Winter months in Florida, what to do?

[Frodo4eva]

Hi Guys!

I wanted to get some feedback and suggestions on what to do when temperatures fall below 70 as well as humidity during the winter months in South Florida. It is not often that it is cold here but it does happen, if the tortoise is in an outside pen, will he still be ok in there or what can be done? Note that I may not have the ability to provide any electricity to the pen due to its location outside.

Appreciate all the feedback as always -

All the best,
J

 

[Yvonne G]

Most everyone with larger tortoises that live outside have heated sheds/doghouses/night boxes for them. The tortoise goes out and about his business during the day, then retreats into the night box in the evening. Here's a picture of one of mine:

 

[Frodo4eva]

Hi There! Thanks for the post but this is a little more elaborate than I can muster and afford. As I mentioned in my post I may not even have the ability to run electricity to the habitat. I need a solution based on bare minimums unfortunately - I can provide an enclosure that he can go into but not much more really.

 

[jaizei]

Hi There! Thanks for the post but this is a little more elaborate than I can muster and afford. As I mentioned in my post I may not even have the ability to run electricity to the habitat. I need a solution based on bare minimums unfortunately - I can provide an enclosure that he can go into but not much more really.

Are you able to make a box closer the the house/exterior outlets?

 

[GRohr]

@Yvonne G , I know I have read it already but I have forgotten, where are you located and is your entire enclosure inside a greenhouse for the winter months? This is my plan for 2 or 3 years from now when they go outside year-round. I am just curious where you are and how well it works for you. I bring in all my torts inside for the winter currently but i am lucky that winter is short here in NM.

Thanks!

 

[GRohr]

Hi There! Thanks for the post but this is a little more elaborate than I can muster and afford. As I mentioned in my post I may not even have the ability to run electricity to the habitat. I need a solution based on bare minimums unfortunately - I can provide an enclosure that he can go into but not much more really.

It is hard to get away without a heated hide for the nights. A well insulated hide will probably help some just on its own but not much. Plus you don't want to make the hide humid if you are not going to keep it properly heated for him.

A basic small dog house with an extension cord to a cheap hanging CHE would probably work well enough for south Florida. If you buy a used dog house and shop online/smartly you could probably do all that for 50 bucks or so.

 

[Yvonne G]

@Yvonne G , I know I have read it already but I have forgotten, where are you located and is your entire enclosure inside a greenhouse for the winter months? This is my plan for 2 or 3 years from now when they go outside year-round. I am just curious where you are and how well it works for you. I bring in all my torts inside for the winter currently but i am lucky that winter is short here in NM.

Thanks!

I'm in Central Calif. and our winter nights are mostly down in the 30's (F). I have several tortoise yards and this one pictured has a greenhouse in it, but the others don't. The others have night time sheds. I showed this one because it was a box not a shed. Here's what the others look like (one example, but they're basically all the same):



This one is fed with an extension cord. You can barely see the PVC pipe hardly buried from the old house across the doorway and then you can see the yellow extension cord going into the doorway. Probably not the safest way to provide electricity, but it has worked for several winters now.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi There! Thanks for the post but this is a little more elaborate than I can muster and afford. As I mentioned in my post I may not even have the ability to run electricity to the habitat. I need a solution based on bare minimums unfortunately - I can provide an enclosure that he can go into but not much more really.

Most of my night shelters are fed by extension cords.

 

[allegraf]

When it goes below 60F overnight we just bring all of the torts into the garage. We have a space heater in the garage to keep them regulated around 70-75F. Unfortunately, the all of the torts have to go into kiddie pools with cypress mulch on the bottom. Since you have only one, this should be very easy. If no garage go get a cement mixing tub (or any other plastic container that your tort can't escape from and that pee or poop wont destroy) and put some mulch in it. You can keep your tort in the tub inside the house. No need for water dish or food dish. In South Florida, you can almost always put them back out in the morning to give them time to sun and warm up. And repeat the next night if temps will drop below 60F.

 

[nightoff]

I like the idea of the kiddie pool or plastic tub for inside.

I live in Broward and have a yearling and a 3yo red foot. I keep them outside all year, although this will be the yearlings first winter outside. If the temp drops below 65 at night I either bring the 3yo in and keep her in the laundry room (I put down a couple of towels for traction and let her roam free to move everything around) or I run an extension cord to her enclosure and have a red bulb that provides enough heat. I have a yearling as well that I will likely keep inside if the temps drop below 70 at night. Otherwise, they both live outside year round.

I need to build an enclosed hide that I can use a ceramic heater in with a thermostat. Then I won't have to worry about the temps at night. If I do it right, I can install it so that both torts get the heat but can't interact with each other. Their weight difference is 1200 grams vs 360 grams and the size difference is just as big.

 

[AnimalLady]

I guess it depends on the size of the tort~

I bought a 10 gallon tank for the cold nights, but mine is pretty darn tiny. He's a yearling and fits in it just fine. When he gets large I'll most likely keep him in the bathroom or a kidding pool in my house, just so he's contained.....He lives outside 99.9% of the time though.

My Russian stayed outside last night and it was in the upper 60's.