Need Heating Assistance

[koehle29]

Hi,

I was just inherited my late brother’s African tortoise. He is really just a baby but so cute! My brother’s tortoise (Tommy) lived in sunny Ft. Lauderdale and now we are in cold PA. Should I use more than one heat lamp? I feel like the temporary enclosure that I have him in isn’t hot enough. Any thoughts and suggestions are greatly appreciated!

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome to Tortoise Forum.

Here is the care info for your tortoise. Read these and then come back with all your questions for us:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

 

[TechnoCheese]

Welcome to the forum!
And I agree, definitely give those a read and make changes to your care.

 

[wellington]

Sorry to hear about your brother.
The links Tom gave you to read should help you a lot. Your tortoise already has a lot of pyramiding going on, so the quicker you get him in a warm humid closed chamber the better.

 

[koehle29]

Thank you for all the info. I’m having a tortoise table built for Tommy. How should I have it “closed”? Is it ok to spray the repti bark with a water bottle to give it the humidity it needs?

 

[TechnoCheese]

Thank you for all the info. I’m having a tortoise table built for Tommy. How should I have it “closed”? Is it ok to spray the repti bark with a water bottle to give it the humidity it needs?

I would pour an entire bucket of water on it. But there is no way to hold humidity without a closed chamber. Make a tent-like frame out of any material(pvc pipes, wood, wire, etc.) and cover it with a heavy duty or medium duty shower curtain so that it goes over the lighting and encloses the entire enclosure with very few to no holes.
Here’s mine as an example. You can also look at temporary green houses like this one-https://www.homedepot.com/p/NuVue-22-in-Greenhouse-Pop-Open-Framed-Clear-PVC-Cover-24040/205349034?cm_mmc=Shopping%7CTHD%7Cgoogle%7C&mid=sTCvq6zWf%7Cdt_mtid_8903jx325196_pcrid_246400419766_pkw__pmt__product_205349034_slid_&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqYfWBRDPARIsABjQRYwj2vUoLTuEfCxzZcFkO84WtOcP5KmOgpkjOO4QsviPmQpy96S0Vp4aAjsgEALw_wcB&dclid=CLfc4Ya-nNoCFdUjgQodxIMAqg
And use it as an idea for how to build it.

 

[Tom]

Thank you for all the info. I’m having a tortoise table built for Tommy. How should I have it “closed”? Is it ok to spray the repti bark with a water bottle to give it the humidity it needs?

Rather than build a table and trying in vain to close it in, better to buy or build a closed chamber. This will make your life much easier, and the tortoises life much better.

Its fine to spray the bark, but it won't be very effective as it evaporates quickly leaving everything too dry and dusty again. Best to dump water in as needed like wage TechnoCheese described.

I buy my closed chambers here:
https://apcages.com/collections/terrestrial-cages

Here are examples of builds:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/closed-chambers.32333/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/our-new-closed-chamber-for-our-new-group-of-tortoises.138430/

 

[koehle29]

Thank you! You have been so helpful! As my tortoise gets older is the closed chamber still the most effective habitat? Or is it only when they are young?

 

[TechnoCheese]

Thank you! You have been so helpful! As my tortoise gets older is the closed chamber still the most effective habitat? Or is it only when they are young?

An 8x4 closed chamber will last him until he’s about 8-10 inches, and can go outside. Once he goes outside, you’ll have to build a heated night box and keep THAT humid with buckets of water and such

 

[Tom]

Thank you! You have been so helpful! As my tortoise gets older is the closed chamber still the most effective habitat? Or is it only when they are young?

I move them outside here in my warm climate once they reach 8-10inches. I use heated night boxes like this for night time and the odd cooler winter day: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/another-night-box-thread.88966/
Prior to that, they live primarily in their indoor closed chambers with daily excursions to the great outdoors in fair weather.

I don't know what you are going to do with an active, hungry, giant, tropical reptile in the frozen north during your long winters.

 

[koehle29]

Yes, that will certainly be the challenge but somehow I will make it work! Thank you for all your advice!

 

[vladimir]

Yes, that will certainly be the challenge but somehow I will make it work! Thank you for all your advice!

Hi @koehle29,

I'm also here in Pennsylvania. We adopted a 4lb sulcata last year, and he just recently broke the 15lb mark. Let us know if you have more questions [emoji846] you came to the right place

 

[koehle29]

Thank you for reaching out! This is reassuring! What kind of enclosure do you have your Sulcata in currently? And will you keep it outside in the summer?

 

[vladimir]

He's currently in a 300 gallon Rubbermaid stock tub from tractor supply. That was an upgrade from a 110 gallon stock tub 4-5 months earlier. Before that, he was in a 50 gallon plastic storage tote as a temporary measure right after we adopted him.

I'm currently in the process of building a 8x16 indoor enclosure (a really huge tortoise table) with a night box in preparation for next winter, so he has enough room indoors. It's been so darn cold lately, but last year we used to take him out for supervised grazing sessions in the yard for hours at a time. I've always brought him back in though, so he hasn't stayed outside at all yet.

 

[koehle29]

Thank you for your suggestions. If I have any questions is it ok to ask you? I may need more advice come next winter!

 

[vladimir]

Thank you for your suggestions. If I have any questions is it ok to ask you? I may need more advice come next winter!

Certainly! Most people here know more than I do, but I can certainly share my experiences and input. Can you give us a detailed description of your setup? Any pictures showing the entire enclosure?

What size tortoise table had you planned on building?

Edit: If you don't already have one, you're going to want to get an infrared temperature gun like this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0759DD7PF/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

It will be essential in maintaining proper temperatures.

 

[Yvonne G]

Aw geez, so sorry about your brother. Please accept my most sincere condolences.

But, on a happier note, Welcome to the Forum!

 

[vladimir]

Aw geez, so sorry about your brother. Please accept my most sincere condolences.

But, on a happier note, Welcome to the Forum!

Yes, I meant to offer my condolences as well. I think it's great that you are able to adopt his tortoise though

Back to your original question - you may want to look into a radiant heat panel ( http://www.reptilebasics.com/rbi-radiant-heat-panels ) as you will most likely need to get one eventually once the tortoise starts getting larger. However the RHP will work best in a closed chamber - it wasn't as effective for me when I did not have the enclosure covered as I would have expected.

 

[koehle29]

Thank you so much! I am having an enclosure built from a table that I already had. I was going to have a open table built but from what everyone told me through here an open table isn’t good. This is a pic of the table below. It’s approximately 4x2 in width and length. Do you other suggestions for an enclosure? Do you think this will be good for now? Is yours an open table or enclosed?

 

[koehle29]

Is the radiant heat panel something they lay on? I just got a che bulb that is doing the trick keeping his temporary housing warm enough.