Sleeping area temps...?

[Shelli]

Olive likes to sleep in a hide ALL night long I was wondering what temp I should have for her sleeping area.. right now it is a little to the left of her CHE and I'm worried her hide may be tooo warm for a whole night of sleep..
She will basically sleep where I put her so I could put her in the cooler side hide for the night or the warmer side.

Thankyou,, I did try a search of temperatures hide and temperatures sleeping and didnt' get anything so sorry if this has been asked a lot..

 

[Crazy1]

I am not Redfoot expert or owner but I believe that night temps can get down to about 70 F.
Have you checked out www.redfoots.com?

 

[shelber10]

also try this website for info
http://redfoottortoise.com/generalcare.htm

 

[Shelli]

See this is why I asked although redfoots.com doesnt' say night time it does say hide with heat in the mid 80's where as the other site redfoottortoise.com says low 70's at night..
I just wanted to get an idea what people do she is in a half a teracota flower pot.
Either way is fine I just want to know what would be preferable .. since it is such a long time she is asleep (all night)...

 

[Chewbecca]

Shelli,

I think Olive will move if her temps are uncomfortable.
Redfoots don't normally have a "warm side" and a "cool side", but those of us who use heat emitters will inevitably end up with one side being cooler than the other.

Stagger moves where he wants in his enclosure as I feel that he is going to go where he is most comfortable.

So! If it's too hot in her hide, she'll move. Trust me.

 

[Shelli]

What temperature is it generally where Stagger sleeps? See I have a heat emitter on one side and then a bulb on the other blue one I turn the bulb off at night so that she doesnt' have the light on all night then I turn it back on in the morning..
She will sleep where I put her so I have been moving her some times depending on where she has ended up at the end of the day to the emitter side for bed... (sometimes she is there and sometimes not)...
So this is why I am having the dilemma.. do I let her stay on the blue bulb side which will end up cool at night or do I move her to the emitter side which will stay warm at night...
Every night I have put her on the emitter side but I worry that maybe she should be on the cooler side.. maybe she doesnt' realize it goes cooler on the other side at night.. lol.. I don't know!!
Poor Olive... :/ I wish we could communicate, although i'd probably do her head in if we could! lol

 

[Chewbecca]

Stagger generally sleeps on the heat emitter side or sometimes in the middle.
I have no idea. hahahaha. He sleeps in a different spot every night.

I let him decide when he goes to bed. Generally, if I move him anywhere, I might put him in his food dish or water dish.
But that's not as often anymore since he's been getting around in his enclosure on his own quite well.
He knows where everything is, and he'll go into his water dish. He REFUSES to use the steps on his GJ, though.
hahahahaha.
He climbs out the OTHER end.
I was worried that he'd flip backwards, but I watched him and he can easily climb out of it at the other end.
I think sometimes I under-estimate his ability to do...what he WANTS to do.

I wouldn't put her in a place to sleep at night. I'd let her wander around her enclosure and get used to her surroundings, and she'll find a comfy spot.

See, I use a regular light bulb on the opposite end where I feed him so that he can see his food.
He'll eat what he wants, then he wanders to the other end of his enclosure to get away from the light.

Then I shut the light off or turn the lamp upwards so that it's not shining directly into his enclosure.

 

[Madkins007]

The temp ranges in their natural habitat in the Northern range tends to run from about 72F average low to about 88F average high most of the year, with only a fairly small night drop- and subsequent humidity rise.

What I would suggest, if possible, would be to offer a hide on the cool and the warm end and see which they choose.

If you asked me to tell you a specific temp for the sleeping area, I would suggest about 80F- right in the middle of the average range.

 

[Shelli]

Olive isn't really out and about that much yet she's still too new & probably still stressed.
So normally her enclusure is around 85 degrees except in the corners where it is 80-81.. so at night the CHE side is 85. Now the other side drops to about 75-76... after the light is shut out..
So I sort of get her up if shes' on the cold side as she wont know it's cold yet and she might get too cold before she realizes.. maybe?
So I put her on the warmer side where she then goes into her warmer bed....
Stagger sounds like a bit of a monkey.. I can't wait for Olive to be more like him,, except some of the dare devil stuff I think we'll have a talk about that.. haha
So yeah I'm just kind of still at the babysitting .. she is getting better each day and being more adventurous which is really cute.. and she LOVES her bath and climbing over flower pots but then she just kind of goes back to bed..
I take her outside in the afternoons to wade through grass in the shade while I sit and watch her for about 10 minutes so that must be pretty exhausting for a tort that has been sheltered she really seems to enjoy that she stretches her neck right out and watches the ants in the grass....
Well I guess there is no set rule.. so I will move on to my next worry shortly I am sure...
thanks again for trying to help me..


Thanks Madkins for your reply it was while I was typing my essay.. haha.. that really does help that is what I wanted.. she's just soo new and we havnt' got to know each other yet I feel like I am making big decisions for her until she is comfortable enough to plod around on her own more...

 

[Chewbecca]

Shelli,

I know it's hard, because I did it too (in fact, I just stopped recently), but try not to over-think or exhaust yourself over Olive's care.

Is she eating?
If she's eating, all is most likely well.
75 degrees won't be too cold. If she wants to warm up, she'll move to where she starts feeling heat.

I've been taking Stagger outside more this week, and he is a pro-grass mover.
He moves ALL OVER.
He'll stop to chomp on clovers or dandelion greens or the thicker grass that grows in our yard.
And now he's more active in his enclosure.
Olive WILL become more active in her enclosure. Like you said, she's just still adjusting.
Do you keep her (meaning her carapace and face) well misted?
I swear I mist Stagger, himself, 5-6 times AT LEAST daily.

I wish they made safe tortoise obstacle courses that we could put into their enclosures.
Stagger could make well use of something like that.

 

[Shelli]

Stagger is training for the tortoise olympics, just think what he'll beable to do in 10 years or so!! haha..
Yes I do mist and she likes it and I take it outside with us too when we are having outdoor time...
I think because I work from 5am to 1pm a few days a week I'm not home for her breakfast or her waking up and my hubby gets all the joy, I make her salad and give him instructions.. so it's almost like she's in daycare.. haha and I feel I have to make up with the worrying..
It will get better i'm sure and i'm off for 4 days.. woot woot!!

Oh and eating yes she is eating extremely well!! ,, and I make sure I see her drink at least once a day too....

 

[Chewbecca]

awww!!!!

You panic more about your redfoot than I do about mine!

I will admit, though, that Stagger is the first thing I take care of as soon as I crawl out of bed in the morning.

And I cannot wait to see him when I get home from somewhere.