Need heip im a new be for keeping my boy torq safe through winter

[torq]

I have a 8ft by 12ft by 8 ft tall corrugated clear fiberglass green house the back walls have 3 inched of foam insulation on them.i live in northern AZ were It gets below freezing I'm wondering if I make a roof in side the green house at about 4 ft tall and insulation on top and ,some feed back from others in kinda the same climate areas can give me some feed back and ideas to keep my boy safe he's 87lbs and I truly care about him he giant horned leg or sulcata please .I'm all hears thank you

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Hello!
You will need some heating in his winter house (like oil radiant heater and Kane mat) to keep temperatures around 80F at night and warm him from above and from below. Perhaps building a smaller night box inside the greenhouse would work better than making a 4ft ceiling

Here is the thread, where heated night box is discussed with building instructions and proposed design: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/single-tortoise-night-box.181515/ I think you can find some ideas there.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

And that's some other threads on topic:
1. https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/planning-an-outdoor-winter-sulcata-shed.204226/
2. https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/andromeda-now-marco-the-aldabra-tortoise.187594/#post-1891737
These has some useful design insights and "daily progress" photos.

 

[Tom]

I have a 8ft by 12ft by 8 ft tall corrugated clear fiberglass green house the back walls have 3 inched of foam insulation on them.i live in northern AZ were It gets below freezing I'm wondering if I make a roof in side the green house at about 4 ft tall and insulation on top and ,some feed back from others in kinda the same climate areas can give me some feed back and ideas to keep my boy safe he's 87lbs and I truly care about him he giant horned leg or sulcata please .I'm all hears thank you

The green house are you describe is too large to heat efficiently and also too cavernous to make your sulcata feel secure. 8x12 could be a good living space for winter for a smaller tortoise like a Testudo species that you didn't want to brumate or a leopard tortoise, but the heated night box for a sulcata should somewhat simulate a burrow for them. Ultimately, only your thermometer can tell you if a given strategy is going to work. The temperature down on the floor where the sulcata is resting needs to be 80 or above all year. You will burn a lot of power trying to keep the floor warm in an 8x12x4 foot space.

I set the thermostat to 80 degrees in spring and fall when the days are warm and sunny. I set it to 86 in winter when things get colder outside. I encourage them to burrow when summer temps are near 100 every day.

In addition to the thread linked by Alex, here is another one that works with a safe and efficient heating strategy:

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

Also, check this out for more care info:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

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