100lb Sulcata what temp do I need a heater in the winter.

[Tortoise Acres]

Hi I just rescued a 100lb Sulcata female. I live in Northern CA. Her shelter is a low camper shell filled with grass hay inside her pasture. Will I need a heater in the winter? It stays in the 40's-50's most of the time at night. It may dip into the high 30's occasionally.

 

[Big Charlie]

You will need a heater. I live in central California and I have one. I wouldn't feel comfortable letting the temperature drop below 60.

 

[Markw84]

I too live in N Calif and have had sulcatas for over 25 years now. Although a few of them can survive with cool nighttime temperatures it is not good for them. Most will eventually die and those that don't will struggle getting their metabolism back on track each spring, possibly fighting an illness you do not see. If you want them to thrive I wouldn't let their nighttime temps drop below 75. Their first few years I won't let it go below 80

 

[Tom]

100 pound females are a very rare thing. I'd love to see pics and confirm the sex too.

This is a tropical species. There are two seasons over there, according to my friend Tomas from Senegal. "Hot and Hotter."

On the occasion that night temps dip into the 60's over there, the tortoise are deep under ground in their burrows where temps stay 80ish, and the next day the highs will be near 100 again. Days in the 50 or 60 and night temps below the 60's are totally foreign to this species. Like Mark said, some percentage of them manage to survive with colder temperatures, but it is not "good" for them.

You need a proper insulated and heated night box. A camper shell with hay isn't going to get it done. Its much too cold for that right now. I keep my night boxes around 70-75 in summer when my day time highs are near 100 daily, and I set them for 85-86 in winter when the days are not going to warm up much.

Like these:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/another-night-box-thread.88966/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/my-best-night-box-design-yet.66867/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/double-door-night-box.129054/

 

[Dizisdalife]

Welcome to the Forum. Like Tom and Mark, I too would like to see some pictures of your tortoise, when you get time that is.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

 

[sibi]

Hi, and welcome. It breaks my heart everytime I hear of sulcatas having to live in cold temps. These animals are not hardwired to live in cold temps. They are exotic, tropical creatures that need warmth an humidity. I never let their hide/sleep area go below 80 degrees and humidity levels go below 70-80%. Once, I had a power outage and it was the coldest day of the year in Florida. Temps inside the insulated shed was in the low 50's, while temps in the wee hours outside were low 30's. My sullies were in a coma-like state, and it took hours (all day) keeping them in warm soaks to pull them out of it! Today, there's no way they'll ever freeze like that again. We set up a backup heater that will turn itself back on if power suddenly went out and returned again. In addition, my husband reprogrammed a raspberry pi device that will send us text messages 24/7 if temps/humidity levels go out of the designated ranges we supplied. Any electricity needed for the device is on a backup battery; so, you see, it will not happen again if we should ever lose power while we sleep. Our animals are the most important lives we're responsible for, and we'll do most anything to keep them safe and happy.

 

[DeanS]

100 pound females are a very rare thing. I'd love to see pics and confirm the sex too.

This is a tropical species. There are two seasons over there, according to my friend Tomas from Senegal. "Hot and Hotter."

On the occasion that night temps dip into the 60's over there, the tortoise are deep under ground in their burrows where temps stay 80ish, and the next day the highs will be near 100 again. Days in the 50 or 60 and night temps below the 60's are totally foreign to this species. Like Mark said, some percentage of them manage to survive with colder temperatures, but it is not "good" for them.

You need a proper insulated and heated night box. A camper shell with hay isn't going to get it done. Its much too cold for that right now. I keep my night boxes around 70-75 in summer when my day time highs are near 100 daily, and I set them for 85-86 in winter when the days are not going to warm up much.

Like these:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/another-night-box-thread.88966/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/my-best-night-box-design-yet.66867/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/double-door-night-box.129054/

What's even rarer is a 200 pound female...you should see MONSTRO's mom now! GEEZ!

 

[Tank'sMom]

Welcome! I'd like to see her too!!! I have an over 100 pounder and winter is a challenge! Is the camper enclosed? You might be able to get by with a ceramic heater inside of it, set up properly. I've had to do everything from 1 (or 2-3) ceramic heaters in a "hide box" to heaters at the entrance of a burrow, to just plain bringing him inside!
Your weather sounds like mine! Cold and wet is a bad combination though. That's my main problem here in South Texas. If it's mild, 50's or up he does ok with heaters but if it gets colder I don't risk it, he comes in. With MUCH difficulty.
My climate on the gulf coast is tropical. So August (too hot) and January (too cold) are my main problems. The rest of the time we're on auto pilot! You're lucky yours uses that old camper. I've tried lots of different "housing" attempts, with no success. Other than the burrows he digs every summer, that collapse at some point each year so far.
Good luck and welcome to the forum! You're in the BEST place to get answers from great experts. They've helped me a lot!