That should be a good climate. It does get colder in their native areas. You did hit on this a little but 2 things in regards to your climate that will be very, very important:



1.) To keep them dry and

2.) To keep them at a pretty constant temp of 45-50 durring the winter.



It is a little hard to do both because they will probably get the right temps by letting them burrow below ground but then you may run into the moisture problem. It is easier to keep them dry above ground inside a tortiose house but then the temps might vary and range from 30-60 often, perhaps daily.



Another note is that I have had them dig down into the ground in the fall to brumate and then in spring came up outside the pen walls! The walls were sunk 6 inches in hard Arizona soil (definitely not deep enough). Point is, these tortoises really burrow! To brumate, Russians don't really dig a den. They burry themselves deep in the ground and when it warms up they just dig up, not always following that same way back out of the ground! Make you pen large enough so that they will be at ease. At least 8X8 or larger. Make the walls at least 1 foot deep.



If you can build a small-insulated tortoise house inside the pen in an area that is shaded most of the winter, you may be able to keep the temp pretty constant at around 50-40 through the winter. Fill it with straw and keep it dark. In the coldest months close it up so the torts stay inside. Then open it up once the high temps outside get over 70. Other paople may have some ideas about this. Just make sure that your tortoise house is comforting so they can relax and brumate. You don't want them to try to incessantly get out because they are dissatified with the house's conditions.



I am planning on building a new outdoos russian pen and these ideas have come from that process. Many people keep russians outside then brumate them in a refridgerator durring the winter because it is much easier to keep them at the right conditions for three months there than it would be if the tortoises stayed outside.



Needless to say it is a topic of interest for me and I would be very curious to here other keepers' outdoor stragities, problems, ideas and successes with russian tortoises.



Greg

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