TheLastGreen
Well-Known Member
I've read that some people say hatchlings can burn, and don't know how to get off of a heatpad, I've been wondering about it for a while now, do some people use them?
It's me...lolI don't use heatpads... they can get way too hot and dehydrate/burn/kill tortoises.
I do use seedling mats.
The seedling mats top out at 88-90F and I run them through a thermostat, normally set at between 65F and 85F to help hold an enclosure at a baseline temperature.
Despite that differentiation, someone will be by shortly to lecture me on the error of my ways...
Jamie
We all know I am certainly not an expert...but my personal experience is I have used stansfield pig blankets for about 20 years. I use a thermostat with them. I only use them for bigger tortoises, Bob or Mary K for instance...but the 3 Russians living in her shed don't have any night heat and use an incandescent 65 watt bulb for basking.I think the problem is that we really don't know that much about the way tortoises sense temperatures. It certainly is not the way we do!
They do use basking to raise core body temperatures, and when their core body temp is where they feel right, they will move and seek shade. However, we also see they will bake under artificial lights that are too hot and too close and actually burn the tops of their shells before their core body temperature seems to register warm enough.
A friend working extensively with giant tortoises tells of having to be extremely careful burning brush piles cleared on acreage as the tortoise will walk right up to the fire and will burn themselves if not pulled away.
Tortoises use ground temperatures to moderate their temperatures. Not because they can "feel" the temperature of the ground, but they are "programmed" to seek cover and survive in areas of the world where ground temperatures provide the right temperatures to allow escape from overheating and excessive cooling. This "programming" or instinct will cause a tortoise put in a colder climate to seek cover in areas way too cold to allow it to survive, yet stay there contentedly.
So, I believe Jamie has it right, but most people can take that advice wrong. I see value in providing proper "ground temperatures" in our enclosures. The design of the barn for my giant tortoises will definitely include floor heat. But knowing a tortoise will not move from a hide it likes, no matter the temperature, we must be careful to ensure that temperature is an optimal tortoise temperature. Most heat mats get in the 110° range and higher. That will burn a tortoise plastron eventually.
So a good heat mat with a thermostat, and the probe for the thermostat place in contact with the mat, can be an effective way to create an 80° ground temperature base for an enclosure in the hide area. A well designed closed chamber style enclosure does not need that. But when trying to heat a more open or larger area, there is value in providing heat for the substrate. Not to heat the tortoise to optimal core body temperature. But to provide a hide to more closely match the ground temperatures of what it has evolved to live in.
Yes, people use them, and yes, my reptile vet friends regularly see burn cases.I've read that some people say hatchlings can burn, and don't know how to get off of a heatpad, I've been wondering about it for a while now, do some people use them?
I use seed mats with my sully hatchlings as well. CHE overhead near the hide and basking area. . I also have one under the water dish which makes them self soak. All are regulated with rheoztates and mini temp gouges.I don't use heatpads... they can get way too hot and dehydrate/burn/kill tortoises.
I do use seedling mats.
The seedling mats top out at 88-90F and I run them through a thermostat, normally set at between 65F and 85F to help hold an enclosure at a baseline temperature.
Despite that differentiation, someone will be by shortly to lecture me on the error of my ways...
Jamie