Tortoises that live in cooler climates?

[Flametorch]

Are there ANY types of tortoises that live in cool (20(coolest)-110 degrees farenheit?) I'm just wondering, because I know that there are a lot of species out there, tropical and desert, so I'm wondering if there are any cool weather ones

 

[chairman]

I believe that the forest tortoises live in the coolest micro-climates. That'd be a couple varieties of african hingebacks and the manourias at the least. My hingebacks are most active and have the best appetites in temperatures from 70F to 80F. Get them much warmer than that and they retreat to a nice, cool, shady spot to sit in, or they find a water dish to soak in. Still, 70 isn't all that cool, and the hingebacks are way too small to be able to withstand temperatures much lower than that for very long.

 

[Tom]

Geochelone pardalis pardalis are the most col tolerant that I can think of, but nothing is going to withstand below freezing temps with out a heated retreat. Any of the hibernating species will work too, but you need to hibernate them around 50-55, definitely not in the 20's.

 

[GBtortoises]

Northern Mediterranean and Russian tortoises are very cold climate tolerant. I live in the Catskill Mountains of New York State at an altitude of about 1,800 feet above sea level. Two weeks ago we had over 3' of snow on the ground, rain since and last night was around 14 degrees. Our summers are short and our winters are long. Average summer temperatures are in the mid 70's. We might get 90 degrees for a week or less in August some years. Through all of that I've been keeping and breeding Hermann's, Marginateds, Ibera & Russian tortoises (and some other species) very sucessfully now for over 25 years. They can be very cold hardy species but as with any tortoise species certain requirements must be met to keep them in any climate outside their own.

Incidentally-hibernation temperatures for the above should be in the range of 40-45 degrees. At 50-55 degrees some individual Eastern Hermann's and Russian tortoises will remain awake but inactive! When outdoors mine come out to bask once the sun hits their shelters in the morning despite the temperature being in the low 50's!

 

[chadk]

How do you stablize your temps to hibernate your torts outdoors in that 40-45 zone? I snow can act as an insulator, but does it really stay that warm without any extra heat source? Which leads to my other question... Do you provide anything extra to your russians for heat or are they just left to whatever the sun happens to provide (or not)? I'm planning my outdoor pen and any pointers would help. Sounds like my seattle area climate is a bit more mild than yours... Almost 70 again today and sunny.

 

[GBtortoises]

I don't, they bury themselves (like they would in the wild). They bury themselves in the soil under there shelters which are full of straw. Once their under for good I check their placement (to make sure that they're not too close to the edge of the shelter) and then pack more straw into the shelter. I then mound straw up so that it's about 2-2 1/2' high and about 5' in diameter from the center of shelter. Cover it with plastic to keep out any melting snow and rain and wait for spring. I saw two Hermann's tortoises out this past weekend, it was around 62 degrees here. It was just a tease, because we aren't typically that warm yet. It was in the teens last night an in the high 30's and windy today! I had to check to make sure they were back where they should be before the temperatures dropped again.
I've said it before but it bears repeating-I am not suggesting that anyone do the above with their tortoises. Some of mine began hibernating on their own outdoors many years ago so I let them do it with a little added protection. I bring the majority of my tortoises indoors in the fall and put them into hibernation "manually" indoors.
That may also change within the next couple of years too. I thinking about building a designated shed with temperature control for hibernating all of them in.