How cold before they need heat

[Minos90]

How cold does the temperature have to be before I need to turn a heat lamp on, on my 3 year old Sulcata
? Also outside my large 120lb male used to sleep on a cave with his previous owners and he never had heat. But at My place there is no underground cave. Anywhere I can get a heat mat for cheap?

 

[sibi]

Sulcatas are exotic animals that are native to north Africa. As such, they are most comfortable at 80+ degrees with high humidity. In the wild, they burrow and somehow keep warm and humid, BUT, where temps go below 70 degrees F, or in some places, get to the freezing point, they cannot stay warm in the burrow they dig. They can freeze to death! For that reason, here in the states, people who own sulcatas, construct an insulated box or shed-like structure, have it insulated and use heat lamps and heat blankets. You'll need a temp gun to register the temps in that enclosure, and check the temps in every corner and heat source. You don't want it so hot that it dries out your tort or burn its shell. You'll need to use some method to great humidity in the enclosure as well. Winters are not pleasant times for these creatures. If temps are around the thirties for a few months during the winter, the tort will hunker down and become less active. So long as you provide a warm, humid enclosure, all will be well. The big guy that lived in a cave (burrow), will create another with a little help from you. Btw, where do you live? So much of this issue depends on where you live. As far as a cheap heat mat or blanket, you can try looking on ebay, or ask here on the forum. Maybe someone has one to spare or sell.

 

[Tom]

Is your 3 year old indoors or out? I generally keep sulcatas around 80 at night.

You can get Kane heat mats from Tyler at http://www.tortoisesupply.com/kane

I use the 18x27" ones.

Kane mats are made with double safeties built in. You don't want to take a chance with burning your tortoise with a cheaper mat that does not have these integral safeties built in.

The heat mat alone will probably not be enough to keep him warm enough on our cold winter nights when temps drop into the 30's. You need and insulated night box and I use an over head radiant heat panel too.

I also tried to do it cheaper and easier and I had to learn what works and what doesn't work the hard way. I present this info so that your tortoises don't have to suffer as mine did while I learned all of this. Here are two ways to do it right and keep your tortoises healthy through winter:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/another-night-box-thread.88966/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/double-door-night-box.129054/

Once temps start getting into the 90s every day, like June through October, I just unplug all the boxes.

 

[Minos90]

Yeha I have a small barn that's as made for 3 dogs for him. I out topsoil with Coco coir and it Stays nice and moist. Just wondering if a heat mat is better or a ceramic heat emitter and how many? I'm in southern California

 

[Tom]

Yeha I have a small barn that's as made for 3 dogs for him. I out topsoil with Coco coir and it Stays nice and moist. Just wondering if a heat mat is better or a ceramic heat emitter and how many? I'm in southern California

Heat mat and RHP is the best method I've found, but neither will work in a large space that is not insulted well enough to hold in heat. Dogs generate their own heat and can tolerate low temps. Your sulcata needs much warmer air temps than that.

CHEs are not good to use on larger tortoises because they concentrate too much heat in one small area and at the same time, they don't warm the surrounding area enough. This concentrated heat "slow burns" their carapace over time. They desiccate the scutes and this damages them.

 

[sibi]

Can you build an enclosure in the barn? Tom has threads that show how he built his. You need to check it out. This will definitely solve the problem of losing heat because the barn isn't insulated. Your 120 lbs. tort could live very comfortable in a structure of say, 8' x 10' so long as you can insulate the floors, walls, and ceiling, place heat panels, and put a heat blanket in it. Be sure to add pails of water so that the air doesn't dry out. I use a humidifier, although Tom doesn't recommend it. It works for my tortoises in the insulted shed I built for them. Maybe, this will just have to be something you need to work out for yourself and that works for you. Remember, humidity levels in an enclosure should be about 70-80% especially during dry winter days.