What is the most safe heat source for outdoor enclosures?

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Biff Malibu

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Running electrical devices like lamps have their obvious fire hazards, and even running something like a heatpad or heatrope I heard can have glitches and possibly burn a tortoises underside.

What are people using that they believe is the safest way to set up an adult sulcata with an outdoor heat source?
 

wellington

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Radiant heat panels. You can check some out at the website listed here http://www.reptilebasics.com/heating.
They can't burn your torts.
Also, look up Toms enclosure threads and he shows some that he uses.
Also infrared heaters can't burn your torts either and would work too.
 

clare n

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And if you are a fellow UK'er, it's "broken" most of the day too ;)
 

GBtortoises

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RonHays said:
Biff Malibu said:
yeah the sun only has one problem.... it doesn't work at night.

Lol! I was thinking the same thing!

You shouldn't need a night time heat source for any tortoise species in Southern California. Unless it happens to drop below 55 degrees at night for very long periods of time.
 

Biff Malibu

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so cal can easily go under 55 degrees at night during the winter. i also believe a heat source is important for a cold blooded animals comfort and health.
 

GBtortoises

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Biff Malibu said:
so cal can easily go under 55 degrees at night during the winter. i also believe a heat source is important for a cold blooded animals comfort and health.

You may want to check out the temperature extremes and other weather conditions in their natural environments that they have evolved to survive in. Rarely do any of the environments of any reptile stay consistently warm at night. This is also true of arid climate species.
 

Biff Malibu

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I have a Sulcata, It gets around the same low in places in Africa as well.

Survival and comfort are significantly different goals though. I mean, the Sulcata can eat its own doo-doo to survive... But I'm not about to include turds in its diet. :D
 

austinSOLO

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you could make a closed green house for the day so it gets heated, and then open it for him to go in so it will be warm but not hot or cold. not sure how that would work but you could try!
 

wellington

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austinSOLO said:
you could make a closed green house for the day so it gets heated, and then open it for him to go in so it will be warm but not hot or cold. not sure how that would work but you could try!

Green houses still have to be heated for night time. There is no insulation in them, all glass or plastic. Depending on where you live, it would get just as cold in the green house as the outside temps, at night that is. In the winter months, I am talking about. Hotter then the outside temps during the warm/hot summer days.
 

lynnedit

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True! Green houses do need extra heating on cool/rainy days. But they do warm up with ANY glimpse of sun, or bright clouds.
Greenhouse bubble wrap insulation on the inside walls really helps.

You can use a rubbermaid storage container with a CHE or black/red bulb similar to this
http://russiantortoise.org/deck_box.htm

I use one of these inside my greenhouse for nights, with an oil filled heater on a timer in the GH itself to come on early am.
 
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