Temperature spikes!

[Dupré]

For the past month, my 2.5yr old Greek rescue has been enjoying his outdoor pen just short of 12hrs a day. Temps range from 68° which feels warmer in the direct sun and 85° which feels cooler as the sun moves and his pen is completely shaded by 3pm. I bring him inside around 7pm every evening as our temperatures still dip too low overnight. He has protection from the sun (his house and two hides), water, as well as a couple other places he can tuck away if he gets hot.

My question — I will be out of town for a week and my sitter will be following the same routine but is unable to monitor him throughout the day like I am. Th-Sat the temperatures jump from 88° to 99° to 101° without much time to acclimate and discover additional cool zones. My gut says to keep him inside those days but he’ll hate it and I’m concerned he’ll spend hours trying to escape and/or flip himself.

Thoughts? Adjustments?

I thought I’d have awhile before we got into the 100’s

Photo for tax.

 

[zovick]

For the past month, my 2.5yr old Greek rescue has been enjoying his outdoor pen just short of 12hrs a day. Temps range from 68° which feels warmer in the direct sun and 85° which feels cooler as the sun moves and his pen is completely shaded by 3pm. I bring him inside around 7pm every evening as our temperatures still dip too low overnight. He has protection from the sun (his house and two hides), water, as well as a couple other places he can tuck away if he gets hot.

My question — I will be out of town for a week and my sitter will be following the same routine but is unable to monitor him throughout the day like I am. Th-Sat the temperatures jump from 88° to 99° to 101° without much time to acclimate and discover additional cool zones. My gut says to keep him inside those days but he’ll hate it and I’m concerned he’ll spend hours trying to escape and/or flip himself.

Thoughts? Adjustments?

I thought I’d have awhile before we got into the 100’s

Photo for tax.

Leave the tortoise inside. It's better he flip himself indoors than in 101 degree sun.

 

[TammyJ]

Where's the dog going to be?

 

[Dupré]

Where's the dog going to be?

…with me in a different state

 

[COmtnLady]

he’ll spend hours trying to escape

IMO, I'd rather have my tort inside where I KNOW he's safe. You want everything to be set up so solidly that your sister only has to feed and put in fresh water. The little bit of UVB and space, even soaking, that he'll miss while you are elsewhere is balanced out with knowing his inside habitat is almost bomb-proof safe. Its BY FAR the better choice.

Plus! It will be GREAT exercise for him


.!

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Where's the dog going to be?

You know Tammy that dogs travel much better than tortoises, some even enjoy it

 

[Dupré]

Where's the dog going to be?

but really, why the question about my dog?

 

[Dupré]

Disclaimers:

To be clear — little greek will be kept inside any day that the temps are expected to reach 90° plus while the sitter is here.

Also, he has two water dishes in his enclosure… when the sun shines on one, the other side is shaded and cool so that he has access to cool water at all times in a day.

Question:

Would the addition of this shade cloth be considered deep shade, or….? He has other shade opportunities in other areas but I’m trying to figure out if this cloth is providing much of anything or if I should look into alternatives in the future? Was thinking of a hanging plant but that’d be several feet up….

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

This thread explains deep shade really well:

The importance of DEEP shade

Ok, folks, we need to talk about SHADE. You have probably (hopefully) heard tortoise keepers talking about the fact that tortoises need "DEEP SHADE" to retreat into on a hot Summer day (really any day that has air temps above 80 degrees). What do we mean by "deep shade?" - this is NOT...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Dupré]

This thread explains deep shade really well:

The importance of DEEP shade

Ok, folks, we need to talk about SHADE. You have probably (hopefully) heard tortoise keepers talking about the fact that tortoises need "DEEP SHADE" to retreat into on a hot Summer day (really any day that has air temps above 80 degrees). What do we mean by "deep shade?" - this is NOT...

tortoiseforum.org

it’s wild, when you google outdoor tortoise enclosure (for inspiration), it’s sad how few provide deep shade…

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

it’s wild, when you google outdoor tortoise enclosure (for inspiration), it’s sad how few provide deep shade…

Yeah, I think if you do any research on tortoises you should realize how important thermoregulation is for them.