My friends rescued a large sulcata that has been living in the back yard all summer. Now that the temps are dropping into the 40's at nite (The day temps have been below 60 the last few days as well), they want him to use the garage (it's completely empty) when he can't be outside. I'm wondering what wattage CHE and flood/basking bulb to use and how far from the floor? Thank you
CHE and basking bulb for large sulcata
- Thread starter Chasen
- Start date
Lamps and CHEs should not be used for large sulcatas. They only heat a small amount of space, so a lot of times, it burns their shell. He should really have an outdoor heated night box with a space heater, heat mat, and/or radiant heat panel to warm him up.
At this point in time the outdoor nite box isn't an option. They want to put him in the garage and I'm just trying to get him a heat source right now. I remember seeing a box build on here (I can't seem to find that thread) that had lights hanging inside so I was assuming it's an option.
Those were probably sheds that you saw with hanging lights and CHEs for a sulcata. The typical night box that you see here is 2' high and roughly 4' x 4'. In that space, overhead lights or CHEs will desiccate the carapace. In either a shed or a box the goal is to provide an ambient temp of about 80°F, or higher. The sheds/boxes are insulated really well and heated to do this. If you need to keep the sulcata in a garage then I suggest building a 4' x 4' x 2' high sleeping box that can be insulated and heated to the required temp and keeping that box in the garage. Keep in mind that a large sulcata will want to go outside on sunny days, even when it is only 50° or 60°. So you should allow for the sulcata to come and go freely.
Here is a link to a thread showing one sulcata shed with hanging lights. https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/bobs-shed.20710/
Here is a link to a thread showing one sulcata shed with hanging lights. https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/bobs-shed.20710/
Thank you for the advice. I will pass it on. He does have access to the yard from the garage.
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