New Sulcata owner with warning

[Arrrr Enn]

Hi everyone! I've been lurking on the site for awhile, and it's been a great resource for information on how best to care for my Sulcata. Thanks to all that contribute! I recently adopted/rescued a 10 year old male Sulcata, and we've named him Oogway.

I had a custom tortoise night box built for him based roughly on Tom's design. The house is 6'x4'x3'6" and has a sloped and hinged roof that is shingled. The bottom is pressure treated wood with a layer of plywood on top, then 2" of foam block insulation and another layer of plywood. The walls and roof are plywood layers with the same foam block insulation. I placed 3/4" rubber horse mat on the floor. I installed a 36"x27" Kane heat mat, and a Wi-Fi thermometer/hygrometer to keep tabs on temp and humidity. Through the cold and rain and hail and outdoor temps in the lower 40's the enclosure stayed around 80 degrees ambient temp just from the Kane heat mat.

I built an enclosure that is 18'x24' made of cinderblock stacked three high. I got a 26" plastic water heater pan to use as a water bowl he can drink and soak in. I've been feeding him Bermuda grass, and giving him fresh greens like organic mustard greens, dandelions, and red leaf lettuce. He was grumpy the first few weeks but he has warmed up to me and likes when I hand feed him and pet his shell.

I ran into a nearly catastrophic issue that I wanted to warn about. I had put in a decent amount of Bermuda grass in the night box for Oogway to munch on. Today he was out and around in the enclosure and my daughter smelled smoke. We went outside and smoke was billowing out of his night box. Apparently he had pushed the Bermuda Grass onto the Kane heat mat, and it started to smolder. The heat mat is destroyed. Luckily there was not a fire. I removed the heat mat and all the Bermuda grass from his night box. If this had happened in the middle of the night it would've been likely we would have woken to a cooked tortoise since we keep the night box door closed with the low temperatures at night.. I'm horrified at that possibility! I'm so grateful it happened during the day and we were around to catch it quickly.

I made this post as a warning. If you buy a Kane heat mat and mount it to the floor, please do not put anything close by that could end up on top of the heat mat! I will try to attach photos of the enclosure, Oogway, and the damaged heat mat.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Hi everyone! I've been lurking on the site for awhile, and it's been a great resource for information on how best to care for my Sulcata. Thanks to all that contribute! I recently adopted/rescued a 10 year old male Sulcata, and we've named him Oogway.

I had a custom tortoise night box built for him based roughly on Tom's design. The house is 6'x4'x3'6" and has a sloped and hinged roof that is shingled. The bottom is pressure treated wood with a layer of plywood on top, then 2" of foam block insulation and another layer of plywood. The walls and roof are plywood layers with the same foam block insulation. I placed 3/4" rubber horse mat on the floor. I installed a 36"x27" Kane heat mat, and a Wi-Fi thermometer/hygrometer to keep tabs on temp and humidity. Through the cold and rain and hail and outdoor temps in the lower 40's the enclosure stayed around 80 degrees ambient temp just from the Kane heat mat.

I built an enclosure that is 18'x24' made of cinderblock stacked three high. I got a 26" plastic water heater pan to use as a water bowl he can drink and soak in. I've been feeding him Bermuda grass, and giving him fresh greens like organic mustard greens, dandelions, and red leaf lettuce. He was grumpy the first few weeks but he has warmed up to me and likes when I hand feed him and pet his shell.

I ran into a nearly catastrophic issue that I wanted to warn about. I had put in a decent amount of Bermuda grass in the night box for Oogway to munch on. Today he was out and around in the enclosure and my daughter smelled smoke. We went outside and smoke was billowing out of his night box. Apparently he had pushed the Bermuda Grass onto the Kane heat mat, and it started to smolder. The heat mat is destroyed. Luckily there was not a fire. I removed the heat mat and all the Bermuda grass from his night box. If this had happened in the middle of the night it would've been likely we would have woken to a cooked tortoise since we keep the night box door closed with the low temperatures at night.. I'm horrified at that possibility! I'm so grateful it happened during the day and we were around to catch it quickly.

I made this post as a warning. If you buy a Kane heat mat and mount it to the floor, please do not put anything close by that could end up on top of the heat mat! I will try to attach photos of the enclosure, Oogway, and the damaged heat mat.

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I'm not sure how to use or where to install such a mat. I've never used them. They're unnecessary in south Florida.
That is a great warning, though. And I'm glad that your tort wasn't injured.

 

[wellington]

I am so very happy this all turned out okay. Wow, how awful it could have turned out. Yay to your daughters sense of smell.
Yes, we do tell people all the time on here to not put the mats under anything. With this thread, hopefully they see it, they will get a visual of why it's not to be done, even when not done on purpose.
Lots of people will mount them on the side and the ceiling if you want to do that. Otherwise go with just the space heater that Tom uses in those night boxes.
Beautiful sully with a great home

 

[TammyJ]

Lovely Sulcata. Lucky guy too. I don't see any shade in his enclosure?

 

[Arrrr Enn]

Lovely Sulcata. Lucky guy too. I don't see any shade in his enclosure?

I will definitely set up shade for him before summer. Right now its been between 40-60 degrees out.

I'm gonna give an oil filled space heater a try. I'll put some brick around it so that Oogway can't touch it or knock it over.

 

[Maro2Bear]

Glad all is ok. I have a question for you, were you using any kind of thermostat with your Kane heating pad? Either the controller that Kane sells or connected via another temp controller that regulates the heat?

Ive been using a Kane heat mat in our Sullys night box for many years. I keep the temp controller set to about 95 which regulates both the kane heat pad & two ceiling mounted radiant heat panels.

None of these devices is that hot that i can’t hold my hand on there. Both the mat & panels are warm to the touch. I’m positive i could put dry newspaper on the mat with no fire.

I’m just wondering if there was an issue how you are regulating the mat or an actual defect in the mat itself. Id contact Kane directly & ask some questions.

Glad that you didn't have any damage to house, ppl or tort!

Type of RHP I use on the ceiling of our Sullys house ➡️ https://www.reptilebasics.com/rbi-radiant-heat-panels

Type of thermostat ➡️ https://www.lllreptile.com/products/5680-zoo-med-rheostat-150-watts

 

[Arrrr Enn]

I was not using a rheostat or thermostat. I planned on getting a thermostat, but it has been so cold I figured 37 degrees above ambient temp is fine. I suppose it could've been a manufacturing defect, but the fact that the mat was covered in dry Bermuda grass and there are numerous warnings against putting anything on top of the mat made me feel it was the likely culprit. I'd love to get a reptile basics RHP, but they have been out of stock for months aside from the smallest sizes.

 

[Maro2Bear]

Ran out of “edit time” but wanted to add this Kane heat mat rheostat controller too.

Kane heat mat rheostat for sale

1

www.lllreptile.com

 

[Maro2Bear]

I was not using a rheostat or thermostat. I planned on getting a thermostat, but it has been so cold I figured 37 degrees above ambient temp is fine. I suppose it could've been a manufacturing defect, but the fact that the mat was covered in dry Bermuda grass and there are numerous warnings against putting anything on top of the mat made me feel it was the likely culprit. I'd love to get a reptile basics RHP, but they have been out of stock for months aside from the smallest sizes.

Check with @Kapidolo Farms he seems to usually have a supply available.

Shop | Tortoise for Sale in CA

Kapidolo Farms also carries a wide range of tortoise products, including food, supplies, and accessories. Kapidolo Farms ships across the United States

www.kapidolofarms.com

 

[Arrrr Enn]

Check with @Kapidolo Farms he seems to usually have a supply available.

Shop | Tortoise for Sale in CA

Kapidolo Farms also carries a wide range of tortoise products, including food, supplies, and accessories. Kapidolo Farms ships across the United States

www.kapidolofarms.com

Thanks, I emailed him and wait for his response. In the meantime I've installed an oil filled radiant heater with some bricks around it. I don't feel very confident about Kane heaters now and I'm reconsidering using one in the future. I have the door opened and roof cracked open as I'm trying to air out the night box because it smells smoky.

 

[wellington]

Thanks, I emailed him and wait for his response. In the meantime I've installed an oil filled radiant heater with some bricks around it. I don't feel very confident about Kane heaters now and I'm reconsidering using one in the future. I have the door opened and roof cracked open as I'm trying to air out the night box because it smells smoky.

At least the oil filled shuts off when tipped over, at least mine does.
Totally understand you not wanting to use another Kane.
Really appreciate you sharing this though. Will help so many others who insist on placing heat mats under stuff.

 

[Arrrr Enn]

I didn't intend for anything to be on top of the Kane mat. The Kane mat was on the far left hand side of the night box and I had put Bermuda Grass on the right side. I guess Oogway moved some of the grass on top of the mat. D

 

[Maro2Bear]

I would still give Kane Co a call & explain what happened & how you had it connected. They might want to check it out (regardless if there was some grass on top).

Any idea (from your daily checks) how much grass was on top, or how many inches of grass got moved there? Did your mat ever feel really hot?

Just based on my experience with using one & having many inches of cypress mulch on top the mat never feels hot enough to catch grass on fire..

Anyhow, good luck.

 

[Arrrr Enn]

I would still give Kane Co a call & explain what happened & how you had it connected. They might want to check it out (regardless if there was some grass on top).

Any idea (from your daily checks) how much grass was on top, or how many inches of grass got moved there? Did your mat ever feel really hot?

Just based on my experience with using one & having many inches of cypress mulch on top the mat never feels hot enough to catch grass on fire..

Anyhow, good luck.

There was a couple of inches of grass on top when it was smoldering. I bought the mat through Amazon, and they promptly refunded me. The mat never felt really hot.

 

[Len B]

I'm glad that no one was injured and no actual fire was started. You need to use some type of temperature controller when using a heat mat with reptiles. First question is was the heat mat setting directly on the 3/4 inch horse mat? If so without a temperature control that's probably what started the problem. You stated that the house was holding a temperature of 80 degrees which means the mat could be running around 115 degrees without the controller. When your tortoise is setting on the mat the temperature directly under the tortoise will be even higher. Have you flipped him over to check his feet and the bottom of his shell?

 

[jaizei]

Was the grass green when you put it in there? How long was it in there?

 

[Tom]

This used to happen once in a great while more than a decade ago. Craig Kane started imbedding automatic redundant thermostats into the mats to prevent this from happening, no matter what the end user did or didn't do. I wonder what went wrong in your case, and I'm 100% sure Craig will want to know too. He's a good guy and cares very much about his customers, his reputation, and the quality of his products. It would appear that the fail-safe thermostat failed. Please give him a call to discuss.

I've been using these mats for decades and I have never had any problem with any of them. I have a half dozen of them running right now in my outdoor boxes and all of them have been in use for years. All are controlled by a thermostat, and I use loose dry dirt as bedding in those boxes.

Please stick around and keep us posted about this issue. We can all learn from whatever you find out. Thank you for posting this for us.

Radiant oil heaters work, but you'll need something more sturdy than bricks. Build a 16-18 inch wall around it with 2x4s and plywood. I like to drill bunch of holes in the wall, but that probably isn't "necessary". You also need a reptile thermostat to run it. The built in thermostats do not hold a steady temp for this application. I got 15-25 degree swings when I tried it without a separate thermostat. Also figure out a way to attach the heater to the floor inside the protective wall. For some models I simply drill through the plastic feet and screw it down. For other types that don't have the wide plastic feet, I use metal sash chain over the lower part of the heater with a screw on each side.

 

[Fire_bug80]

I'm glad that no one was injured and no actual fire was started. You need to use some type of temperature controller when using a heat mat with reptiles. First question is was the heat mat setting directly on the 3/4 inch horse mat? If so without a temperature control that's probably what started the problem. You stated that the house was holding a temperature of 80 degrees which means the mat could be running around 115 degrees without the controller. When your tortoise is setting on the mat the temperature directly under the tortoise will be even higher. Have you flipped him over to check his feet and the bottom of his shell?

That’s what I’m thinking. If it’s that hot to set grass on fire. Jeez. His poor feet!!!

 

[Sarah2020]

Glad major incident re the mat. The enclosure looks big and great but needs water pool, trees snd low shrubs for shade.

 

[Cathie G]

I've seen hay simultaneously catch on fire after getting wet then warm. In my case the sun helped a pile of hay catch on fire. High humidity could make the hay wet also. Maybe that's part of the issue. Id be interested to know what actually caused it.🤗