How do I keep my tortoise during the winter?

[JaySparks]

I know it's a bit early but since I'm from the uk we probably have around 3 weeks of summer lol. I've already purchased a thermostat and a CHE. Will I need to keep the CHE 24/7 throughout winter? my house reaches the low 40s. Also how much will it cost to run all my lights including that being the MVB , UVB tube and the CHE.

 

[Tom]

I know it's a bit early but since I'm from the uk we probably have around 3 weeks of summer lol. I've already purchased a thermostat and a CHE. Will I need to keep the CHE 24/7 throughout winter? my house reaches the low 40s. Also how much will it cost to run all my lights including that being the MVB , UVB tube and the CHE.

FIrst you must decide if you want to hibernate your tortoise, or not.

If not, you are going to need to build a large enclosed chamber with insulation all around. With temps in the low 40s F, there will be no way to keep things warm enough. You'd be burning so much electricity that the whole room would warm up.

Either way, your CHE should run through a thermostat. This will keep it from over heating or wasting electricity on warm days when it is not needed.

To calculate how much it will cost, we will need wattages, number of hours you will run everything, and the rates your electricity provider charges you.

 

[JaySparks]

FIrst you must decide if you want to hibernate your tortoise, or not.

If not, you are going to need to build a large enclosed chamber with insulation all around. With temps in the low 40s F, there will be no way to keep things warm enough. You'd be burning so much electricity that the whole room would warm up.

Either way, your CHE should run through a thermostat. This will keep it from over heating or wasting electricity on warm days when it is not needed.

To calculate how much it will cost, we will need wattages, number of hours you will run everything, and the rates your electricity provider charges you.

I'm not hibernating my tortoise as he is just 11 months old right now and its the first year I have him. http://imgur.com/a/Q64Dh I covered his enclosure with a pvc shower curtain. It keeps humidity at 80 percent and it slowly drops down to 50 but I'm assuming that I will need to insulate the cage with a different material maybe something that has some form of foam. Any suggestions?

 

[Tom]

I'm not hibernating my tortoise as he is just 11 months old right now and its the first year I have him. http://imgur.com/a/Q64Dh I covered his enclosure with a pvc shower curtain. It keeps humidity at 80 percent and it slowly drops down to 50 but I'm assuming that I will need to insulate the cage with a different material maybe something that has some form of foam. Any suggestions?

Here is what I built. Disregard all the text and heating/lighting stuff. I'm just showing the enclosure here:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/2015-growth-experiment.119874/

@Markw84 has made one that is wayyyyy nicer than my version. Prepare to be inspired:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/our-new-closed-chamber-for-our-new-group-of-tortoises.138430/


Both of these are centered around tropical tortoises, but the concept will still work for you. You can keep it drier and set things for cooler nights.