Tom you lost me… I need a Kane mat for the flooring which is where he will lay on. And I need either a RHP or chicken heater and that will be placed above the Kane heat mat. The Kane mat I only see the ones with a thermostat or self regulated on Amazon and other websites. I found these. Can you tell me if these will work? Which ones in your opinion? Thank you for the help. I’m trying to get him set before it gets a bit colder
Everything is correct except that last one. The Vivarium electronics is the right one, but you want at least 80 watts. That is the correct chicken heater RHP and it has two settings for wattage. You'll have to experiment with a thermometer to see if the lower wattage setting keeps your box warm enough. If not, it's easy to flip the switch to the higher setting, and your thermostat will keep it from over heating the box. The chicken heater or the VE RHP is an either or. You just need one over head heat source and the Kane mat on the bottom. The Kane mat pictured is the correct type, but I'd get the 18x28 inch one.
Tom I’m sorry but with work and school my brain stops thinking. So let me get this straight so I can order asap for Sheldon. For now I’ll bring him back inside till to get the right equipment for him. But I need to the Kane Mat for sure as a bottom heating source. The vivarium or the chicken heater as my top heater but don’t need both. Is that correct?
Yes. That is all correct. One heat source for the bottom, and one heat source for the top. With your 36inch ceiling, it would help if you made some sort of apparatus to lower the over head RHP closer to the tortoise. Somewhere around 20-24 inches should be good. You can hang it with chains if the top of your box doesn't open, or build a simple framework with 2x4s if the top does open. You can see how I've done that in my "Single Tortoise NIghtbox" thread.
Tom, you're going to get tired of me. What thermostat do you recommend I get? I have a govee hydrometer thermometer. I want to make sure his set up is right since he will be full time outside.
No I'm not. You are asking all the right questions and I am happy to help. If I didn't like talking tortoises all day, I wouldn't be here!
I’ve ordered the Matt and the heater with a new thermostat the one you’ve mentioned from above. I assume I’m plugging in the Matt to the thermostat versus the heater… and last question. The plastic door flaps how thick should they be and where do you get it from? The one I got is literally paper thin…No I'm not. You are asking all the right questions and I am happy to help. If I didn't like talking tortoises all day, I wouldn't be here!
I just get whatever current one looks good on Amazon. They usually cost about $20-30. I get ones that are rated for 1000 watts or higher. The brand names and types come and go as the years pass by, and I haven't had any major issues with any of them. I think my most recent ones are BN-Link, but that brand name may have changed since I last order one.
I buy rolls of the freezer flap vinyl. I get the 8 inch wide type and it's usually a 50 or 100 foot roll. I find it on Amazon. You can get some from me if needed.
I have to add to my question, I've already bought the BN-LINK, which should arrive tomorrow. I was looking at the heating and cooling thermostats. What are your thoughts on them for the enclosures?
Unless you have a refrigeration unit or air conditioner that you intend to run, I don't recommend the heating and cooling types. You just need heating, and some of the will only have one outlet to plug into. You need to plug in two items to the thermostat, so you need something like one of these:
Thank You, Tom. Hopefully, I can have it all set up properly per your instructions. I will let you know how it goes.
I think that would be fine under the Kane mat, but I don't think it's necessary. Make sure it doesn't start tearing apart because the tortoise might eat pieces of it if it does.
Will do… Should the matt cover the entire enclosure? His encloseure is 3x3x2 with insulation so his enclosure is a bit smaller because of it.. Or do I return the one I got and get a smaller one so he has room to be in the enclosure without having to be on the mat.
The smallest Kane mat is 18x18 inches. I like the 18x28. Inside a 36 inch box, he should have room to move off of the mat.
Unfortunately with the insulation it shrunk the size of his enclosure from the inside. So the 18x28 covers a big portion of his enclosure. If I want to give him space to get off it I will need to go with the 18x18.
That still works.
