First winter with Sulcata Tortoise

[lisastethem]

I am needing advice. I was given a +50lb sulcata tortoise that needed to be rehomed last January. Of course being the first sulcata that size that I have had, I did not have his outdoor enclosure built so he was in the house until spring. I have now built a building with an oil radiated heater and heated floor mat. I have a camera mounted inside and a temperature gauge that can be monitored from inside. Now that its starting to get cold out, I have been keeping a close eye on the temps. So far the lowest the air temp has gotten down to 57 degrees. Now the gauge is not at tortoise level (he kept knocking it off) and is not catching the heat from the flooring. I have a temperature gun that tells me the floor is staying around 70-75 degrees and the heater is putting off over 200 degrees. My question is, how cold is too cold for the house to get?? It's insulated and usually keeps the temperature 20 degrees warmer than outside. I just want to make sure he is fine. I can bring him in the house but I keep my house cooler than his house has been. He seems ok but I don't want to risk anything. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Tom]

Not fine. The ambient air temp needs to be no lower than 80 24/7. Then he needs another warmer area where he can get his body temp up into the mid 90s. The can be accomplished with a heat mat and radiant heat panel set up.

The size area in your picture is fine for a tortoise to sleep in if they have a large area to roam during the day, but that area is much too small to keep this guy contained in for months on end during winter. They need room to roam, but it needs to be warm.

 

[lisastethem]

That was what I was thinking. Plus he is not locked into the house. He can get out. But the information on http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Care-Sheets/Sulcata-Tortoise/ says "Sulcata tortoises that live outdoors are tolerant to various temperature ranges. High temperatures are not going to be a problem provided the tortoise has a shaded area to escape to if desired. The tortoises themselves can handle surprisingly cold temperatures, as low as 45 degrees Fahrenheit, with no problems. When nighttime temperatures drop below 50 degrees, a heated hide box should be provided that maintains at least 55 to 60 degrees at night (70s is better), or the tortoises should be brought in during those times. Sulcata tortoises are kept outdoors year-round in some parts of the country where nighttime lows in the winter are 20 degrees (including here in Las Vegas). It is absolutely required that these tortoises are checked on each evening to make sure they get into a heated area and do not fall asleep out in the open and become exposed to these temperatures at night."
That is why I am asking for advise because I am getting conflicting information.

 

[Len B]

Nice looking tortoise,I live where we get very cold and windy weather at times during winter. i have a large sulcata that has lived outside for many years all year long. He always has access to the outside at all times, unless blizzard type weather is happening. His house is bigger than yours but yours is fine as long as he has room to get off the heat mat if he wants to without leaving the house. You can add a CHE up high so it doesn't cook the shell top and the efficiency of the other 2 heat sources will improve.I have a CHE on a lamp dimmer (along with an oil heater and and a mat) so I can change the wattage to get the right temperature needed at the time. you stated that the mat runs about 20 degrees above surrounding temps, The oil heater doesn't do real good heating a floor but the Che will make a difference in the floor temps which will make the mat run warmer and the oil heater may need to run less. I haven't changed the settings on the mat and heater for years and usually don't need to run all 3 at the same time.I also have 3 temp sending units inside his 8x8 ft house at different locations. Since I very seldom close his door I have mulipul layers of vynil flaps for heat retenion.

 

[lisastethem]

I guess I did forget to mention the CHE that I also have in his house. Its closer to the door and the max temp of my mat is 85 and it seems to keep the floor nice and it covers most of the floor. I like the oil heater but I wish it would circulate the warm air better. He just gets as close to it as he can. I'm in Mooresville, NC so our temperatures shouldn't be to different. Probably a touch warmer here. I also have a red footed that is in the house with me since I couldn't rely on her to go in the house when it got cold. She's also got her setup of a heat mat and CHE in her area but is free to roam around when she wants. Thank you for the input. I just kept thinking that if it had to be 80 degrees at all times, I was going to have to bring him in and close off a room for him. But even in the desert it gets colder than that.

 

[kazjimmy]

You will be fine.

 

[Cheryl Hills]

Salcatas are not desert torts. They need to be 80 degrees or better. They can get away with a bit lower temps, only if the have a place to warm up. When temps get colder or to warm, they will burro into the dirt to regulate there temps in the wild.

 

[Len B]

Is the oil heater setup so the cooler air can come from the bottom and circulate up from beneath ? You could look into a Kane or Stanfield mat. I use Stanfield but other people also recommend Kane. Also is the floor insulated ? What you have setup should work fine. We are at 43 degrees and cloudy now and Walkers house is plenty warm with just the CHE and the Mat turned on.

 

[Yvonne G]

You'll need to build a barrier around the gauge and the heater so the tortoise can't contact them. Is your tortoise house insulated? This makes a BIG difference. Insulation in the ceiling too? Average winter temperatures here are 45F/35F. Sometimes higher, sometimes lower, with occasional forays down into the 20sF. My sulcata's shed is 8'x8'x8', insulated in and out with rigid foam. There's a pig blanket on the floor for him to sit on, and a 250 watt chicken brooder light hanging from the ceiling that's about 3' from the top of Dudley's shell (but I've never seen him sitting under it. The brooder light keeps the air inside the whole shed toasty warm. You can see where I built the shed here:

https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/dudleys-rebuild.111350/#post-1034676