends start using that to get strangers to leave their dogs alone in public. Even little kids would leave the dogs alone. I guess NO ONE wants to be peed on?!

But I absolutely LOVE what the other lady did. I will DEFINITELY use that in the future AND pass it on

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[lynnedit]

Hysterical! Definitely protecting her tortoise at the expense of looking insane! Perfect.

 

[erdavis]

I thought it was pretty hilarious too.
And i definitely would not pet a dog that would pee on me! My sister has a beautiful all white cat. Although my family currently has 3 cats, I'm not a fan of cats, but hers has an amazingly friendly and spunky personality that I can't help but love. Unfortunately a lot of other people agree and she's had him stolen a couple of times even though he has a collar. A couple months ago she got tired of it and now the cats staying with us until she finds a new house to rent - that makes 4 cats now. We put on his tag that he has medical issues - don't feed. No one here has stolen him yet but we didn't think about the fact that everyone feels that medical issue cats shouldn't be outside. We get at least weekly calls by people saying that they've found our cat. We've never had an issue with our other cats. I think it's extremely caring of the people and thank them a lot and then kindly tell them that he's an outdoor cat so please place him back outside your house and he will be fine. I'm so incredibly thankful for caring people like that but it is slightly annoying after the 10th caller. Lol. I was at clinicals one day when someone texted me about it. I wasn't able to text back at the time but then I got another text saying that they had to leave for work and they were going to drop him off at the pound on the way. I had to run to the bathroom and call them

I guess it's official that people will not mess with animals with medical issues. From dogs and cats all the way to tortoises

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Actually now that I think about it.. my sister currently is fostering a dog who doesn't make enough red blood cells. He's insanely small- I want to say less than a pound- and has to get blood transfusions. People always want to pet him but since he's sick it's really not good to be exposed to too many people. My sister is fine with people looking but doesn't want any touching. Despite her telling people how sick he is people always ignore it and pet him anyways and understandably it really irks her.

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[MsBijou]

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Actually now that I think about it.. my sister currently is fostering a dog who doesn't make enough red blood cells. He's insanely small- I want to say less than a pound- and has to get blood transfusions. People always want to pet him but since he's sick it's really not good to be exposed to too many people. My sister is fine with people looking but doesn't want any touching.

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She should tell people he'll pee or thro up. Please have her try this and please report back th results .

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

If I couldn't trust the gardener, I'd simply fire him/her and replace with someone trustworthy.