Heating from underneath???

[kelarned]

So I have read several threads on heating and lighting and I have a few questions.

I have read some that think it is better to heat the tort from the top (ie. basking lamp) and some that use a heat mat underneath. Is there a "best" method?

I saw a post that showed a Kane pad on the floor that was attached to a thermostat. I like this idea, but is it a "good" or "ok" for hatchlings on a tort table?

I was actually thinking of using this in a humid hide box. I could use it to heat the moist cypress mulch substrate from underneath. Wouldn't this create a humid environment?

Just curious on your thoughts

 

[Yvonne G]

I don't think either way is "best."

I like the pig blanket along with light/heat from above. But I never use the pig blankets for a very young/small tortoise. My thinking is its hard for a baby to realize where the edge of his world is. If he's on a pig blanket and it gets too hot, he might not know that he can get off of it to get away from the heat, because each step is just as hot as the last one. While a bigger tortoise already knows where the edge of the pad is because he's almost as big as the pad. I don't know if I'm explaining it well.

 

[kelarned]

I totally understand. Great point.

 

[DeanS]

I like the idea of a slate or concrete slab with the CHE pointing right at it...heat from above and below!

 

[Madkins007]

Our goal is to try to simulate a natural habitat. If your set-up is such that the substrate is reasonably warm already, then underground heating is not a big deal.

If your substrate is clammy, cool, etc., then there is a real value in GENTLE WARMTH that warms the substrate to a more natural level. Underground heating can also help with humidity, as you already know.

I would not argue that it is better or anything, just that it is another tool we can use to help.

 

[Tom]

I use the overhead bulbs onto a flat rock or piece of slate for babies and juveniles and Kane heat mats for adults housed outside.

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

I like the idea of a slate or concrete slab with the CHE pointing right at it...heat from above and below!

Pretty much my method, too.

 

[kelarned]

Thanks to all. I am in the process of designing a tort table and every little thing helps. I am trying to incorporate many different ideas I have seen into one good table. I like building things, so this is a fun little task for me.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I was taught years ago that a heat mat (pig blanket) wasn't good for growing babies because it deforms the plastron. I am not sure how true it is, my Vet told me that. I don't want to try to prove if it's true or not. I also believe what Yvonne says about babies not being mature enough to know when or how to get off the heat. If you notice, to keep themselves at the right temperature they move in and out of the heat as they bask. Thermoregulate. So if the baby is not mature enough to move when he gets too hot he could be in trouble. So IMO it's better to heat them from above just like the sun does in the real natural world...

 

[allegraf]

I have heat coils on the bottom of my baby tubs. Since the cypress is throughout, the babies simply keep walking to get cooler. They are all over each side (warm/cool) throughout the day and appear to thermoregulate just fine. So long as the heat source is not too hot or too big, I prefer bottom heating. It works for me. This is only for the hatchlings, my adults are outside almost all year round.

Allegra

 

[Madkins007]

Thanks to all. I am in the process of designing a tort table and every little thing helps. I am trying to incorporate many different ideas I have seen into one good table. I like building things, so this is a fun little task for me.

What part of the country are you in? I find that a lot of your heating and humidity choices are partially driven by the sort of indoor climate you can expect.