I'm going to make an assumption that CHE's are probably one of the most popular sources for heating our tortoise enclosures. I for one, have never liked them at all for my indoor set-ups. I just couldn't ever get them to work in a way that I felt comfortable with. I've tried to use them every which way I could think of (lowering wattage, changing position, etc...). I would always end up with a really hot spot directly below the CHE, and then spots that would be too cold in the farthest ends of the enclosures. I'm sure there are other things I could try with the CHE's, but I had some extra materials laying around and I wanted to try something else out. I had purchased one of these a long time ago, and never really had any use for it:
Petsmart has a 23 foot rope for about $18 with tax. Downside with this heat rope is that you can't place it underneath soil, which is really the only way I could use it in my set ups. I always have a bunch of PVC laying around, so I decided to try and run the heat rope through some PVC which, of course, can be buried under soil. And this is what I came up with:
The pipes only cover about 3/4 of the containers. Depending on where exactly you want your night time temperatures to be, you can adjust the level of soil until you're at a temperature you like. So the way I have it, the pipes are burried just enough so that my night time temperatures are about 85 in the humid hide, and about high 70's to 82ish in the dirt outside of the hide.
In the picture directly above, you can see the PVC pipes coming out of the black tubs. I have had that set-up for a couple of months now, and so far I think it's the greatest thing. They are on a timer, set to only come on during the night and the 23 foot cable is 50 watts, so I'd like to think I am saving some money by not using a CHE.
I know there are other methods that may be a little more practical I guess, but like I said, this was all stuff I had pretty much lying around and after a couple of months I am really liking how it is working. Here are the bottom tubs after 4 days of operating.
The enclosure's still a little crude as far as the humid hides go. We are still warm enough where they are outside all day, so I'm not too worried about it at the moment.
P.S. I should also note that when the PVC is exposed, the outside temperature of the pipe is about 95 degrees. I'm using 1/2 inch sch 40...so there really isn't much risk of overheating a tortoise in my opinion.
Petsmart has a 23 foot rope for about $18 with tax. Downside with this heat rope is that you can't place it underneath soil, which is really the only way I could use it in my set ups. I always have a bunch of PVC laying around, so I decided to try and run the heat rope through some PVC which, of course, can be buried under soil. And this is what I came up with:
The pipes only cover about 3/4 of the containers. Depending on where exactly you want your night time temperatures to be, you can adjust the level of soil until you're at a temperature you like. So the way I have it, the pipes are burried just enough so that my night time temperatures are about 85 in the humid hide, and about high 70's to 82ish in the dirt outside of the hide.
In the picture directly above, you can see the PVC pipes coming out of the black tubs. I have had that set-up for a couple of months now, and so far I think it's the greatest thing. They are on a timer, set to only come on during the night and the 23 foot cable is 50 watts, so I'd like to think I am saving some money by not using a CHE.
I know there are other methods that may be a little more practical I guess, but like I said, this was all stuff I had pretty much lying around and after a couple of months I am really liking how it is working. Here are the bottom tubs after 4 days of operating.
The enclosure's still a little crude as far as the humid hides go. We are still warm enough where they are outside all day, so I'm not too worried about it at the moment.
P.S. I should also note that when the PVC is exposed, the outside temperature of the pipe is about 95 degrees. I'm using 1/2 inch sch 40...so there really isn't much risk of overheating a tortoise in my opinion.
