Temperature control

[lauren80]

My Russian Tortoise have an inside enclosure, with a heat lamp and UV light. During the summer months they have spend most of their time outside (when it's not been raining) and to be honsest I prefer that for them as they seem more at home digging, grazing, basking and hiding from me!!!
But my question is what is the lowest temperature they can tolerate?...they always come inside at night.
eventually I would like to build a permanet home outside for the summer months and hibernate at winter but feel they are a bit young yet to risk it.

 

[jeffbens0n]

I know your probably looking for an answer in celcius but I'm going to give you fahrenheit It depends on the humidity and shelter but I leave mine out as long as it's above 50 when it's dry, 60 if it's wet or a forecast of rain. I also have an underground burrow for them to take shelter in so it really depends on your situation. I think 50 is a minimum though I wouldn't want them out any cooler than that with no heat.

 

[lauren80]

Brilliant thanks, just converted online 50F is about 10C which is alot cooler than I thought, so i don't need to be so cautious for another month at least! Also just looked up our average humidity, this is about 80%..this means nothing to me?!! it's not something we really worry about here in England (and I could have that wrong!!)
Thanks for your help

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

My two Russian live indoors, but I take them outside when it's "turtle weather." To me, that means preferably in the 70's, with temps as low as the high 60's, or as high as the low 80's being acceptable because they can regulate their own body temperature somewhat by moving in and out of the shade. If it's in the 90's, I leave them inside.

 

[Yvonne G]

Russian tortoises are adapted to living in a cooler climate. They do pretty well in the lower temperatures. They also seem to tolerate the higher temps quite well. In the wild, they have a very short "good weather" season and sometimes hibernate for 6 months out of the year. But being wet and cold is quite hard on them. I've learned this the hard way. The first year I had Russians I let them hibernate outside and I lost quite a few of them because our winters here, while not too cold, are very wet.

I leave my Russians outside day and night until they dig themselves in someplace to hibernate. That means its usually around the end of October here in my climate, with days around 55 or 60 and nights dipping down towards freezing.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Frédéric Lagarde and colleagues have published some excellent research on the conditions, diet, and behavior of Russian tortoises in their native habitat (I recently posted one of their articles here). In Lagarde et al. (2002), an article title, "A short spring before a long jump: the ecological challenge to the steppe tortoise (Testudo horsfieldi)," they describe how Russian tortoises respond to the seasons at the Djeiron Ecocenter in the Republic of Uzbekistan:

Because tortoises are ectotherms and require environmental heat in order to be active, the onset of activity in spring depends on climatic conditions that allow individuals to warm up their body by basking in the sun. The minimum air temperature we recorded for active animals in the field was 17°C [63°F] (F. Lagarde, X. Bonnet, J. Corbin, B.T. Henen, and K.A. Nagy, in preparation). The sexual size dimorphism in this species may explain the difference in the timing of the onset of activity between males and females. Males are smaller than females (Chernov 1959; Yakovleva 1964; Ataev 1975; Brushko 1978; Bonnet et al. 2001b; Lagarde et al. 2001), therefore they can warm up their body more rapidly than the females when basking. For example, the American desert tortoise, Gopherus agassizii, exhibits the opposite sexual size dimorphism, with males larger than females. This species presents the opposite pattern of winter emergence, with females becoming active sooner than males (Bailey et al. 1995). We do not know how such mechanisms may interact with the fact that males emerge from burrows before females in order to optimize their access to females (Bonnet et al. 1999). However, the clear result is that we observed a strong sexual dimorphism, with males emerging and aestivating sooner than conspecific females.

So, according to Lagarde et al. (2002), Russian tortoises don't become active until air temperature is at least 63°F, with males becoming active earlier in the season than females in the wild because they are smaller in this species, and therefore able to warm up more quickly. This is why I don't take my torties out unless it's at least about 68°F (just to be cautious), and preferably in the 70's. Temperatures in the 80's are okay, and the torties even seem to be quite active then. However, once it gets into the 90's, I feel that this is too close to their optimal hot spot temperature of 95°F to leave them out there without a burrow to hide in once they feel like cooling down. So, I just make the decision for them and leave them indoors until it gets cooler. Of course, these tortoises are adapted to tolerating temperatures much higher and lower than these, but they do so by remaining inactive and hiding in their burrows, where the temperature is going to be more optimal for them. Since my tortoises do not have long burrows, I have to compensate by watching over them a bit.

 

[lynnedit]

Right or wrong, I am leaving mine out full time while the weather is nice. I can dip down to the mid 50's at night, but warms up at least to 75 to 90 during the day. They burrow down at night in their hides and come out about 9am to bask for a couple of hours, then they graze, bask, and walk around all day until the hunker down again around 5-6pm. They have never seemed so healthy and active.
I think the main thing is that it has been dry. When it is wet, it is a completely different story.

 

[GBtortoises]

Russians can withstand temperatures at and below freezing, provided that they have adequate areas to burrow into in order to protect themselves. It's not a matter of how cold they can be exposed to but more a matter of how cold do want them to be exposed to. The colder it gets day and night the more they will bury themselves and for longer periods. In many parts of the U.S. and the world they can safely live outdoors year round, including periods of long hibernation during the winter months. But again, they must have adequate (and safe) areas to do so. Many people are not comfortable with allowing them to hibernate outdoors and bring them inside during the cold months. That's fine as long as their light and temperatures are maintained at levels to allow normal activity.

As far as what the lowest temperature that they can tolerate: To remain active the lowest temperatures at night should be above 50F and daytime temperatures need to reach at least 65F with intense sunshine. Ideally daytime temperatures in the low to mid 70's would be even better.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

The only reason I don't leave them out all year round is that I live in a condo. If I had my own backyard, Mork and Mindy would live outdoors, since the climate in Colorado is excellent for Russian tortoises. However, since that is not the case, my torties live indoors, and rely on me to make the right judgments as to whether it's safe to take them out or not.

 

[lynnedit]

That's right, you have to adjust their outside time based on the fact that they can only be outside part time, and that is what works for you and them!

 

[lauren80]

Thanks for all your information, it's been really helpful. the temperatures are dropping here in South England, but I think I can leave them outside a bit longer in the day. I have never left them out at night...we can get rain at any time, and I feel our winters are to wet to even think of leaving the out day or night. I think I need to find out more about hibernating them indoors, and was advised not to until they were at least four. (pebbles is four this year, BamBam three) so I think next year I will be brave!!! would you all agree with this info? Thanks again

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Thanks for all your information, it's been really helpful. the temperatures are dropping here in South England, but I think I can leave them outside a bit longer in the day. I have never left them out at night...we can get rain at any time, and I feel our winters are to wet to even think of leaving the out day or night. I think I need to find out more about hibernating them indoors, and was advised not to until they were at least four. (pebbles is four this year, BamBam three) so I think next year I will be brave!!! would you all agree with this info? Thanks again

If I lived in the UK, I know I would want to monitor my torties a bit. After all, they are native to nearby countries in the region, but not England, so that tells you something right there. True, the English Channel is a barrier, but it wasn't always there, and tortoises still never made it to Britain, probably because they couldn't.

OTOH, if I had American box turtles in the UK, I probably wouldn't worry about them very much. The climate of England is very similar to the climate of the Eastern US where boxies come from.