Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So for the past night or two in Austin it's been warm enough for Rosco to stay outside in his house at night since it hasn't been below 60.

I've heard people talking about a cold front coming in so I checked a couple of weather websites and everyone said it's coming in on Monday but we will have isolated thunderstorms. No big deal, he'll stay dry in his house and it's not cold.

Well, after some major storms last night I get up and there's Rosco outside near the entrance to his house. He's soaking wet, and it's 45 degrees outside. Cold front came in a couple days early.

My girlfriend and I dried him off, wrapped him in a warm towel fresh from the dryer, and used a blow dryer with a diffuser and on the low setting to warm up his legs & such. He's been reacting to the warmth, his eyes are open and he's looking around, and has strength enough in his legs to stand up but hasn't made an effort to walk.

Right now he's stretched out under a ceramic heating element so he's making an effort to warm himself up. I just have no idea how long he was out of his house getting wet and cold. We'll have to keep him a bit warmer inside for the next few days so he doesn't get sick I guess.

What a morning... and I'm still in my PJs.

I'm on the west side of the state near NM border.
It was warm enough yesterday afternoon for our sulcata to be out to graze & she was out. At 4PM it was in the 60s at 5PM 48 at 6PM 37, we actually sat here & watched the fog roll in from the N.. it was kind of eerie to see.
I woke up at 8:30 AM when my brother-in-law in Dripping Springs called. It was 25 here at that time.. he said it was pouring rain where he is & that it'd been raining for a long long time. I guess this mess is coming your way eventually?

In Oct 2005 I had a box turtle sit out all night in 45 degree cold rain. That DID make her sick.. so do keep a close eye on him. I watched my turtle closely for several days before I decided that yes she is sick.
She didn't have much in the way of symptoms.. loss of appetite then I could hear congestion when I held her nose next to my ear. She didn't have bubbles in the nares, no eye closing.. not much of anything but she just wasn't acting right so I got her to the vet immediately, got her started on meds & she recovered very very quickly.
If anything isn't right see a vet so your shelled child will recover quickly like mine did.
Good luck!
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PHRatz

Here in CA< we already are having the polar cold front, and the high today is 48, this morning it was in the 30s, but i think its suppose to be passed us tomorrow.

Sometimes my Leonardo will wheez and I make D-SURE he gets that emitter on 24 /7 with @ least 1-2 warm soaks a day until he stops wheezing! He's cleared up by the end of the week. I know enough if it persisted Id go to the vet.

Yeah, crazy weather we're having down here. So he's wide awake, been spending the day under the heat lamp and tomorrow will be the true test on how he's feeling.

Since he doesn't like being inside he'll usually start pacing around and bumping into the walls of his enclosure by 11am until I feed him a load of dandelion greens. The he sits under the heat spot and digests. If he doesn't an appetite tomorrow I'll get him on the kane heat mat and keep his temp up and see about getting him to the vet on Tuesday.

By the way, the kane mat says not to put anything on it for risk of fire. If I put a bit of hay on it does anyone think it's a real danger? I mean if it were hot enough to make hay combust, it would be too hot to put an animal on in the first place right?

Any feedback?

slabs, slightly raised with small rocks for air flow.

I never put anything on top of my Kane. I do put newspaper with towels on top of the paper next to the Kane.
Our tortoise lives outside in a cinderblock tortoise house that has a concrete floor. The floor is too cold to leave uncovered in winter.
First year we had her we tried hay... it was horrible because it got damp then it smelled moldy. It was a horrible stinky mess so we stopped using that.

But still because of that warning in the Kane we don't put anything on it..just in case.
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PHRatz

My tortoises are too big for aquariums; so I adhere beneath marble slabs the heating pads used for under the tank, placing that in their enclosure. The slabs are raised with small pebbles to allow heat flow. And the heated slabs are partially covered with damp towels to maintain some humidity. I hope this is ok- I've been doing this for years with no probs. They seem comfortable upon them when they sleep. If you have any info otherwise plez share. Sincerely. I love my boys- I always use the best- the marble is Italian marble too!!! Very beautiful and prestigious!!!

This is a Kane heat mat.
Kane heat mat

I see- now I know what to look for. My boys I am sure will out grow their current sized pads.