Hi all,
The last few days the temps at night have gotten down to
around 50 degrees with middle 70's during the day. Is it safe to keep my 3-toe outside?
Thanks, Linda
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HELP PLEASE
Linda G
Sep 14, 2010 07:24 PM
Replies (6)
StephF
Sep 14, 2010 08:29 PM
Yes.
boxienuts
Sep 15, 2010 01:19 PM
Heck I keep mine outside down to below freezing night temps, around the end of October, they have antifreeze running thru their veins 
Lately we have had temps like you highs 70 low 50 and my boxies have pretty well shut down feeding for the year, and they are doing a lot of pacing around looking for a place to brumate, confusing for them, they must be looking for my basement,lol cause thats were they will be brumating same as the last 9 yrs.
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Jeff Benfer
gartersnakemorph.com
Paradon
Sep 16, 2010 01:10 PM
If this is his first winter with you, I wouldn't keep him outside during the cold months. I would keep him warm throughout winter just in the case he has some kind of illness(es). When they hibernate, the immune system is shut down and other bodily functions also slow down dramatically as well, and if they are not healthy to begin with, they could die during brumating.
Linda G
Sep 16, 2010 08:05 PM
I don't plan on hibernating her. I don't feel I am experienced enough to do it safely. I am just trying to leave her out as long as possible. I wanted to make sure that keeping her outside at night with a 50-55 degree temp was safe. It is warming up through the day and my husband saw her wandering around in the enclosure the other day.
So should I just bring her in now to make sure she doesn't get sick?
Linda
Paradon
Sep 16, 2010 09:00 PM
I think that would be a good idea when it gets cold.... You know her healthy history, so you don't want to take the risk. Hope this help! 
StephF
Sep 16, 2010 10:26 PM
If you are planning on bringing her in and keeping her awake for the winter, then YES, bring her in and make sure she gets 14 hours of light.
This is the time of year that turtles sense diminishing day length and gear up for hibernation mode: you want to interrupt that cycle in order to keep her active and feeding through the winter..
If you were going to let her hibernate, then these temperatures and day-length conditions wouldn't matter.
