Large habitat

[Heepman]

I have a 7 year old red foot named Jay. Moved him outside last year. I live in north Florida. It gets very hot and too cold for him. I constructed a house with heat in the winter and shade for summer.
Size is 12’ x 4’. Ceramic heaters have a thermostat to keep it above 82°.

 

[Tom]

I have a 7 year old red foot named Jay. Moved him outside last year. I live in north Florida. It gets very hot and too cold for him. I constructed a house with heat in the winter and shade for summer.
Size is 12’ x 4’. Ceramic heaters have a thermostat to keep it above 82°.

Those wires need to be policed up and contained where the tortoise can't reach them and get tangled up, or bite one.

The plastic bakelite fixture isn't suitable even for incandescent basking bulbs, so certainly not safe with a CHE in it. That should be replaced with a ceramic based fixture ASAP.

CHEs run very hot. I would not be comfortable having it mounted like that. Here are two better, safer, more effective ways to heat your tortoise:

Single Tortoise Night Box

I like my larger tortoises to live outside full time. My climate permits this year round with a little help. For people who live where it snows all winter, this type of box is still good for warmer weather, getting them out earlier in Spring, and keeping them out a bit later into fall. You'll...

tortoiseforum.org

Double Door Night Box

As the years have gone by and I build more of these boxes, I learn more and more each time. This one is the latest and I incorporated everything I've learned over the years. I also tried to take lots of pics so I can explain in more detail some of what is going on. It will take multiple posts to...

tortoiseforum.org

12x4 isn't terrible, but its really too small for an adult redfoot. You need something more like 20x20 or 30x30.

 

[wellington]

I agree, for an adult RF it's not the greatest size. A 4x8 is minimum for an adult Russian that gets no where near the size of a RF.
If you open the heated enclosure up to a fenced in area then he could use the heat or shade when needed.