Heat mats

[spaceman87]

I have a heat mat I don't use as was told it was bad for them we have two turkish spur thighed just over a year old.our house gets really cold over nite vivarium temp can drop to 10c can heat mat be mounted on side to give off a top up heat we in North East Scotland

 

[Alaskamike]

10c = 50f certainly too cold.

I've used heat mats for tortoises before - though. It the kind commonly sold for reptiles , as I found them to be cheaply made & unreliable.

But I did find that mats made for pigs , and heat pads made for humans both work well. No reason you couldn't use one.

A UVB bulb in my opinion works better , but either way , you should cover the enclosure to keep in the heat. Save electricity and keeps it nice & warm.

A thermostat regulator to turn heat source on & off is also a very good ( & safe ) idea

 

[Tom]

I would not use a heat mat for a tortoise.

You should use a ceramic heating element run through a thermostat.

And for goodness sakes, warm your house up man. Thats making me cold just thinking about it.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

My sister and I have used pig blankets for years. We have never had a problem.
Personally, I would not use one on a greek or something small like that. My sister puts hers on the walls and her big tortoises cuddle up to them. Bob's is in a triangular shape in the corner of his sleeping box, and he has slept on it from the time he was 5 until he died at 17. I recommend them highly. I
personally, I have killed more tortoises or turtles with a CHE than any sickness. I will not have one in my house.

I use Osborn mats with a rheostat to control the amount of heat. They do not come cheap, however, I used the same one for almost 17 years.

 

[Tom]

My sister and I have used pig blankets for years. We have never had a problem.
Personally, I would not use one on a greek or something small like that. My sister puts hers on the walls and her big tortoises cuddle up to them. Bob's is in a triangular shape in the corner of his sleeping box, and he has slept on it from the time he was 5 until he died at 17. I recommend them highly. I
personally, I have killed more tortoises or turtles with a CHE than any sickness. I will not have one in my house.

I use Osborn mats with a rheostat to control the amount of heat. They do not come cheap, however, I used the same one for almost 17 years.

I think pig blanket style heat mats are great for big tortoises, but he's talking about the reptile aquarium type heat mats for smaller tortoises.

I don't know what you did to kill a tortoise with a CHE, but they are not dangerous if used properly, like any other heating element. THey are a useful tool for heating smaller tortoises.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I think pig blanket style heat mats are great for big tortoises, but he's talking about the reptile aquarium type heat mats for smaller tortoises.

I don't know what you did to kill a tortoise with a CHE, but they are not dangerous if used properly, like any other heating element. THey are a useful tool for heating smaller tortoises.

three 3 tortoises and a box turtle, not just one. I'm a lousy keeper that's all. Never killed one with a black light bulb tho. 18 inches from the carapace, I thought that was high enough. Guess not.
See you on the 29th, plz send the directions so I can obsess on them for a while. You have a special time in mind? I promise I will not kill Tuck...er with a CHE...you read that? Tucker! Yep! Happy with that name. Hope you don't mind.

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

You can use heat mats for heat above the tortoise essentially duplicating the above heat that is provided by those screw in heat bulbs. I use many of them in a few ways.

For making a heated hide house in a large enclosure (2 foot by 4 foot) for small tortoises like neonates to about four inches or so.

Any plastic sweater or show box, buy two marked down tiles at a Lowe's or home depot that will completely cover the top of the plastic storage box. Cut a hole in the side of the box such that the tortoises can have easy access in and out. Use the tiles as a lid and put the heat mat between the tiles. Now you have a radiant heat panel. Ta Da.

Right now I have some neonate pancake tortoises growing up with this as their heated hide, and another shoe box with it's regular lid as a choice. Heat from above n an enclosed space. Thermostat is a good idea. You can get a reasonable reliable thermostats for about $20 from Amazon. I have bought combinations so simply believe the thermostats will accept the wattage used to run the mat.

If you can get dark tile it will adsorb and radiate some greater amount of heat when light are on.

Moistened substrate in the box or moist sphagnum helps keep them warm and humid.

like these...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B016MKY7C8/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

and

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B010GFADNM/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

 

[Stitchpunk]

And for goodness sakes, warm your house up man. Thats making me cold just thinking about it.

oh you poor delicate wee flower 10C sounds GREAT. (not for tortoises, for me.)
I dunno about in Scotland but here a lot of older houses don't have much insulation and only fairly new and/or flash ones have central heating or double glazing or anything. We just put another jumper on and harden up.

 

[Alaskamike]

oh you poor delicate wee flower 10C sounds GREAT. (not for tortoises, for me.)
I dunno about in Scotland but here a lot of older houses don't have much insulation and only fairly new and/or flash ones have central heating or double glazing or anything. We just put another jumper on and harden up.

We here in US are spoiled beyond measure. Hahaha.
I remember when a child & my Father would turn the heat down to 55f at night. We danced on the floor heaters in the morning to get dressed !

Sometimes you could almost see your breath ! ( not quite but I complained allot !)

 

[Stitchpunk]

We here in US are spoiled beyond measure. Hahaha.
I remember when a child & my Father would turn the heat down to 55f at night. We danced on the floor heaters in the morning to get dressed !

Sometimes you could almost see your breath ! ( not quite but I complained allot !)

Four Yorkshiremen Sketch
Monty Python
Four well-dressed men sitting together at a vacation resort.
Michael Palin: Ahh.. Very passable, this, very passable.

Graham Chapman: Nothing like a good glass of Chateau de Chassilier wine, ay Gessiah?

Terry Gilliam: You're right there Obediah.

Eric Idle: Who'd a thought thirty years ago we'd all be sittin' here drinking Chateau de Chassilier wine?

MP: Aye. In them days, we'd a' been glad to have the price of a cup o' tea.

GC: A cup ' COLD tea.

EI: Without milk or sugar.

TG: OR tea!

MP: In a filthy, cracked cup.

EI: We never used to have a cup. We used to have to drink out of a rolled up newspaper.

GC: The best WE could manage was to suck on a piece of damp cloth.

TG: But you know, we were happy in those days, though we were poor.

MP: Aye. BECAUSE we were poor. My old Dad used to say to me, "Money doesn't buy you happiness."

EI: 'E was right. I was happier then and I had NOTHIN'. We used to live in this tiiiny old house, with greaaaaat big holes in the roof.

GC: House? You were lucky to have a HOUSE! We used to live in one room, all hundred and twenty-six of us, no furniture. Half the floor was missing; we were all huddled together in one corner for fear of FALLING!

TG: You were lucky to have a ROOM! *We* used to have to live in a corridor!

MP: Ohhhh we used to DREAM of livin' in a corridor! Woulda' been a palace to us. We used to live in an old water tank on a rubbish tip. We got woken up every morning by having a load of rotting fish dumped all over us! House!? Hmph.

EI: Well when I say "house" it was only a hole in the ground covered by a piece of tarpolin, but it was a house to US.

GC: We were evicted from *our* hole in the ground; we had to go and live in a lake!

TG: You were lucky to have a LAKE! There were a hundred and sixty of us living in a small shoebox in the middle of the road.

MP: Cardboard box?

TG: Aye.

MP: You were lucky. We lived for three months in a brown paper bag in a septic tank. We used to have to get up at six o'clock in the morning, clean the bag, eat a crust of stale bread, go to work down mill for fourteen hours a day week in-week out. When we got home, out Dad would thrash us to sleep with his belt!

GC: Luxury. We used to have to get out of the lake at three o'clock in the morning, clean the lake, eat a handful of hot gravel, go to work at the mill every day for tuppence a month, come home, and Dad would beat us around the head and neck with a broken bottle, if we were LUCKY!

TG: Well we had it tough. We used to have to get up out of the shoebox at twelve o'clock at night, and LICK the road clean with our tongues. We had half a handful of freezing cold gravel, worked twenty-four hours a day at the mill for fourpence every six years, and when we got home, our Dad would slice us in two with a bread knife.

EI: Right. I had to get up in the morning at ten o'clock at night, half an hour before I went to bed, (pause for laughter), eat a lump of cold poison, work twenty-nine hours a day down mill, and pay mill owner for permission to come to work, and when we got home, our Dad would kill us, and dance about on our graves singing "Hallelujah."

MP: But you try and tell the young people today that... and they won't believe ya'.

ALL: Nope, nope..

I know, I've derailed this thread. Sorry. (not sorry.)

 

[Tom]

oh you poor delicate wee flower 10C sounds GREAT. (not for tortoises, for me.)
I dunno about in Scotland but here a lot of older houses don't have much insulation and only fairly new and/or flash ones have central heating or double glazing or anything. We just put another jumper on and harden up.

Oh I've spent plenty of time in sub-zero weather. Fahrenheit sub-zero. I can tolerate as well as the next guy, but I don't like it and I hate wearing all those clothes. I also hate having all the beautiful women all bundled up in so many layers.

Even more important though: Its NOT good tortoise weather.

 

[Stitchpunk]

Oh I've spent plenty of time in sub-zero weather. Fahrenheit sub-zero. I can tolerate as well as the next guy, but I don't like it and I hate wearing all those clothes. I also hate having all the beautiful women all bundled up in so many layers.

Even more important though: Its NOT good tortoise weather.

Oh I dunno. As a knitter I reckon most people look better in cozy jumpers. And as a female I appreciate layers - they reduce unwanted ogling. Perhaps I could knit a jumper for the chilly Scottish tortoise.

 

[W Shaw]

Oh I've spent plenty of time in sub-zero weather. Fahrenheit sub-zero. I can tolerate as well as the next guy, but I don't like it and I hate wearing all those clothes. I also hate having all the beautiful women all bundled up in so many layers.

Even more important though: Its NOT good tortoise weather.

My place was between 47 and 57 all winter every year, until I got Ronan this year. I can't stabilize his temps when the ambient in the apartment is 47 degrees. So I'm having a very comfortable but very expensive winter this year. By next winter he'll be in a proper enclosure that's easier to stabilize.

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

Oh I dunno. As a knitter I reckon most people look better in cozy jumpers. And as a female I appreciate layers - they reduce unwanted ogling. Perhaps I could knit a jumper for the chilly Scottish tortoise.

Cozies may look cute, but in no way shape or form help keep a tortoise warm.

 

[Stitchpunk]

Cozies may look cute, but in no way shape or form help keep a tortoise warm.

I did wonder if insulating the shells would have any effect. I guess not! Still cute for an occasional photo though

 

[pepsiandjac]

my heat mat burnt a hole though my shed floor