Help building outdoor winter box without power

erdavis

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Hey guys, long time no post!

My boyfriend and I recently moved across town to a much smaller property. We felt it was best for our 8 year old Sulcata to stay put at my sisters house until we find a more permanent place of living. At my sisters house he is free to roam in a small pasture but I am worried about him this winter. We live in NorthCentral Florida so it doesn’t freeze too often. The pst 3 years he’s been there I had a CHE heated box that I would lock him in every night however he has since grown too big for this and I’m no longer there to lock him up. Another issue I am having is that my sister has become very concerned with running electrical cords out to his pasture and so I no longer have a way to power it. The house probably sits in the middle of 6.5 acres and the pasture is all the way at the other end of the property. I have thought about making a new box situated closer to the house that she could carry him up in and lock him in at night but I don’t think I can rely on her doing this as once he settles for the night he is very difficult to get out, I need a box that he can go in on his own. He currently has a man made burrow underground but it still gets pretty cold in there. He also has made some “burrows” under a couple rocks and under a set of stairs but they are not deep at all so I imagine still cold. We have thought about if it would be best to rehome him but, besides the winter night situation, I do not think we could find him a new home where he would be nearly as spoiled (he is VERY happy roaming around in his pasture full of grasses and weeds!) In August we will be doing a year of Travel nursing before buying some land, so he will stay put until late 2021/early 2022. My sister’s house is a rental but we’ve been there for 3 years and she has no plans on leaving soon. Any one have any ideas? I have seen a few old threads discussing solar panels but the decision at the time is that it would be too expensive. Has the cost come down at all?
 

mark1

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i believe reliably solar powered would still be pretty impractical …….. I heat a 3800 cu/ft kennel with a natural gas catalytic infrared heater , uses no electric , the heater I use does need an 8 foot ceiling ……… they do also run on propane , and have them that sit on the floor …….. mine has a pilot , I believe they do come with battery powered igniters …….. need to be properly engineered for safety of the tortoise , i'm sure it could be done , maybe heat a metal false back wall ……. might not be that expensive , but would be a ton of work and time , you'd need a well designed , well insulated shed , and a propane source……..…… easy solution , get a trencher , or hire someone to run an underground electric line/outlet out there ….. that shouldn't be too expensive, it's easy …….take someone a day......
 

Tom

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Your tortoise needs heat. No way around it. Down in those burrows in winter is likely to kill him or make him sick. There is just no way around it. If you can't provide him with this, it would be best to re-home him ASAP.

Solar won't work because you need a giant bank of batteries to store the power for night time, and what if it is cloudy for a few days? It would be easier to run power out there. You can rent a trencher for around $100 at Home Depot. Wire and conduit isn't too expensive. An electrician can do the wiring and make it safe for not too much money.

Also CHEs are not good for larger tortoises. It will slow burn the top of the carapace and not warm the core or bottom of the tortoise at all.
 

vladimir

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Can you build a new box closer to the house and provide it with heat? Tom's box design using a radiant heat panel and a Kane heat mat would probably work well to keep him warm in the winter.
 

wellington

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I would either still run a power cord out there and run it through pvc pipe just to keep it safe from weather, varmits, etc.
Build a house closer to your sisters house or rehome him.
They need heat and should be locked up at night.
 

Maro2Bear

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Agree with above info. Solar panels to power heating elements (even with a bank of batteries) is a non-starter. It takes a lot of stored energy to heat up RHPs or CHEs for any length of time.

Seems much better to build/move the night box close to power supply - get an electrician if you must & run a source to the box. It’s easy and should be relatively “cheap”. (Cheaper than one vet visit)

Last thing u want is a cold Sully digging into cold earth....with a few cold rains....and no way to warm up.

best of luck!
 
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