Heating help

[Ruchonnet]

So winter is coming around and it's gets down past freezing at night in the winter. Last winter we had a heating pad that was for reptiles, (you know the kind you stick to the underside of the cage?) and a heat lamp always going, since he had a plexiglas bottom. Now he doesn't have a plexiglas bottom for his cage but I think he needs extra heat soon. So should I add plexiglas to the bottom of his current home? I'm worried about a fire... Or I was considering getting him a zoo med rock heater. Does anyone have a good experience with this type of heating?

 

[JoesMum]

You shouldn't need underfloor heating. Heat mats are not recommended for torts usually. A Ceramic Heater is good for after dark as it doesn't emit light.

 

[Ruchonnet]

You shouldn't need underfloor heating. Heat mats are not recommended for torts usually. A Ceramic Heater is good for after dark as it doesn't emit light.

Oh okay. I'm just worried that alone won't be enough at night time.

 

[JoesMum]

It depends where you keep him... if he's in your house, it's unlikely he'll have a problem. Joe had his first winter awake last year. Joe tended to sleep under it or near it depending on how warm he was.

We also used a thermostatically controlled electric radiator in the room to ensure the room temperature didn't drop too low.

 

[wellington]

Those rock heaters are bad. Shouldn't even be on the market. They have been known to burn many animals. The ceramic heat emitters are the best thing for heating a smaller indoor area. That is what most of us use.

 

[esiotrot]

Sorry to butt in, but what do you mean by ceramic heater?

 

[JoesMum]

One of these

It needs to be hung above the enclosure in a cage fitting like this (This one is a clamp lamp, but it can be adapted to hang... the clamps are not very secure.)

They come in a variety of wattages like lightbulbs. 150W might be too hot for your needs!

 

[Ruchonnet]

Yea he will be kept indoors. And I do watch to make sure it's warm enough at all times

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Those rock heaters are bad. Shouldn't even be on the market. They have been known to burn many animals. The ceramic heat emitters are the best thing for heating a smaller indoor area. That is what most of us use.

Okay they sounded a little fishy but I've heard a lot of good things about zoomeds products so I just thought I'd ask. But I definitely won't get one now!!

 

[jensgotfaith]

Hi Ruchonnet- I'm Jenni and live near Sacramento- how big is your sullie and will he be outside or inside? My big guy is 80 lbs and lives outaide year round. We took a Little Tykes log cabin playhouse and retrofitted it to be water tight and fully insulated. He has a Kane heat mat that is large enough for him to get warm but still allows enough room for him to be completely off of it as well as a hanging ceramic heat emitter. We have both of these connected to a thermastat that keeps him warm even in the bitter cold. We also have an 8 lbs Sulcata that we're thinking will winter inside for one more year with a MVB bulb for heat- for inside that's plenty warm enough. We also have a little one that's maybe a pound that also just has the MVB bulb and stays plenty warm enough. I hope this helps.

 

[Ruchonnet]

I'm not sure exactly how much he weighs but he's just a little guy, only a year and about the size of my hand. I live over in Manteca. If you say yours is warm enough with the CHE ill take your word for it and if he gets too cold I'll put his heat mat under somewhere. His enclosure is pretty large so I could put it somewhere and still have plenty of room to roam around off of it.

 

[jensgotfaith]

So am I correct in that your little one is outside right now? If so, if he was mine, I would bring him in for the winter. In my opinion, that small is too little to be outside in the winter. I would worry about him getting not only cold, but cold and wet. My little one is just a bit bigger than my palm and she'll spend time outside during the day, but I still bring her in at night time. Maybe I'm being a bit of an overprotective mom, but I just want her to be safe. This summer was the first time my middle guy has been outside full-time. I'm still on the fence about him being outside full-time during the winter. Just remember if you keep him inside, you need a MVB- Mercury Vapor Bulb, not a CHE. A CHE is fantastic for heat, but does not provide any UV rays at all.

 

[Ruchonnet]

So am I correct in that your little one is outside right now? If so, if he was mine, I would bring him in for the winter. In my opinion, that small is too little to be outside in the winter. I would worry about him getting not only cold, but cold and wet. My little one is just a bit bigger than my palm and she'll spend time outside during the day, but I still bring her in at night time. Maybe I'm being a bit of an overprotective mom, but I just want her to be safe. This summer was the first time my middle guy has been outside full-time. I'm still on the fence about him being outside full-time during the winter. Just remember if you keep him inside, you need a MVB- Mercury Vapor Bulb, not a CHE. A CHE is fantastic for heat, but does not provide any UV rays at all.

Oh no! He's inside, he goes outside during the day. I'm just worried that our house wont be warm enough inside for him. He has an MVB bulb and I will be getting a CHE as well. Right now I don't think he even needs the UV from the bulb since he gets sun everyday but come winter he will! And dont worry, I'm an over protective mom too!

 

[jensgotfaith]

You're probably right about him getting enough sun everyday especially if he's outside for at least a couple of hours each day. Inside if you can lower your MVB bulb like hanging it on a stand- I think ours is made by ZooMed, you can effectively regulate the heat on the top of your tortoise. At nighttime our house will get to about 64 at the coolest and I think that's ok for my little one. In the beginning I ran a CHE just to be sure t night time, but then I worried that there wasn't enough of a cooling during the night.

Well, you're definitely in the right place for answers to questions. I have been pretty quiet on here for a while and I see a lot of new members- which is exciting! Sulcatas are such a joy. They can be pains in the you-know-what, but in my experience, the good times far out weigh the frustrating ones.

 

[Ruchonnet]

You're probably right about him getting enough sun everyday especially if he's outside for at least a couple of hours each day. Inside if you can lower your MVB bulb like hanging it on a stand- I think ours is made by ZooMed, you can effectively regulate the heat on the top of your tortoise. At nighttime our house will get to about 64 at the coolest and I think that's ok for my little one. In the beginning I ran a CHE just to be sure t night time, but then I worried that there wasn't enough of a cooling during the night.

Well, you're definitely in the right place for answers to questions. I have been pretty quiet on here for a while and I see a lot of new members- which is exciting! Sulcatas are such a joy. They can be pains in the you-know-what, but in my experience, the good times far out weigh the frustrating ones.

Yea it's difficult since ive only ever had a giant full grown one and now I have a baby and I don't want to screw it up! And I think our house gets about that inside in the winter. What do you mean by cooling during the night?

 

[Tom]

My general indoor strategy is to have a basking bulb on a 12 hour timer. This gives them a hot spot to warm up under all day, as they would use the sun outside. I adjust the height of the bulb to get my basking temps where I want them. At the same time I run one or two CHEs on a thermostat. These are "on" all the time, but the thermostat turns them on and off as needed to maintain the background ambient temp that I set them at. This system should work anywhere. In a really cold area, like my garage, you might have to use higher wattage CHEs. I usually use a 60 watt. In my garage that gets into the low 50's, I switched to 100 watt ones for the winter. This should work in any normal house. I'm able to maintain an ambient of 80 with no problem in a garage with a temp of 53. In a normal house you should have no problem maintaining whatever temp you want.

 

[Ruchonnet]

My general indoor strategy is to have a basking bulb on a 12 hour timer. This gives them a hot spot to warm up under all day, as they would use the sun outside. I adjust the height of the bulb to get my basking temps where I want them. At the same time I run one or two CHEs on a thermostat. These are "on" all the time, but the thermostat turns them on and off as needed to maintain the background ambient temp that I set them at. This system should work anywhere. In a really cold area, like my garage, you might have to use higher wattage CHEs. I usually use a 60 watt. In my garage that gets into the low 50's, I switched to 100 watt ones for the winter. This should work in any normal house. I'm able to maintain an ambient of 80 with no problem in a garage with a temp of 53. In a normal house you should have no problem maintaining whatever temp you want.

Okay that's helpful. I'll probably just get a 100 watt on case it gets really cold and adjust it depending on what it needs to be at!