Hi I need advice have had a tiny horse field tortoise since March we were told he had to live in the house
Permanently and was sold a large cage with a heat lamp one end and a White bulb the other end. I hate the idea of him not getting a run around the garden like our old/larger tortoise .so we have bought him an outside tortoise run which I put him in daily weather permitting. He seems to like being outside climbing and digging . I'm worried now the seaons changing that it will be too cold out there. I have put bedding in the interior (house) part . Can this tortoise stay in the garden when for an hour or so when it gets colder. Will he hibernate and if so. can we put his house in our outside workshop for the winter. Will he be safe there. also I need to find a vet who treats tortoises local to me in Warwickshire. The vet that treats my dogs dosent know anything about tortoises. Any info would be appreciated about proper care for this cute little animal.

September is the time that horsfields tend to disappear when put in the garden. They need to be brought indoors now in preparation for hibernation. To hibernate a tortoise, he needs to be wound down to empty his stomach of food and then be put into a suitable place at 5 degrees to spend the winter months. You cannot just leave his house in the shed as if it freezes, then so will he :( Sheds and lofts are not good places to hibernate as the temperatures fluctuate too much. Too warm and it will wake up, using valuable energy reserves, too cold and it will freeze, resulting in death.

Have a look on www.tortsmad.com or www.tortoises.net for guides to hibernation. There is no short cut, it needs to be done carefully, but horsfields do benefit greatly from hibernation as in the wild they only eat for 3-4 months of the year and so feeding for 12 months often produces a really deformed tortoise. Have a look here for how I keep mine www.tortsmad.com/russians.htm

Hope this helps

Meant to say also, that bedding does not keep a tortoise warm as it is cold blooded, this only works for mammals, where it keeps the warmth of their bodies in by insulation. Tortoises take up the temp of the air around them, so never get warm in insulation - you also need heat back up for any outdoor enclosure for our awful British weather. Don't put hay or straw in their hides as this can harbour mould spores and cause breathing problems.

Hope this helps

Sue

www.tortsmad.com