Advise on size of heat pad

[Missy]

I am looking to get a heat pad/pig blanket for Lana this winter. I will be keeping her in a room in the basement. The room is actually a wine seller with stone walls and no window and it's about 8x10' I have a heat lamp now to keep her warm at night and will be getting UVB for winter also. Lana is 12'' and weighs 13.5 lbs. What size pad do I need? Does it need to be bigger than her and by how much? Should I get one that she can grow into? I also have Tank that is smaller so he could have it if she outgrows it and get her a bigger one. Advise please cause these things are not cheap.

 

[Laura]

hmmm in the basement on a concrete floor.. Id say yes,, you need one.. and it should be bigger then she is.. get the thermostat so you can adjust the temp. I got mine thru Osborne industries. best price I found..

where ever it is.. make sure she can get off it. AS for the heat lamp from above.. different area or right above the matt??
is the room going to be heated or just a spot? Will she be able to get outside of it at all?

 

[Yvonne G]

I like the 1.5' x 2' size. Even my 100lb sulcata sits just fine on this size (however, he does hang off it). Its small enough that there's plenty of space left around it in the shed for the tortoise to get off the pad.

Since your winter quarters are in the basement, I would suggest adding something to the floor. Maybe you can put pallets down, then plywood over the pallets. Or even just plywood. The rubber stall mats for horse stalls are great for over cement too, however, a bit costly.

 

[Missy]

Thanks for the advise. What temp do you set the thermostat? I put vinyl flooring down on the cement floor and then a thick layer of cypress mulch. The heat lamp she can get completely away from and I planned to have it away from the pad so she can either be on the pad or under the light or away from both. I plan to have a heater in there if she needs more heat. The basement alone stays about 60* year round so it will not take much to warm that room. Yes she goes outside every morning and stays out till about 6pm when I take her in for the night. I will try to put a pic up later of the room. This is the plan for this winter and I hope to have her a heated shed next winter.

 

[Len B]

I would go for one of the larger ones I use the 3x4 ft size, and at 260 watts max( never had to turn it to max) it is amazing how much it helps to heat the room. As for the floor no matter what you put down, it will stay the same temp as the concrete unless it has a heat source. For ease of cleaning and to keep the tortoises off the concrete, Home Depot has a water resistant flooring that is easy to install and inexpensive (Resilent Flooring) I put it in my outside tort house. Suspend heat elements and or lights from above using a support wire to hold the weight of the fixture.------the resilient flooring does have texture not super slick--Hope this helps.

 

[Tom]

Kane makes an 18x18" and a 18x28", among others, but either of these would be appropriate for your situation.

 

[Len B]

I would go for one of the larger ones I use the 3x4 ft size, and at 260 watts max( never had to turn it to max) it is amazing how much it helps to heat the room. As for the floor no matter what you put down, it will stay the same temp as the concrete unless it has a heat source. For ease of cleaning and to keep the tortoises off the concrete, Home Depot has a water resistant flooring that is easy to install and inexpensive (Resilent Flooring) I put it in my outside tort house. Suspend heat elements and or lights from above using a support wire to hold the weight of the fixture.------the resilient flooring does have texture not super slick--Hope this helps.

When I started this you last post wasn't there.I had something I had to take care of and did not check for new post when I got back. SORRY Len

 

[Madkins007]

Just my nickel's worth...

8x10 basement room? I'd be tempted to turn the whole thing into the Sulcata habitat, but I would insulate the snot out of it first. I think my plan would be to...
- lay pallets or 2x4s (on their side to make a 3.5" gap) down for an air gap
- attach cheap plywood, subfloor, etc. on the spacers
- use rigid foam insulation panels on the floor, walls, and ceiling. Even on the door if there is one. (No door? I'd make a thermal barrier curtain)
- nicer plywood (Marine grade?) on the foam to serve as the new floor
- mulch, heat pads, etc. as usual on the new floor
- put up some paneling to about waist-high to protect the foam from the torts and vice versa
- use a room-sized heater (with thermostat), room lighting (on a timer), and a room-sized humidifier (with humidistat) to handle the 'ambient environment', then use spot heating (CHEs, bulbs, and/or mats), spot UVB lamps, etc. to create microclimates.

 

[Missy]

Just my nickel's worth...

8x10 basement room? I'd be tempted to turn the whole thing into the Sulcata habitat, but I would insulate the snot out of it first. I think my plan would be to...
- lay pallets or 2x4s (on their side to make a 3.5" gap) down for an air gap
- attach cheap plywood, subfloor, etc. on the spacers
- use rigid foam insulation panels on the floor, walls, and ceiling. Even on the door if there is one. (No door? I'd make a thermal barrier curtain)
- nicer plywood (Marine grade?) on the foam to serve as the new floor
- mulch, heat pads, etc. as usual on the new floor
- put up some paneling to about waist-high to protect the foam from the torts and vice versa
- use a room-sized heater (with thermostat), room lighting (on a timer), and a room-sized humidifier (with humidistat) to handle the 'ambient environment', then use spot heating (CHEs, bulbs, and/or mats), spot UVB lamps, etc. to create microclimates.

I do agree with everything you suggest but the problem is... We will be selling our house hopefully in the spring and the room is a wine cellar that is original to the 130 year old house so I can't make all the changes. The walls are very thick and stone. The room does have a door. I have been using a single heat lamp and it heats the room to 80* with know problem. This is only for this winter so hopefully I can make it work. I will check into other options for a removable floor to make it cozier. If for some reason we are still here next winter than I will have to take over my husbands shed that is used to park his Harley, he don't know it though, LOL.

 

[Candy]

Spikethebest (Cory) sells the heating mats and he said that he could give very good prices. You should pm him.

 

[Madkins007]

If you are going to sell, I'd do the same thing, mostly- use rigid board to make an insulated room within the room. Say you make a 2x4' habitat- if you basically make a foam room around that space, you'll heat/humidify it a lot easier.