Egyptian Tortoises During Hot Weather

Post your pictures and any questions here of European tortoises e.g. Ibera Spur Thigh, Ibera Graeca, Marginated, Hermanns, Kleinmanni and we include the Horsfield tortoise. Also, do add pictures of Mediterranean tortoises you have seen in the wild.
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Ladybird_mt
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Joined: 29 Sep 2020, 08:19

Egyptian Tortoises During Hot Weather

Post by Ladybird_mt » 06 Aug 2021, 20:46

Hello, my two tortoises spend most of the day outdoors in my tiny garden which has lots of shade. During the night I bring them indoors as i’m too scared that they might be attacked by rats, although I’ve never seen any. At the moment the daytime outdoor temperatures are in the high 30Cs, whilst indoors it’s around 32C. They don’t come out to eat and spend the day in the shade, half buried in soil or under piles of dry leaves. Should I bring them indoors when the temperature feels like 40C? Around mid-day I pick them up and give them some food. They eat a little and then go back to where they were. Every week I give them a bath which they seem to enjoy. My question is - should I disrupt them so much - to eat, to bath, to take them indoors and outdoors? Is it bad for them to be handled?

Also, they have an indoor enclosure each with proper lighting and heat for the cooler months. We have mild winters here in Malta. The average high temperature would be around 19C and the lowest around 11C - would they be okay to live outdoors in winter, naturally I would provide them with whatever they need. My garden, however, doesn’t get much sun during the cooler months. I do have a large balcony though, but it’s tiled. I’m asking this because last winter they spent all their time in their enclosures not doing much of anything except sleeping. Even though they had heating, one preferred not to stay underneath it, the other did. When the weather improved, they didn’t seem to want to eat. I gave them reptoboost perhaps three times and it helped, I was worried about them because at first they had energy enough to try climb out of their enclosures.

Excuse the long post please. Any advice would be appreciated.

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Nina
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Joined: 16 Mar 2017, 11:22

Re: Egyptian Tortoises During Hot Weather

Post by Nina » 07 Aug 2021, 09:47

Hi Ladybird,

Great to hear from you again (I remember the photo you sent in October of your lovely tortoises).

I'm not an authority on Egyptian tortoises regarding temperature, etc., so I have written to a friend who is an expert on them (she has successfully bred them in the UK), and asked her if she can have a look at your post.

Off the top of my head I would say that it would be a good idea to increase the frequency of baths to at least every other day in the very hot weather, (and of course have water available to them all the time), because they can so easily dehyddrate in that sort of heat. I think that in the wild when it gets above about 35C or so they would probably dig down and hide until it is a bit cooler.

I'll leave your other questions unanswered for the moment, in the hope that my friend will come in with some good advice, but as regards your balcony, we have someone who posts on here who lives in The Netherlands who has made a great enclosure for her tortoise on her balcony. She basically built a large box with several sections, accessed by ramps and filled most of it with a good substrate of topsoil and sand so that it was similar to what he would have had outdoors. Here's a link to that thread: https://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/sit ... 5744#p5744

Nina

Ladybird_mt
Posts: 23
Joined: 29 Sep 2020, 08:19

Re: Egyptian Tortoises During Hot Weather

Post by Ladybird_mt » 07 Aug 2021, 12:18

Hello again Nina! Thank you so much for your reply. I will increase their baths, they love a good soak :-). The Netherlands link is very interesting and I think Albert & Elliot would prefer being outdoors during the winter. My balcony is very wide and is only open at one end so it’s quite snug. I will look forward to hear advice from your friend but you have been very helpful so far. Thanks again!

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Nina
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Re: Egyptian Tortoises During Hot Weather

Post by Nina » 08 Aug 2021, 18:51

Hi Ladybird,

Really sorry that it has taken us a while to get back, but Elaine (the expert I mentioned) has been unable to get onto the Forum, as for some reason it's not recognising her password. Rather than delay any longer, I cut and pasted your question in an email to her and she has sent me an answer which I will post here for you, and hope it helps to answer your questions. Here is what Elaine said:

Nighttime: could you provide a box with an entrance made in the side or a small hutch? That way it could be placed in the area that they normally dig down in, get a good depth of substrate in there and you wouldn’t be disturbing them at night, just simply lifting the “house” and taking it to safety.

Day time: this is part of their natural cycle. They will aestivate which is like a summer sleep. Naturally they will seek out a cooler area to do this. Mine have been asleep for 3 weeks now, they will wake have a nibble and a drink then back to bed. So sounding like healthy tortoises. A bath once a week providing there are a couple of saucers where they can get into and out of easily should be fine. Also serve their food sprayed or washed with water. In the hottest part of summer I offer a slice of cucumber mainly for fluid content.

Handling: they are private little torts and don’t tend to like a great deal of hands on. Perhaps by adding more pots with grasses and trailing plants they might feel more secure to venture out more.

Winter, you're still looking to keep your table at around 35 c for the basking area. So your outdoor winter temperatures would be too cold for them. Perhaps post a picture of your winter setups and we'll see if we could suggest anything to help you.

Do you know what sex they are? I wonder if separating them might also contribute to their inactivity, also they need high UV in winter as well as heat or they will shutdown.

They are stunning tortoises and I’m very impressed with their age and looks. I’m also really pleased that you are now thinking about their winter health already.

I do hope this helps as they are a wonderful species.

Elaine

Ladybird_mt
Posts: 23
Joined: 29 Sep 2020, 08:19

Re: Egyptian Tortoises During Hot Weather

Post by Ladybird_mt » 08 Aug 2021, 20:53

Thank you Nina and thank you Elaine for your long reply!

The two tortoises are both male, I keep them separated because they fight when they are feeling energetic, in fact, I once found a spot of blood on the head of one of them. Today however I removed the barrier between them because they sleep most of the day and wouldn’t notice each other. They have pots and lots of hiding places around the garden.

I will see what I can do about making them a little house for the night, that’s a very good idea. I won’t feel so bad about picking them up then. Actually they don’t seem to mind it as much as I do! I pat them lightly on their little heads and they don’t hide it away :-). What I will try is not to interrupt their daytime sleep and place the food near them, perhaps they’ll come out without my interfering.

I think I will forget about leaving them outdoors during the winter. Their enclosures are better, I will try to make them more interesting. I’ve got the correct lighting and heat for them. The balcony is sunny sometimes I can let them out for an hour or so to have a run around. I will check out that link you gave me Nina to that member from Netherlands post for ideas.

Thanks again for your help. I do worry about them!
Anne Marie

Elatort
Posts: 4
Joined: 22 Mar 2017, 13:13

Re: Egyptian Tortoises During Hot Weather

Post by Elatort » 09 Aug 2021, 12:09

Hi Ann Marie,

They are a worry but worth the effort. The challenges you are getting with the males is them having a battle to see who is the more dominant male and in turn would mate first. Sounds like such a healthy pair.

I’m in the UK and males are like gold dust. Hopefully I have managed to upload a book on this species. I know information is hard to find. The Egyptian Tortoise Testudo Kleinmanni Loretta, A Fascinating Little Beauty by Franziska Biedenweg and Ricarda Schramm. It’s a good read but you seem to be getting it correct , 25 is a good age.

Elaine

Ladybird_mt
Posts: 23
Joined: 29 Sep 2020, 08:19

Re: Egyptian Tortoises During Hot Weather

Post by Ladybird_mt » 10 Aug 2021, 11:32

Hi Elaine

Thanks for the info on the book, I will look for it, sounds great.

It’s quite the contrary here in Malta, it’s the females which are sort after. I was offered to exchange one of mine with a female but I’ve grown too attached to them, and the last thing I want are baby tortoises. I’ve got a couple of cats and a Yorkie to look after and I’d like to go abroad for a few months to get away from this heat, but I won’t leave any pets behind, I don’t trust anyone to look after them.

You had asked about their enclosures. I had dismantled everything for the summer. They are both 117 x 53 cm (46’ x 21’). Do you think they’re too small, I used a couple of large wardrobe drawers? Last year I used garden soil which they use outdoors to half-way bury themselves in as I couldn’t find top soil during this Covid situation. The lighting is 80 w uva/uvb and when the enclosures started to be in the mid 30s (beginning of summer) I switched to uvb only as the heat remained in the mid-30s.

They were brought up in typical old-style Maltese surroundings - tiled yard, some soil perhaps if it was found and somewhere to hide, no heat, fed lettuce, a bit of apple and whatever felt suitable. Thank goodness nowadays owners have more knowledge on how to look after their tortoises. Albert and Elliot’s owner was 90 years old and they were given to me probably around 5 years ago when he passed away. I rarely see them drink from their bowls except when they’re bathing, so I give their food a good soak.

Excuse me for rambling on!

Anne Marie

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