Russian Tortoise Question

[dpage]

I've recently purchased a russian tortoise and I was wondering how long can I have her be outside in my backyard until I have to bring her inside or can I keep her there year round?

ps. I live in Texas(it's in the 90s right now)

[RTmom]

As long as the night time temperatures stay above 60 degrees its safe for her to be out year round. You can provide a small heated doghouse if the weather gets cooler than that or bring her indoors.
Here's a great Russian tortoise website....
http://www.russiantortoise.org/index.htm
It's not advised to hibernate your tortoise the first year that you own it.
You also should only hibernate it if it has been checked by a Vet and is illness and parasite free. I choose not to hibernate mine.
Here's some information on hibernation if you decide to try it next year...
http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/safer.html

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What do they do when they're going to hibernate and how can I prevent it? Also, I understand that they need two lamps, one for heat and one for uva or something. If during the cold months I bring her in could I just use the uva lamp since we'll have the heater on in our house?

[RTmom]

When they get ready to hibernate they will slow down, eat less and may dig themselves into the soil and stay there for days at a time.
I keep my tortoise inside most of the time and so if yours is outdoors you'll have less control of day/night cycles. I keep my Russians lights(UVB and basking light) on 12 hrs a day during the Summer and as soon as the weather begins cooling down I increase the hours of light to 14 a day. I also keep the basking area in the mid 90's during the winter ( high 80's during the Summer)
You do need 2 lights if your tortoise is indoors for more than a few days. If they spend the majority of their time outside you can probably get by with just a heat lamp indoors for the basking area.
More than a few days at a time indoors with no UVB can cause severe health problems since they cannot use calcium without Vitamin D3 which UVB lighting (or sunlight) helps them make.
The basking area (heat lamp) needs to be placed at one end of the enclosure so that your tortoise can self regulate their body temperature. If they get too cold they need a warm area and if they get too hot they need somepalce to cool off.
Make sure to read the info at the website that I gave you. They have a great forum too. :)