What temps has your tortotoise been used to?

 

Just checked now and the thermometer says 60 F, so around 15 degrees according to that. Not sure how accurate it is being a normal thermometer though. I have a digital one with a sensor en route to me as we speak! But if that temp is accurate I shouldn't have a problem I wouldn't imagine?

 

I dont think at the moment temps at night are dropping very low, so a good time to make the adjustments to a tortoise table. Especially if you can get the tortoise outside during the day. Tortoises much prefer to be out than in.
Med tortoises do far better when they have a drop in temps at night. Even in their natural environment they have big drops in temps at night:0)

 

if the tort goes into the viv just for night and doesn't have any heat then why change, its just a sleeping place, if however there is heat and the tort spends the days in there then I'd change. The tort can't always be going outside all year and at the moment here in the midlands its cold and wet so it wouldn't be going outside today so it must be going somewhere through the day if that makes sense which would be the viv?. Does it hibernate or spend all winter in there?, your room temp will be important through the winter if for some reason it doesn't hibernate ie the room needs to be around 20c through the day with a drop at night but I used to prefer 15c to be the lowest so you need to think about what you can provide before swapping to a table. A table is better but only if you have your heating on in the winter or can heat the room the tort is in and i know our heating has been on recently as its been very cold here, there's a lot to think about. One more thing dont' forget if its inside it will need a source of 10uv and a basking spot of 32-34c with the rest of the table/viv around 20c hence the room temp, a combined bulb which provides both uv and heat or separate uv strip light and a bulb for the hot spot.

 

Hi Ann, thanks for your reply. Miffy is in the viv all day when she can't go out. It does have heating and separate uv. She does hibernate in the winter. At the moment in the viv when she sees us she comes up to the glass and taps on it with her beak, and also the table I'm planning on using is bigger. So I felt she might feel more "part of the family" in an open environment rather than enclosed in the viv, and to be honest as it is well ventilated temps at night appear to be the same as room temps. We're not skimpy on the heating I our house when it's cold so the house is generally warm. So I think moving to the table will be better.

 

Torts don't really become part of a family in the way that a cat or dog might. It's easy to transfer the thought of its behaviour in a human way, but in reality, things are usually totally different. They don't tap on glass to say hello or ask for you to get them out, they do it because they have no concept of glass, or indeed wire mesh etc. to a tortoise, if you can see through it, it's not there, which can be quite stressful for them. As you say a table will be an improvement, but a move outdoors would be even better. As already mentioned, overnight temps need to be quite low.

 

We have made a big outdoor enclosure for her but it's not warm enough here to be outside yet. It's only measuring 10-12 degrees in the enclosure.

 

It's the sun and overnight lows you need to be looking at. All mine were out last night. I'm slightly higher than the Midlands and we got overnight temps in the greenhouse of 8 degrees, which was fine. All are basking this morning. It's lamps and sun that warm them, not ambient temps yours will need a slower introduction though