My Sulcatas Seasonal Cold Weather House

Len B

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Walker stays outside all year, this is his house He can go in and out as he pleases all year..During summer the door is wide openSummer wide open.jpg These flaps are made of many layers of 6 mil poly,as you can see they need to be replaced every few years. When it starts cooling down in fall I add this easy to remove insulated panel (one screw secures it)with layers of vinyl flaps to keep the heat in and cold out.old winter.jpgWhen winter really arrives I add another set of flaps.new winter.jpg If we are supposed to get severe weather I close the door to keep him inDoor closed.jpg This is how I have the door opening set up now, added some flaps and lowered the door height to the summer opening.This is secured by a screw in the center for easy removal.Now.jpgHere is a pic of the inside, You cant see it but there is 3x4ft Stanfield heat mat just inside the door to the right.Inside house.jpg It measures 7x7 ft inside so I can rake it and use a push broom to clean it and then use a shop vac with an extended hose to get whats left from outside without having to crawl in..
 

wellington

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Can you tell us, what's your coldest temps day and night and how long do they usually last? Snow? How much if any and how many days usually?
Just to help those living in the colder areas.
Thanks and I love the different door panel for the colder months.
 

Maro2Bear

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Nice job Len. The varying door sizes per season is one thing @Tom ’s night boxes don’t offer. But for cold climate zones, it’s a real advantage to be able to gradually reduce the door opening size as colder inclement weather moves in. #NiceJob
 

Len B

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I'm not far from Washington DC and each winter is different, This winter we had weeks at a time where we didn't get above freezing night or day. As for the snow I haven't had enough to even talk about this year, the snow that hit the DC area this past Wednesday and shut everything down I didn't get any accumulation here, but 15 miles north of me got 6 inches. I've lived in this area pretty much my whole life so I knew what the winters could be like.When I built this house 10 years ago I tried to cover all weather possibilities.It even has soft copper tubing in the floor just in case more bottom heat was needed.
 

Levi the Leopard

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Do you have any photos of Walker in the doorway? I'm having a hard time grasping the size of your various doorways in comparison to the tortoise.
 

Len B

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I added more layers of poly flaps to the door opening and also re-insulated between the exposed ends of the trusses with a different type of insulation. With these improvements the heat mat and che are keeping the temps up. Have a couple cold and windy days coming later in the week (high of 35 and low of 21 Thursday) so probably will have to turn the oil heater on and the che off for a couple days.Here he is at dusk today just watching me.Picture 002 copy.jpg
 

jsheffield

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Loving this thread!

I'm working on plans for a cool weather house to extend the outdoor season for my redfoot tortoise, Darwin ... I'm hoping that once he's grown up a bit, he'll be able to stretch the summer season in NH by a few weeks on each side of the hot weather.

Thanks for the pics and ideas!

Jamie
 

Len B

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@Kalbrecht This is Walkers house. It has 6 inch walls and floor, is 8 x 8 ft, insulated well and easy to heat.I think the peaked roof and sealed ceiling helps with circulation of the heated air throughout the interior.
 

Kalbrecht

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@Kalbrecht This is Walkers house. It has 6 inch walls and floor, is 8 x 8 ft, insulated well and easy to heat.I think the peaked roof and sealed ceiling helps with circulation of the heated air throughout the interior.

Wow that's a great structure, I live in Manassas which is about an hour outside DC. We usually get a couple good storms each winter. It usually is in January and February. Unfortunately I can't build anything that big on our property because of HOA reasons and space. Neighborhood homes are too close. We decided were going to be building their enclosure in the basement which is a bigger space than outside. Thank you for the information because it has helped us make our decision. Walker is so adorable[emoji7]
 

Boogeyman

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Walker stays outside all year, this is his house He can go in and out as he pleases all year..During summer the door is wide openView attachment 233930 These flaps are made of many layers of 6 mil poly,as you can see they need to be replaced every few years. When it starts cooling down in fall I add this easy to remove insulated panel (one screw secures it)with layers of vinyl flaps to keep the heat in and cold out.View attachment 233931When winter really arrives I add another set of flaps.View attachment 233932 If we are supposed to get severe weather I close the door to keep him inView attachment 233933 This is how I have the door opening set up now, added some flaps and lowered the door height to the summer opening.This is secured by a screw in the center for easy removal.View attachment 233934Here is a pic of the inside, You cant see it but there is 3x4ft Stanfield heat mat just inside the door to the right.View attachment 233935 It measures 7x7 ft inside so I can rake it and use a push broom to clean it and then use a shop vac with an extended hose to get whats left from outside without having to crawl in..
Very nice. .. where can someone buy a heater like that? Thanks for sharing
 

Len B

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I increased the size of the removable door panel opening to 30 inches wide and went higher a couple inches so Walker can get in and out easier this winterPicture 006.jpg I also added some layers of the vinyl and 6 mil poly door flaps to help hold the cold out and heat in. A total of 16, 4 sets of 4 each with a space between each set. I cut them a little longer than needed so I can tell from a distance if Walker is in his house or still out.Picture.jpg You can see the bottom of the flaps are going in so he is in for the night. This time of year it isn't really cold but can drop into the 40s at night and get into the 70s during the day. With the 6 inch insulated walls and floor and the multiple layers of flaps the only heat needed is the 3x4 ft Stanfield heat pad set at 145 watts of use to keep the house warm enough for him. All 3 of the temp sending units are reading 85F but will most likely drop down to the 70s over night.Picture 009.jpg Here's Walker eating his last snack of the day before heading in for the night.
 

Len B

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Today was remove some some poly flaps day. Here are before and after pics. Walkers is held in place with one drywall screw at the top. There is one more removable set of flaps that will probably stay on for about another month. The last set behind the one in the last pic will probably have to be replaced sometime this summer.Picture 001.jpgPicture 003.jpgI also remove a set from Donald's and Thomas's houses Picture 005.jpgPicture 009.jpgPicture 008.jpgPicture 010.jpg
 

Len B

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@Big Charlie , I made the original door opening large and have removable panels to use at different times of the year as the seasons change. The cold weather panel opening is now 30 in wide and 20 in high. I'm going to put it in place this week to make sure I don't need to increase it's opening size.
 
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