belindajon
New Member
Freddie is my 5 year old, 20 pound-ish Sulcata.
In preparation for winter (we live in coastal Southern California) I purchased a Kane pig blanket as well as a Vivarium heat panel. Knowing how particular sulcatas are I placed the mat in his house so he could get used to the mat before he actually needed it. Well that was an epic fail. He walked into his house and promptly about faced and attempted to spend the night outside. I forced him to sleep in his house but didn't turn the mat on as it was still too hot (it was during our recent heat wave). When it did cool down I turned the pig blanket on but had issues with it overheating because as I mentioned, we had a heatwave and it was just too hot. I eventually pulled the mat out and he has gone back to putting himself to bed at night on his own.
I recently installed the Vivarium heat panel and that is keeping his house a very nice and toasty 82 degrees which he seems to love. My question is do I need to put the blanket down as we progress further into winter? Obviously our winters don't get terribly cold, but we do get damp. Does he need that warming on his belly or is the warmth from the top enough?
Thanks in advance!
Belinda and Freddie
In preparation for winter (we live in coastal Southern California) I purchased a Kane pig blanket as well as a Vivarium heat panel. Knowing how particular sulcatas are I placed the mat in his house so he could get used to the mat before he actually needed it. Well that was an epic fail. He walked into his house and promptly about faced and attempted to spend the night outside. I forced him to sleep in his house but didn't turn the mat on as it was still too hot (it was during our recent heat wave). When it did cool down I turned the pig blanket on but had issues with it overheating because as I mentioned, we had a heatwave and it was just too hot. I eventually pulled the mat out and he has gone back to putting himself to bed at night on his own.
I recently installed the Vivarium heat panel and that is keeping his house a very nice and toasty 82 degrees which he seems to love. My question is do I need to put the blanket down as we progress further into winter? Obviously our winters don't get terribly cold, but we do get damp. Does he need that warming on his belly or is the warmth from the top enough?
Thanks in advance!
Belinda and Freddie