Flexible belly tape for sulcata

Hi! I am relatively new to the forum and have a housing question. I am looking to buy a bigger tank for my baby sulcata. I am considering the T13 from Animal Plastics. I currently have a heater under her cave and am wondering if I need the flexible belly tape offered from animal plastics. My baby is almost a year old, is about 7" in diameter and weighing 490 g. If I don't need the tape, do I need a heater at all? The heater in her tank now currently comes on only at night. Thanks so much for your help!

Welcome to the forum!
I’m not sure I understand your question. Do you not have heat lamps?
Under tank heaters should not be used for tortoises. They have evolved to absorb heat from their backs, not their bellies, so they can easily be burned. A ceramic heat emitter should be used to keep the temps above 80 everywhere in the enclosure at all times.
Most info online is entirely false, so please give these a read
How To Raise A Healthy Sulcata Or Leopard, Version 2.0 https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php...ealthy-Sulcata-Or-Leopard,-Version-2.0.79895/
For Those Who Have a Young Sulcata... https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/For-Those-Who-Have-a-Young-Sulcata....76744/
Beginner Mistakes https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/Beginner-Mistakes.45180/

Take a look at this thread. Tom tells about his heating/lighting arrangements:

https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/new-stack-of-animal-plastics-closed-chambers.165626/

Yvonne G... funny! I was just reading that forum.

Techno cheese... thanks! I have read and re-read those dozens of timess since I am a newbie sulcata owner but I must have missed the under tank heater section [emoji17]. She (although she may be a he) currently has a basking light, a CHE (for night) and a UV light. I have an under tank heater under her cave but will not have it for long!

Thanks again!

Clemsonturtle said:

Hi! I am relatively new to the forum and have a housing question. I am looking to buy a bigger tank for my baby sulcata. I am considering the T13 from Animal Plastics. I currently have a heater under her cave and am wondering if I need the flexible belly tape offered from animal plastics. My baby is almost a year old, is about 7" in diameter and weighing 490 g. If I don't need the tape, do I need a heater at all? The heater in her tank now currently comes on only at night. Thanks so much for your help!

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A T13 is way too small for a 7" 500 gram tortoise. Even twice that size is on the small side. By the time that cage arrives, he won't fit in it. Another inch of growth and your tortoise will be ready to live outside full time with a heated night box. I don't know what you'll do in winter, but a T13 will be way way too small 6 months from now in October when the weather turns cold again.

Tom said:

A T13 is way too small for a 7" 500 gram tortoise. Even twice that size is on the small side. By the time that cage arrives, he won't fit in it. Another inch of growth and your tortoise will be ready to live outside full time with a heated night box. I don't know what you'll do in winter, but a T13 will be way way too small 6 months from now in October when the weather turns cold again.

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Oh my goodness, I am definitely showing my newbie status [emoji38]. I don’t know that I’m ready to move her outside, she seems so little [emoji51]. Looks like I will be researching how to convert our backyard to her new play area. Thanks for the input and saving me from buying something too small for her (or him).

Tom said:

A T13 is way too small for a 7" 500 gram tortoise. Even twice that size is on the small side. By the time that cage arrives, he won't fit in it. Another inch of growth and your tortoise will be ready to live outside full time with a heated night box. I don't know what you'll do in winter, but a T13 will be way way too small 6 months from now in October when the weather turns cold again.

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I think there may be some confusion to the size of the tort here. The OP said the tort was 7" in Diameter not SCL (straight carapace length).

Bambam1989 said:

I think there may be some confusion to the size of the tort here. The OP said the tort was 7" in Diameter not SCL (straight carapace length).

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I think I have confused myself. Now I see the weight of the tort. Ugh I'm going back to bed. Maybe my brain will work properly.