Tortoises for zone?

[Elliriyanna]

Best tortoise candidates for zone 6b for year round outdoor keeping?

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

You would be looking at the temperate species, like Greek tortoises, Hermanns tortoises or Russian tortoises. These species naturally have distinct seasons and most of them brumate in the winter.

Take a look at this care sheet to see if one of the species would be a good fit for you:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Tom]

Best tortoise candidates for zone 6b for year round outdoor keeping?

Any species you want can work there. What you need to consider is what you will do with it in the colder winter months. With that in mind, the smaller species are MUCH easier and more practical to bring them in for winter. I like the idea of a tortoise that can brumate during those cold winter months, but there is not reason why you could get a smaller tropical species and keep them in a large 8 foot closed chamber enclosure over the inter months and use a large outdoor enclosure in the warmer months.

 

[Elliriyanna]

Any species you want can work there. What you need to consider is what you will do with it in the colder winter months. With that in mind, the smaller species are MUCH easier and more practical to bring them in for winter. I like the idea of a tortoise that can brumate during those cold winter months, but there is not reason why you could get a smaller tropical species and keep them in a large 8 foot closed chamber enclosure over the inter months and use a large outdoor enclosure in the warmer months.

There’s actually a lot of reason I can’t, mostly space. Some can’t even take the temps my basement can get in the winter. Add cats and a toddler to that and a large indoor enclosure even an enclosed tent is nearly impossible.

You would be looking at the temperate species, like Greek tortoises, Hermanns tortoises or Russian tortoises. These species naturally have distinct seasons and most of them brumate in the winter.

Take a look at this care sheet to see if one of the species would be a good fit for you:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

Yeah Russians and hermanns were the top ones I was thinking. No plans to get anyone yet if ever lol

 

[Tom]

There’s actually a lot of reason I can’t, mostly space. Some can’t even take the temps my basement can get in the winter.

That is the beauty of a large closed chamber. It doesn't matter how cold the basement is. I have a 3x8 foot smart enclosure in my garage. It gets as. low as 50 degrees in there in winter, and the closure easily stays a toasty 82 degrees, or higher. I'm just trying to point out that is it doable in your climate if a small tropical species appeals to you.

There is no tortoise that can be left outside all year up there, but the Hermann or the Russians can be brumated indoors in a fridge over winter. With a temperature controlled shelter, the tortoise can indeed live outside for the other 8 or 9 months of every year with no problem. I show pics and explain how to do this in the thread the "Edward" left for you in post number 2. Questions are welcome.

Here is a thread explaining the whole brumation thing:

Tom's Brumation Thread

Every fall we get bombarded here on the forum with all sorts of questions and problems regarding hibernation and tortoises "slowing down" for winter. The purpose of this thread is to talk about all aspects of this subject, to dispel some of the myths and mysteries, and give a "how to" list of...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[turtlesteve]

You might be able to get away with Russian tortoises in a zone 6 climate if your winters are really dry. If you have wet winters I would suggest you look into Chinese box turtles (Cuora flavomarginata). They could do well in that temperature outdoors year round.

Eastern hermanns would be marginal, and any other tortoise species would not even be worth considering in that cold of a climate.

 

[Elliriyanna]

That is the beauty of a large closed chamber. It doesn't matter how cold the basement is. I have a 3x8 foot smart enclosure in my garage. It gets as. low as 50 degrees in there in winter, and the closure easily stays a toasty 82 degrees, or higher. I'm just trying to point out that is it doable in your climate if a small tropical species appeals to you.

There is no tortoise that can be left outside all year up there, but the Hermann or the Russians can be brumated indoors in a fridge over winter. With a temperature controlled shelter, the tortoise can indeed live outside for the other 8 or 9 months of every year with no problem. I show pics and explain how to do this in the thread the "Edward" left for you in post number 2. Questions are welcome.

Here is a thread explaining the whole brumation thing:

Tom's Brumation Thread

Every fall we get bombarded here on the forum with all sorts of questions and problems regarding hibernation and tortoises "slowing down" for winter. The purpose of this thread is to talk about all aspects of this subject, to dispel some of the myths and mysteries, and give a "how to" list of...

tortoiseforum.org

Unfortunately a closed chamber most likely would not work for us either so tortoises may just not be in my future. The garage we could MAYBE make work but it’s not much warmer than outside. Are there any you can see in? Most I’ve seen aren’t the easiest to monitor the animal from just walking by it. I do know of brumation and was also considering brumation in the garage if we did get one. I’m in no rush just figuring out what’s viable and what I may or may not have considered.

 

[turtlesteve]

Assuming brumation in your garage is an option, any of the European tortoises (hermanns, Greek, marginated) would be workable as would Russian tortoises.

 

[Tom]

Are there any you can see in? Most I’ve seen aren’t the easiest to monitor the animal from just walking by it.

You must be referring to the tent types that are frequently recommended. I don't care for those. They don't work as well as a proper closed chamber. They make sense for some people some of the time, and they are better than a wide open top, but that isn't the kind of thing I'm referring to.

Here is what I'm talking about:

New Stack of Animal Plastics CLosed Chambers

AKA: Tom's baby emporium. @GStars asked for a pic on my new baby raising enclosures the other day. I only had a partial, but I took a fuller one today. Each cage is 96x30 and divided in the middle into two 48x30 cages for starting babies. The colored tape on each upper right corner shows the...

tortoiseforum.org

Or even better than these is Mark's "Smart Enclosure":

Mark's Smart Enclosure

I don’t even have enough words to say!!! Just WOW! It’s still under construction because we got the side pieces in today - so we finally got to build it. It needs some more substate and plants and things but it already looks amazing. 🤩 Before getting Mark’s Smart Enclosure, I had my Burmese...

tortoiseforum.org

And here is a different one from the same maker as my old thread there:

T100 - 96W X 48D X 48H

*Images above may contain accessory add ons that must be purchased* Shipping: This product requires freight shipping. If you add this to your cart and add your shipping information it will provide you with the shipping price. You may then just stop the order process at that time if you choose...

apcages.com

You can clearly see into all of these, and this material insulates well. In my cold garage I have two 80 watt radiant heat panels set on a thermostat to maintain ambient. During the day, the heat lamps and LEDs come on and warm up the ambient a little. If your garage or basement is colder than mine, you could wrap the enclosure with insulation and/or add more heat.

 

[Elliriyanna]

You must be referring to the tent types that are frequently recommended. I don't care for those. They don't work as well as a proper closed chamber. They make sense for some people some of the time, and they are better than a wide open top, but that isn't the kind of thing I'm referring to.

Here is what I'm talking about:

New Stack of Animal Plastics CLosed Chambers

AKA: Tom's baby emporium. @GStars asked for a pic on my new baby raising enclosures the other day. I only had a partial, but I took a fuller one today. Each cage is 96x30 and divided in the middle into two 48x30 cages for starting babies. The colored tape on each upper right corner shows the...

tortoiseforum.org

Or even better than these is Mark's "Smart Enclosure":

Mark's Smart Enclosure

I don’t even have enough words to say!!! Just WOW! It’s still under construction because we got the side pieces in today - so we finally got to build it. It needs some more substate and plants and things but it already looks amazing. 🤩 Before getting Mark’s Smart Enclosure, I had my Burmese...

tortoiseforum.org

And here is a different one from the same maker as my old thread there:

T100 - 96W X 48D X 48H

*Images above may contain accessory add ons that must be purchased* Shipping: This product requires freight shipping. If you add this to your cart and add your shipping information it will provide you with the shipping price. You may then just stop the order process at that time if you choose...

apcages.com

You can clearly see into all of these, and this material insulates well. In my cold garage I have two 80 watt radiant heat panels set on a thermostat to maintain ambient. During the day, the heat lamps and LEDs come on and warm up the ambient a little. If your garage or basement is colder than mine, you could wrap the enclosure with insulation and/or add more heat.

Hmm that’s possibly an option especially if it’s only a couple months of the year. Brumation in the garage should be an option so a large enclosure wouldn’t be needed. I wonder if I should also consider species outside of tortoises that are suitable for this climate. Or even aquatics etc that can be active year round? Just bouncing around ideas and considering what may be viable especially with limited space

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Hmm that’s possibly an option especially if it’s only a couple months of the year. Brumation in the garage should be an option so a large enclosure wouldn’t be needed. I wonder if I should also consider species outside of tortoises that are suitable for this climate. Or even aquatics etc that can be active year round? Just bouncing around ideas and considering what may be viable especially with limited space

@mark1 might be able to recommend some turtles.