sulcata greenhouse and heated shed. on a budget

argus333

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i live in coastal nj i built heated shed and now with winter here i built a low budget greenhouse. temps in shed are 80 to 100 daytime and 70 to 80 at night. green house is about 10 to 30 degrees warmer then outside depending on sun. other day was 35 out but 75 inside! plastic sweats so humidity is always high 75 to 90%. greenhouse keeps the cold wind off tortoises and as turtles grow i can easily expand. sulcatas are 12 to 14 inch now and will live outside all yr. greenhouse is made to easily take down as temps. warm up in summer. greenhouse cost me about $150 but i had a lot of wood around. took about a day to build and i made it extra strong for snow and wind. i know its not the fanciest but so far has worked great for me !!!!

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argus333

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something about letting them out on 30 degree days just feels funny to me.
 

Jacqui

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Nice! Can you keep us posted on how well it holds up and what tempsstay inside when it gets really cold? (wondering how warm it would keep it here where this week we were in the negative figures and lots of wind) Also where inside are you taking the temps?
 

BeeBee*BeeLeaves

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argus333 said:
something about letting them out on 30 degree days just feels funny to me.

Yep, being that they come from a range that includes the Sahara desert, I believe. Brrrrrr. OMG, I cannot fathom that either. Out here, that never happens. Three and zero, oh no! No, no. I am freezing just thinking about it. I am a chill chicken.
 

argus333

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Today 7 am. 17 outside 41 in greenhouse 72 in shed. Sun is out all day now @ 130pm 68 in greenhouse 98 under light in shed and 80 cool side of shed. Coldest day so far this winter. May add a red bulb in greenhouse to keep night temp up a little on really cold nights.
 

argus333

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Ok well so far so good... Temps in greenhouse are almost always 15 to 30 warmer. Just depends on sun. 2 days ago was 44 out but got up to 76! I put hay all over grass floor to help insulate floor a little and got a few more degrees warmer. I have thermonter on floor at tortoise level. Best thing I ever built. has snowed 3 times on it and is great that sulcatas can still come out and graze.
It's pretty cool to go out there in a snow storm and it's 60 degrees in there.
 

Tweeter066

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That's a rely nice outdoor cage if I ever get a sulcata I would almost definitely use that design
 

julietteq

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Love it ! Cheap, simple and effective. Do you think you could use thick see through plastic instead of the white one you are using now so you can see what is going on in there without having to open the door?
 

argus333

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if i could find clear i would, but all i could find was white and u want it kind of thick to be strong and keep out weathe rand snow real good. next yr ill make bigger. i put a 100 watt che. in greenhouse also just to take off chill in morning and keep it a little warmer on cold days. glad i made it strong its been snowing every other day here!!!!
 

bouaboua

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May I ask for the heater information? What kind of heater you put it in this out door enclosure? I believe I saw it in another posting.

Thanks.
 

argus333

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ya its just small oil filled heater. really works great only set on a 2. ill get u name tomorrow other pople on here use it i got it on $60
 

bouaboua

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Only $60? Not bad at all. Thank you so much. Looking forward to the name of that heater.
 

bouaboua

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argus333 said:
made by delonghi model trn0812t

Thank you for the info. Every where I look, no one less then $69.00. you get yourself a very good deal. Thanks again. I will get one soon.
 

Jacqui

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So still keeping the temps well? How cold have you been down to at this point?
 

argus333

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It's gotten warmer here outside latley temps in the 60s with a 76 day!!!!! Greenhouse was 94 that day and mid 80s on cooler days. It gets really humid in there it jus sweats, humity is 70 to 97%!!!! Shed is a constant 84 to 98 under light and 80 at night. I'd like it to be a little cooler in there at night but it's to hard to adjust heater everynight. Temps dropping here again so well see again how it goes. If your in a cooler area if the country I highly recommend building one of these it's great and sulcatas seem to love it...
 

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