What type of heating pad do you all recommend for outdoor use? What wattage should I be looking into? How do you ensure your tortoise does not burn itself?
What type of tortoise, and what size?
When my sulcata goes outside in a few years to live fulltime, i plan on building a doghouse hut in a way.
inside with a CHE Heat bulb.
That way your electric cant get ruined from weather.
The best way is to put whatever it is you are using on a thermostat. That way you are sure it won't get too hot or too cold. A infrared radiant heater is what I plan on using, moons down the road. It doesn't get hot on the outside, so your tort can touch it and not get burned. With a well insulated tort house and use of a thermostat your electric bill shouldn't get hit to bad. Check out this website http://www.reptilebasics.com/heating.
Those pads only work well in a limited area...I tried to use one in one of my outside enclosures. It didn't warm the area of their night time retreat to my satisfaction...I went back to the old way ...the I.R. bulb on a duro-stat thermostat...
Pig blankets are not used to heat the ambient air in an outside enclosure. They are used for the tort to sleep on or warm his belly on. Bob loves his pad and has been sleeping on the same one for 6 years now. I also use a rheostat on it controlling the temp.
Here's the pad...
osborne-ind.com/petsub/heatpad/heat_pads2.htm
I use the F911 controller here...
osborne-ind.com/petsub/heatpad/heat_pad_controls.htm
Then for the ambient air I use an oil filled radiator heater. Bob lives in a 12'X20' shed
that's bigger than WalkingRocks bunker, so we use different things...You may need something different. How big is your tortoises enclosure?
On sale at Petco right now. Description:Zoo Med Large Repti-Therm UTH Under Tank Heater - Unit price:$33.74 USD
Awesome sale....
Also found these items I'm getting/ordered.
Can't wait...
Only problem is I can't use an under the tank heater for an outdoor enclosure. It needs to be something my tort can lay directly on. However I did use an under the tank heater for my bearded dragon! It worked great for him!