When the summer heat index reaches 109ºF it prompts me into immediate action to keep Frankie cool. The temperature is actually only 92º which isn’t really all that hot (having spent years in Phoenix, Arizona) but when the humidity is 65% then it’s hot.
Frankie doesn’t sweat and he is cold-blooded which for anyone deprived of an honest high school biology class that just means that Frankie is the temperature of the area he sits for more than 10 minutes. For anyone desiring a moment of intellectual stimulation, Frankie is poikilothermic: an organism that is incapable of thermal homeostasis.
During these really hot days Frankie, and all other cold blooded animals, will do what is required to be somewhere cooler and more comfortable. The sulcata tortoise will do this:
Frankie, and other sulcata, will dig a huge tunnel into the cool earth. A tunnel up to 12 feet long and deep enough that one could convert it into a cistern when not occupied by said large beast. Never to allow Frankie to dig again I pledged to do one thing: accommodate Frankie’s need for security and comfort in his preferred temperatures zone.
Thus began the ten year quest of the perfect outdoor habitat for Frankie. We’ve done well. We’ve invested much money and effort. Sometimes it works. The extreme temperature is most challenging. Once temperatures begin to rise above 92º F it often required serious Frankie temperature intervention.
In the past Frankie has been happy to sit and soak in water.
For some reason this year Frankie is afraid of his kiddy pool and will not go inside willingly. I am tired of dragging him inside the pool only to get trampled as he runs back out.
As I do every summer, I try to make cool areas cooler by adding shade cloths.
Yesterday I took a hand towel, seriously dampened it (wet would be a disaster) and put it into the freezer for 30 minutes. I then took the frozen towel and placed it over Frankie’s shell. About eight minutes later it softens enough to conform to Frankie’s shell providing him with coolness for an hour or so.
These simple techniques seem to fall short today. I checked in with Frankie and he was just looking miserable. Hot and miserable. So I do the one thing I shouldn’t but those sweet black eyes just looked so miserable. I let Frankie come inside for a cool down.
Frankie was prompt to come inside and polite enough to just sit in the hall waiting for his shell to absorb that cool 74ºF indoor air. He got restless about 30 minutes later so I put …read more
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