What temp to let outside?
 

Hi all, I was just wondering what temperature in the UK people tend to let their tortoises in their outdoor enclosure? Is 17-20 degrees ok if it's bright and sunny?

I tend to let mine decide for themselves TBH.

As long as they have a warming area in the garden such as a mini coldframe preferably one with a tube heater. They still come out for a stomp around even when its not warm

I agree here, as once my adults have warmed up with an unheated GH, they will come out in temps as low as 12c. Its their choice.
Mine come and go as they please.
Smaller tortoises have unheated housing and will do the same.

I'm a bit of a softie. If mine haven't moved for a few days due it cold conditions and dull skies I tend to bring them in for a proper warm through and to eat. Maybe for 24 hours or so. Then they go back out.

Right now one of my males hasn't moved an inch for over 48 hours. He is dry and still awake. When it gets warm enough he will quickly get moving but I don't like to leave them that way for days on end.

The weather I have is a lot worse than Sandy's.

I do this even in Kent, but its not that often it happens:0)
But this year might well be different, as temps have been a lot lower than last year:0)

Thanks for the responses. Unfortunately at the moment I don't have the facilities for her to choose, as I have no outside form of heating, so I am choosing whether to keep her in her indoor table or pop her outside. I asked because 17 degree sunshine is obviously a lot cooler than the 32 degrees under the lamp, so wondered if it was warm enough. :)

(Obviously in the UK though we are rarely ever going to get 32 degree sunshine outside haha)

You would be very surprised how warm your tortes can get using one of these simple and cheap warming areas in a sunny spot in your garden. http://www.shelledwarriors.co.uk/for...ighlight=daryn

Even in the wild they dont have 32c all day:0)
They have varing temps though out the day. So you could easily let your tortoise warm up in the early morning and then put him/her out. As long as there is housing they will find it:0)
My smaller tortoises are outside 24/7 at the moment without any extra heat at all.
Tortoises rise with bright light, then go to the heat source to bask.
Even my adults who are a lot bigger, dont have extra heat outside now, they do have a GH to go to. But choose to come out early in the morning when the sun is up. They were out at 7am this morning and it certainly is not anything like 32c then:0)

I think alot of folk see the weather forcast for their area and think thats the temperature and thats it, this is not the case.

I have a spot thermometer and do alot of temperature readings in my garden. If you get low down in a corner of a garden that gets direct sun or against a fence you would be very surprised at the temperature difference. Try it, stand up in your garden then go to a sunny spot near a fence and crouch down.

As Sandy I have my tortes in a small kind of greenhouse, (coldframe) I recently posted what I set my tube heater at night at 5c, this is only incase we get a cold snap its not going to get that low this time of the year but better to be safe than sorry otherwise they use these little warming areas dotted around the garden to heat up and it works very well.

Tortoises are alot tougher than people think, look at them in the wild, they are outside in the winter, you get herman and Ibera tortes in Majorca my favorite place to holiday, they get snow their, they get terrible rain fall and floods in the winter, I have been over there off season and it gets very cold yet these little tortes survive in a shallow scrape. find a rock or a wind break in the sun and warm up.

17c and sunny is excellent tort conditions!