Did you bring your tortoises inside for the Winter?
Our tortoises have heated outdoor enclosures so we only bring them inside if there is a concern that the power might go out —Which it did once during the Winter weather a few weeks ago, but the incredible crews at the City of Camden had us operational again in no time.
We opt for outdoor enclosures because most days, even during the Winter, temps warm up enough for our torts to be outside during the day.
This allows the torts to be in natural sunlight year-round.
But if you live in an area where temperatures do not allow you to leave your torts outside, or if you do not have heated enclosures, or if you end up bringing them inside because of extreme weather and power outages, we cannot stress enough the importance of UVB lighting when your torts are not able to be outside.
Tortoises need sunlight or UVB light YEAR ROUND. Not just when it is warm enough to be outside. There is no period of time you should ever let your tortoise go without some form of Sunlight.
Sunlight/UVB is necessary for your tortoise to digest the food it is eating. This means without Sunlight or UVB (and proper warmth) a tortoise will not absorb any nutrition from what it eats. Not absorbing nutrients means your tortoise is at risk of illnesses like Metabolic Bone Disease or even organ failure.
Bringing tortoises inside to protect them from the cold is the right thing to do, but you absolutely MUST make sure they also have the proper lighting needed to thrive.
If indoors at least 10-12 hours of UVB light is recommended each day.
Please do everything possible to keep your torts healthy, happy, and safe! The needs of an exotic pet can be expensive, but you knew that when you brought it into your home.
