Heat mat help

[TortloverPM]

So my torts house is just about finished.Yay! Never thought I'd be on a first name basis with all the home depot employees but here we are since no one sells plus size tort stuff. Lol.We're in sw Fl so not too many cold nights to worry about, but my 70lb sulcata came with a Reptitherm habitat heater mat. I'm not sure how to use it. I know sounds stupid but i feel like someone told me not to just let him on top of it? Or not to use it? Is that correct? If so i was thinking about like a shelf under the floor of his house so i can plug it in, slide it under there and all good? Or slot on the outside wall? Sorry I just dont want to get this wrong and someone told me something bad about that mat but for the life of me I can't remember. Thanks as always for all the invaluable info and advice!

 

[Srmcclure]

Tortoises get heat from above, not below so unless your doing a heated night box i wouldn't use it. But see what other ppl say as well just to be sure.

 

[Yvonne G]

The larger tortoises do just fine on a heat mat. I'm not familiar with that brand so I can't speak to it, but I do use the Osborne Industries pig blanket. It's on the floor and the tortoise sits right on it. I first mounted it on the wall right next to where the tortoise sleeps, but I felt he wasn't getting full use of the heat it provided, so I moved it to the floor. It comes with a heat controller and I dial it up to the temperature I want it to be, checking every so often to make sure it's running true.

 

[LasTortugasNinja]

Reptitherm habitat heater mats are shoddy at best. I've had many over the years, and I'm lucky if they last two years. They are very cheaply made (and 70% profit for the petstore). I wouldn't bother to install it. They short out quickly. Yvonne has the right idea. industrial heat mats, Properly installed heat tape, and CHE's are better options for raising ambient temperature. I've used a combination of the above when I had large monitors.

 

[Tom]

So my torts house is just about finished.Yay! Never thought I'd be on a first name basis with all the home depot employees but here we are since no one sells plus size tort stuff. Lol.We're in sw Fl so not too many cold nights to worry about, but my 70lb sulcata came with a Reptitherm habitat heater mat. I'm not sure how to use it. I know sounds stupid but i feel like someone told me not to just let him on top of it? Or not to use it? Is that correct? If so i was thinking about like a shelf under the floor of his house so i can plug it in, slide it under there and all good? Or slot on the outside wall? Sorry I just dont want to get this wrong and someone told me something bad about that mat but for the life of me I can't remember. Thanks as always for all the invaluable info and advice!

You occasionally have cold winter nights there. The heat mat alone won't be enough. You need a heat mat below and a radiant heat panel above.

I agree with the ninja tortoise man. Don't use the one you've got. I've never used the one Yvonne mentioned, but she's been using them for many years and trusts them. She knows her stuff. Years ago I went with Kane heat mats because that's what was recommended to me. Over the years I've talked to Craig Kane personally and I'm sold on his products. He has multiple built in safeties to prevent over heating, and I've been using some of his mats continuously since the late 90s early 2000's. I've never had a problem with his mats.

The mat should be on the floor of the night box with nothing on it. I control it with a separate thermostat. The same thermostat controls the over head RHP and turns them both on and off when needed.

Here is a thread showing how I use them:

Single Tortoise Night Box

I like my larger tortoises to live outside full time. My climate permits this year round with a little help. For people who live where it snows all winter, this type of box is still good for warmer weather, getting them out earlier in Spring, and keeping them out a bit later into fall. You'll...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Maggie3fan]

Tortoises get heat from above, not below so unless your doing a heated night box i wouldn't use it. But see what other ppl say as well just to be sure.

@Srmcclure You are repeating something that I believe holds mostly for small growing tortoises...it 'can' deform a growing plastron....I have kept Sulcata for almost 20 years now and have had a Kane heat mat on a rheostat in a sleeping box the whole time...Bob was 100+ pounds when he died...Big Sam is over 50 and both sleep or slept on the mat at night...on an especially cold and gray day Big Sam will while away his hours napping on it all day...it's set at abt 85 degrees...
Here he is...the mat is that dirty red thing you can almost see under him...this is in his sleeping box...

 

[TortloverPM]

Thankyou everyone! I knew there was something with that mat I just couldn't remember exactly what. I will get rid of it and use your suggestions. So now house should be done soon then on to expand enclosure that I sadly thought was gonna be big enough. What would I do without you guys? ???? Just curious does anyone know anyone in the U.S. that makes tort house name signs? I found these cute tort shaped name signs but it was pretty far away and only made small signs.