Sulcata's first winter outside- Mesa, AZ- help with heat

noraboe

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mesa, az
Hi all,

My 4-year-old Franklin has been living outside since May of this year. He handled the cool early summer okay, but since we're already getting into the 60s at night I thought I should set up some sort of heat for the winter months. I was thinking of a CHE but I'm not sure how I would mount it. I'll attach a picture of his box (he lives on our ground level condo patio). He sleeps in the covered portion of the box inside a hollowed out log half. He gets let out during the day or when I get home from work. He's not big enough yet for me to want to get another shelter just yet, so any ideas on how to safely provide some heat in the wood box would be much appreciated!

Thanks! Nora

IMG_2289.JPG IMG_2314.JPG
 

Maro2Bear

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Yikes! A four year old that is still small enough to live in that enclosure.?

@Tom has lots of great info regarding outdoor “Night Boxes” for Sulcatas, but i think you need more help with regard to your Sully. Should be on the order of 40 pounds with lots of space to roam.

Have you read the Sulcata care sheet, lots of great info.


You should probably be looking to build a nice heated night box, with a Kane heat mat on bottom and a Radiant Heat Panel above. CHE’s concentrate too much heat in one location and have been known to burn the carapace in torts that sit there to keep warm n don’t move.

I’m hoping @Tom will provide additional info for your help!

Good luck
 

noraboe

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mesa, az
He/she is small but has grown tremendously since being moved outside. I don't think growth is an issue anymore honestly.

I can always convert the entire box into a more enclosed night box, by removing the center divider & closing up the top screen. I just need to figure out how to provide some heat
 

Blackdog1714

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Reptile Basics Radiant Heat Panel, 40 watt
31F2lm0NaxL.jpg

Kapidolo Farms has a special on them now with a free bag of dried flowers. Add a digital temperature controler to put in a Night Box. That cage is not gonna work
 

noraboe

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Can someone tell me why the box won't work? I live in Mesa, AZ & it doesn't get that cold here, I'm sure I can insulate it some way if that's the issue. Is there a reason I can't put the radiant heat panel above on the wire portion of the cage & cover the screen?
 

Yvonne G

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He/she is small but has grown tremendously since being moved outside. I don't think growth is an issue anymore honestly.

I can always convert the entire box into a more enclosed night box, by removing the center divider & closing up the top screen. I just need to figure out how to provide some heat
No, don't waste your time. If I'm remembering correctly, the Zoo Med Tortoise House is 4' long. That's just not big enough for your tortoise. There's not enough room for him to get away from whatever heat source you decide to use, and it's not tall enough either. You need something more "dog house" shaped.
 

Maro2Bear

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Since you asked, I think it is just way too small for your Sully, especially given its age. A four year old Sulcata should be much larger, have a nice heated night box to retreat to at night, AND a nice place to wander about during the day. Right now, it looks like you only have that very small enclosure for day and night.

Is your enclosure only for night? Or full time?

For example, @Tom ’s “night boxes” (just for sleeping) are four feet by eight feet (give or take a few inches). That’s just to sleep in and stay warm at night. During the warmer day time, the door is open with much more space and area to walk about.

You COULD place a RHP on your enclosure (connected to a thermostat), but thats really not optimal.

RHP - https://www.reptilebasics.com/radiant-faq
THERMOSTAT - http://www.lllreptile.com/products/13883-zilla-1000-watt-temperature-controller

Sulcata Care Guide - https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/

Hope this info helps

.
 

noraboe

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He gets let out during the day to run around. After he eats, he goes back into his covered hide area, voluntarily. Space is not an issue right now with his current set up. I am unable to make a 4x8 enclosure for him on my patio, I simply don't have the room to dedicate solely to a night house. Once he gets larger (next winter even) I will dedicate a night house for him like a doghouse & hopefully I will be moving into a house with a yard before he gets too large (obviously I know he will eventually need more space & I have plans for if he outgrows the patio too fast).

I will monitor the temperature inside his hide area this week to see how low it is getting at night & look into some options for insulating & heating.

Advice from any AZ dwellers would be appreciated.
 

Tom

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He gets let out during the day to run around. After he eats, he goes back into his covered hide area, voluntarily. Space is not an issue right now with his current set up. I am unable to make a 4x8 enclosure for him on my patio, I simply don't have the room to dedicate solely to a night house. Once he gets larger (next winter even) I will dedicate a night house for him like a doghouse & hopefully I will be moving into a house with a yard before he gets too large (obviously I know he will eventually need more space & I have plans for if he outgrows the patio too fast).

I will monitor the temperature inside his hide area this week to see how low it is getting at night & look into some options for insulating & heating.

Advice from any AZ dwellers would be appreciated.
Your current housing is not a good way to go and its much too small. Even with insulation you will not be able to keep it warm enough on those occasional cold spells where temps drop in the the 30s there. A 4x4' night box will be plenty big enough for a single sulcata and last him for years. You can take it with you when you move, and in the meantime, your tortoise will have a warm enough place to spend the winters. The pictures in my thread showing all of this got deleted because tinypic.com went out of business and shut down, but here is another larger example. Just go half this size: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/double-door-night-box.129054/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/h...g-of-toms-night-box-with-exploded-view.97697/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/what-youll-need-to-build-a-night-box.171435/

Dog houses and Dogloo type structures simply don't work for tortoises. They are designed for dogs. I've tried all sorts of shortcuts and strategies over the years, and none of them work. My climate here is very similar to yours. High desert. 100+ all summer. Low 30s at night during winter cold spells. These boxes work well for our type of climate.
 
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