First homemade heated house/night house

[CleoTheLeo]

I wanted to post some pictures of my almost basically finished heated house. It is the first one I have ever made. I still need to fix the door, put some wood slats on it. I was wondering if anyone sees anything that is missing or something that might be a problem. Im also planning on putting a small plastic bin in there to hold substrate but not be directly against the heating pads. I also need to make sure all the heating parts are mounted to the wall. IIts all insulated except for the front wall, which I will be finishing soon. I appreciate any help. I think the black heating pad will provide enough heat and the red one is back up. Does anyone else have the black radiant heat panel, its from Vivarium Electronics, I think 80 watt or 120 watt. It says it wont burn your animals even if they touch it. Does anyone know if they mean for an extended period of time or just briefly. I know reptiles are different but I cant keep my hand on it for more than 10 seconds when its fully heated. So I was wondering if anyone has had any issues with it? Like I said before I'm putting in a plastic box so she won't be directly touching it but I just wanted to make sure that would still be ok because the plastic might end up being flush with the heating pads.

 

[Gijoux]

I wanted to post some pictures of my almost basically finished heated house. It is the first one I have ever made. I still need to fix the door, put some wood slats on it. I was wondering if anyone sees anything that is missing or something that might be a problem. Im also planning on putting a small plastic bin in there to hold substrate but not be directly against the heating pads. I also need to make sure all the heating parts are mounted to the wall. IIts all insulated except for the front wall, which I will be finishing soon. I appreciate any help. I think the black heating pad will provide enough heat and the red one is back up. Does anyone else have the black radiant heat panel, its from Vivarium Electronics, I think 80 watt or 120 watt. It says it wont burn your animals even if they touch it. Does anyone know if they mean for an extended period of time or just briefly. I know reptiles are different but I cant keep my hand on it for more than 10 seconds when its fully heated. So I was wondering if anyone has had any issues with it? Like I said before I'm putting in a plastic box so she won't be directly touching it but I just wanted to make sure that would still be ok because the plastic might end up being flush with the heating pads.

I use both the Radiant Heat Panel (120 watt) and the Kane mat. I have the Kane mats on the floor and the RHP mounted on the inside of the roofs of my three Night Boxes. I am not familiar with hanging either of these from the walls. Perhaps others who have tried this will chime in. I have both the RHPs and Kane mats on thermostats, which I have placed in plastic containers attached to the inside of the back walls of my enclosures. I cannot tell how tall your enclosure is but I'm guessing about 2 feet, which shouldn't be too tall to maintain the heat at Tortoise level. The Kane mats are designed for the animal to climb up directly onto it. They are designed to just wash off so no substrate is required. I had a hard time believing they would use the box without substrate, but they do. I have placed my thermostat probe down at tortoise level to make sure temps stay correct for the Tortoise. I am not sure if you are planning to get something like a Sensor Push so you can watch your temps from inside your house, but I would highly recommend it. Twice this winter, with temps down into the low 30℉, I was able to detect that one of the plugs for my RHP's had fallen out of its panel and my temps had dropped down to 55℉. For the record if you find your plug feels loose, just smash the end of the cord that attaches to the RHP with a wide mouthed pair of pliers to tighten up the fit. Your Tortoise is a real beauty. I raise Leopard Tortoises too.

 

[CleoTheLeo]

I use both the Radiant Heat Panel (120 watt) and the Kane mat. I have the Kane mats on the floor and the RHP mounted on the inside of the roofs of my three Night Boxes. I am not familiar with hanging either of these from the walls. Perhaps others who have tried this will chime in. I have both the RHPs and Kane mats on thermostats, which I have placed in plastic containers attached to the inside of the back walls of my enclosures. I cannot tell how tall your enclosure is but I'm guessing about 2 feet, which shouldn't be too tall to maintain the heat at Tortoise level. The Kane mats are designed for the animal to climb up directly onto it. They are designed to just wash off so no substrate is required. I had a hard time believing they would use the box without substrate, but they do. I have placed my thermostat probe down at tortoise level to make sure temps stay correct for the Tortoise. I am not sure if you are planning to get something like a Sensor Push so you can watch your temps from inside your house, but I would highly recommend it. Twice this winter, with temps down into the low 30℉, I was able to detect that one of the plugs for my RHP's had fallen out of its panel and my temps had dropped down to 55℉. For the record if you find your plug feels loose, just smash the end of the cord that attaches to the RHP with a wide mouthed pair of pliers to tighten up the fit. Your Tortoise is a real beauty. I raise Leopard Tortoises too.

Thanks for all your help! And that cord always falls out, I put a little gorilla glue on it today to help it stay! And I also had a sensor push for about a year, it stopped working a few months ago for some reason. But it lasted a long time and Im planning on buying it again! It is so nice and gives such peace of mind. And yeah, the kane mat doesnt get too hot, I dont worry about her keeping in touch with that one! I have also had her without substrate for a few weeks but I think she likes to settle into the orchad chips. Thank you again for your help and all the info!

 

[Maro2Bear]

My box is about 3 feet wide, 2 feet tall and 6 feet long. I have the Kane heat mat all the way “left” and the RHP on the lid, both connected via a thermostat with probe that is on the furthest end. Your box is a little small i think to have the kane mat on the floor since it looks like there won’t be room for your tort to be totally on, off or half way.

I empty a bag of Lowes cypress inside & just made sure it’s not over the heat mat. In your case, i personally would put a nice layer of cypress mulch or orchid bark. The mulch absorbs all the manure.

ps - personally, if u are asking, i would have made the box a bit longer so there is room to have the mat on the floor & enough extra space so your tort could be inside but not sitting on the mat. Let them find the sweet warm spot.

 

[CleoTheLeo]

My box is about 3 feet wide, 2 feet tall and 6 feet long. I have the Kane heat mat all the way “left” and the RHP on the lid, both connected via a thermostat with probe that is on the furthest end. Your box is a little small i think to have the kane mat on the floor since it looks like there won’t be room for your tort to be totally on, off or half way.

I empty a bag of Lowes cypress inside & just made sure it’s not over the heat mat. In your case, i personally would put a nice layer of cypress mulch or orchid bark. The mulch absorbs all the manure.

ps - personally, if u are asking, i would have made the box a bit longer so there is room to have the mat on the floor & enough extra space so your tort could be inside but not sitting on the mat. Let them find the sweet warm spot.

Yeah, it did end up being smaller than I wanted but I wasnt planning on putting the heating pads on the floor. After alot of research it seemed that having the heat panels on the walls was just as good. And yeah, im planning on putting down mulch. Thanks for your help