Russian Tortoises in North Carolina

[Veronica]

Hello!

I don't know how many people on this forum have Russian tortoises, but I thought I'd give my question a shot here.

I've decided, that if I do get a tortoise, a Russian would be a good fit for the mid-NC climate, and ideally it would be kept outdoors year round. I know that Russians tolerate low temperatures as long as they are allowed to dig burrows to hibernate in. The temperatures around here rarely reach below 20 degrees F (the suggested minimum temperature during the winter), but they do occasionally drop to 10-15 degrees. My question is, would it be fine for the few nights outside that it drops that low? Or would it be safer to bring it in? (I don't have one yet, so at least I don't need to worry about that yet.)

Thanks for any help!