How to handle this cold snap

steppingonlegos

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I live in Houston and our sulcata is just shy of 4 years old. He was newly moved outdoors this summer so this is our first winter with him outdoors. He has a Rubbermaid shed for heat with heat lamps and uvb when needed but we are in the middle of a short but unprecedented cold snap with lows expected in the single digits in the next few days. We’ve sealed off the entrance to his enclosure to help keep heat in but it’s not staying very warm. Directly under the basking lamp is still 100 F but the ambient temps around the lamp are currently between 50-65 F and much colder weather is expected so I’m working on a plan B.

Would it be better to keep him out there where he can at least bask under warm heat or bring him indoors where he won’t have a warm basking area but will have a much warmer ambient area of 72-ish? We are talking 5-6 days total, not a prolonged situation.
 

steppingonlegos

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Bring him inside and put him in a small room like your bathroom with a space heater, temps for sulcata should NEVER fall below 80.
We don’t have a space heater. This is Texas. I’m not even sure stores carry them! I don’t want to buy one for 5 days. I could maybe rig a basking light in the corner of a room. And I have a smaller dog house with hay he could bury in. Outside he will always be able to bask at 100. That’s very stable. But if he moves out from under the light it’s gonna be cold.
 

Yossarian

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We don’t have a space heater. This is Texas. I’m not even sure stores carry them! I don’t want to buy one for 5 days. I could maybe rig a basking light in the corner of a room. And I have a smaller dog house with hay he could bury in. Outside he will always be able to bask at 100. That’s very stable. But if he moves out from under the light it’s gonna be cold.

Fair enough lol, If you can, rig a basking light, if you cant then you have to make do as best as possible I guess, a few days or a week shouldnt be too bad, but be aware that they cant properly digest their food without basking temps and overnight ambients of 80s so it really cant go on too long.
 

turtlesteve

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Bring him in. High risk of power outages, and at the temps they are forecasting, it could drop to lethal temperatures quickly.

Folks with tropical plants / palm tree collections in Texas are fearing doomsday right now. Possible it could break records going back to the 1800’s. Looks like we’re dodging the bullet on the east coast, this time...
 

steppingonlegos

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Thanks everyone! I brought him in and remembered I had a fireplace that’s essentially a space heater. So he’s in a bathroom now with that running.
 

Len B

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If the bathroom he is in on the ground floor you should try to set him up off the floor some. Whether your house has a craw space, is on a slab or above a unheated basement the floor is going to be the coldest part of the bathroom. And the electric fireplace will not be able to heat the floor especially right under the tortoise. You didn't say how big he is but if he is small enough maybe a container setting up on the toilet.
 

Relic

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This scenario is why I gave up my yellowfoot. Getting too large to bring inside with out building a much larger set-up. Forecasts for my little sliver of hell Texas is for lows to hit -2 F Monday night. If I had wanted this kind of weather I'd have bought a nice little shack on the Arctic Circle...
 

steppingonlegos

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This scenario is why I gave up my yellowfoot. Getting too large to bring inside with out building a much larger set-up. Forecasts for my little sliver of hell Texas is for lows to hit -2 F Monday night. If I had wanted this kind of weather I'd have bought a nice little shack on the Arctic Circle...
Seriously. This is garbage. I already planted my spring garden so obviously I jinxed it for all of us. Thankfully our sulcata is not too big too bring inside right now. But he’s really not excited about it. He was out partying in the rain yesterday oblivious to the temps.
 

steppingonlegos

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If the bathroom he is in on the ground floor you should try to set him up off the floor some. Whether your house has a craw space, is on a slab or above a unheated basement the floor is going to be the coldest part of the bathroom. And the electric fireplace will not be able to heat the floor especially right under the tortoise. You didn't say how big he is but if he is small enough maybe a container setting up on the toilet.

Good point. I put blankets on the floor for tonight and can throw a heating pad down too but don’t trust that he won’t try to chew through the cord. I’ll move him upstairs tomorrow when I have family here to help me lug this fireplace upstairs.
 

Yossarian

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Good point. I put blankets on the floor for tonight and can throw a heating pad down too but don’t trust that he won’t try to chew through the cord. I’ll move him upstairs tomorrow when I have family here to help me lug this fireplace upstairs.

avoid the heating pad, it’s a bad idea.
 

Erenintx

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We don’t have a space heater. This is Texas. I’m not even sure stores carry them! I don’t want to buy one for 5 days. I could maybe rig a basking light in the corner of a room. And I have a smaller dog house with hay he could bury in. Outside he will always be able to bask at 100. That’s very stable. But if he moves out from under the light it’s gonna be cold.
I’m from Houston. You can 10000% find space heaters in the home improvement section of Walmart.
 

steppingonlegos

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All I can say is don't go driving if you don't have to. No offense, but you Hustonians don't know how to drive in icy or snowing weather. I watched from a high downtown tower building.
Be safe!!
Ha! I’m from Michigan. Houston drivers can’t even handle a little rain. No way I’m going out in this.
 
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