Thank you!
Who in s CA heat their tortoise house and who does not, and why?
- Thread starter Razan
- Start date
do you have a happy and warm tort now, and is Albert convinced? My husband says I'm going to cook Charlie and he doesn't need to be kept that warm. I have the thermostat set to 78.Good thing you successfully convinced Albert to install the RHP and Kane heater. They are going in upon arrival. Thank you noting specifically the 40 watt will not be enough to keep things warm. It eliminates any temptation to just use the temporary 40 watt full time. It will all be done properly real soon.
ANYTHING for a happy tort !
Albert IS definitely convinced ! Yeah wooHOOOO, happy dance happy dance ! Today finally the floor kane heat mat is delivered. We have the RHP ceiling device and they are working, we tested them today, but they are not installed yet. The temperature controller is absurdly delayed from amazon for some unknown reason. They said it would arrive Nov 6 and today is Sat Nov 14. At least we currently have some heat for Sherman with a thermometer to verify the fluctuating temps in his box. His nights get down to 72 . Temp taken 3" from ceiling so the floor certainly is cooler. His situation is warmer than what he had available with his previous owner. He is less uncomfortable now but we can do better. We are determined to get him from adequate, to a luxurious environment.
The ceiling RHP heater is really warm, almost hot actually. The amount of heat this puts out is almost concerning. There is no way I will plug this in without a thermostat shut off. Yes, I even worry about shut off failure.
Trying out the heating devices today and asking a billion questions Albert was very impressed and said " I am really pleased with the heating devices chosen. I does seem like the best way to do this ".
Is Charlie using his house?
It took a really long time for you to get your things! We installed the RHP today and thermostat. I had ordered the thermostat from Amazon. There was a problem with the credit card so the order was delayed. I just got the shipping notification yesterday and it was delivered today, so I think they must have rushed it. We haven't done the floor yet.
Charlie has been using his house for the last week or two. There were a few days when we had lots of rain that he spent in a corner of the yard, in a spot where we couldn't get to him to move him. That made me really nervous. But ever since then, he has been in his house every night. He got nervous when we were working on his house and tried to go in a corner of the patio, but I moved him in front of his door as soon as we finished working and he went inside.
You can run the heat mat with no thermostat all night long on these cold nights. He can move off of it if he gets too warm.
Mounted up on the ceiling, your RHP will never be able to get hot enough to burn him either.
Our nights are getting down to 40 degrees out here. I would run both. There is no way that box will over heat on these cold fall nights here.
Mounted up on the ceiling, your RHP will never be able to get hot enough to burn him either.
Our nights are getting down to 40 degrees out here. I would run both. There is no way that box will over heat on these cold fall nights here.
Did you go with an RBI radiant heat panel or another brand? I have a 160W RBI RHP and while I'd never use it without a thermostat, I don't find it worrisome in its strength. I can still put my hand on it without getting burned when it's on full blast. You'll likely loose more heat on cold nights than you think. My thermostat rarely turns the RHP off over night these days for more than a minute.
The 80 watt RHP panel is from Reptilebasics.com
It will go on the ceiling with a temperature controller. This will replace the current 40 watt dog palace heater we installed on the ceiling for a temporary heat source.
alex_ornelas
Well-Known Member
Oliver's house is orange
See the leaves on the ground? It IS fall. Get both of those heating elements installed already !
Albert does in fact install the heaters for us. (yeah, woo hooo, party screamers)
The recommended RHP on top.
Kane mat on the bottom. (sideways photo oops)The work is not done until it passes inspection.
InspecTION
hmmmmm
It Passes
Hey are you ever going to come back out? Sherrrrman...we have food...hello...helloooooo. He loves it !
Thank you to all who participated in motivating Albert to heat Sherman's night box !
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You,
Razan
hmmmmmIt Passes
Hey are you ever going to come back out? Sherrrrman...we have food...hello...helloooooo. He loves it !Thank you to all who participated in motivating Albert to heat Sherman's night box !
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You,
Razan
Charlie has stayed in his warm night box for the last several weeks. It's got me worried. Shouldn't he be coming out during the day? Since it is warmer in his house than outside, is that why he isn't coming out? Isn't he getting hungry?
Some of them do this at the start of winter. Not really anything you can do about it. I keep my boxes around 86 during cold spells like this. 80ish doesn't seem to be enough. I also pull them out of the box and put them in the sun if they aren't coming out on their own. As winter progresses they usually start acting "normal" again.
When you catch Albert in a good mood, tell him he needs to weatherstrip around the top of the box. This will make the heating elements run a lot less and save you money on the electric bill. It will keep your big boy warmer too.
Tom is right. Weather stripping is inexpensive and easy to apply. Like a grey tape roll...just cut it to size, remove the backing and stick in place!
See it here on my box?
You probably already know what it is but when I first started with all of this, I didn't. Seeing what it was helped me. So hopefully this helps someone
See it here on my box?
You probably already know what it is but when I first started with all of this, I didn't. Seeing what it was helped me. So hopefully this helps someone
Thank you! He has never done this in other years, but he has never had it so warm and toasty before.
Alaskamike
Well-Known Member
My 2yo Aldabra does this. Stays in her heated box most of the time when temps drop below 70f at night.
I bring her out in the day if she doesn't come on her own. Last night got down in the 50s. Burrrrr
I bring her out in the day if she doesn't come on her own. Last night got down in the 50s. Burrrrr
Its much colder this year than it has been in previous years. This is certainly a factor.
It's much colder than that here! It's getting into the 30s at night.My 2yo Aldabra does this. Stays in her heated box most of the time when temps drop below 70f at night.
I bring her out in the day if she doesn't come on her own. Last night got down in the 50s. Burrrrr
Wow, it sure has been cold! And now it is dark and raining. I want to sleep through it too.
lol
When a good mood isn't showing up I have to do a real 1/2 a**ed job, then he'll say let me show ya how it is done right...then it gets done.
Good communication has many forms.
Where's the food ?
