Tortoise Barn Heating

[solstitialis]

I got a sulcata tortoise a few months ago and I just recently got a stanfield heat mat to heat his rubbermaid storage shed. I plugged it in last night and the pad stayed fairly warm, but is underbelly heat sufficient? How to you keep track of the temperature? I was using a thermometer with a min/max feature, but with a heat pad that doesn't really work since the heat doesn't radiate away from it.

Also, I have read you should not use any bedding with a heat pad. Is this correct? Will my sulcata be ok without bedding or will he feel like he's missing something? He doesn't usually hide in his hay or anything.

 

[Yvonne G]

Did you buy the controller with the pad? It works best if you have the F911 controller. That way you can dial it up hotter or down cooler. I also have a light fixture hanging from above containing a black light. Between the two, the pad and the light, the inside of my tortoises' houses stays warm and toasty even on the coldest nights.

 

[Laura]

Correct, do not use hay on top of. The shed itself should give your tor the feel of a burrow.. they still try to dig tho.
Thermostat is a must.
I had a thermometer gauge thing we got at Frys. The sensor could be put in the tort shed and the read out you could place somewhere you could see it. it worked great at first.. but we didnt have it set up very well. runs on batteries..

 

[Yvonne G]

I forgot to talk about the bedding. The pig blanket is supposed to stay clear of debris (or substrate). If you want to have substrate in the shed, you'll have to keep checking to be sure the pad stays clear. However, Dudley's pad (100lb tortoise) is usually totally covered by Dudley and I don't see the difference between being completely covered by a tortoise or having a bit of substrate on it. I have all my pig blankets mounted on 2x4's. There are holes along the edges for you to do this. That raises them up about an inch and a half from the floor, so if you DO use substrate it pretty much stays off the pad. Adding substrate to the shed helps to absorb the pee, and they DO pee a lot in their shed.

 

[Tom]

Where do you live and how cold does it get? I'm in Southern CA and for many years mine have lived outside with just heat mats in a shed, but just recently I built a new giant insulated tortoise box for them and I'm heating it with an oil heater on a thermostat. They survived the previous years, but I think the new system will be better for them.

 

[Missy]

Where do you live and how cold does it get? I'm in Southern CA and for many years mine have lived outside with just heat mats in a shed, but just recently I built a new giant insulated tortoise box for them and I'm heating it with an oil heater on a thermostat. They survived the previous years, but I think the new system will be better for them.

Tom, did you post pics of the barn and I missed it?