Outdoor housing
 

Hi All,

I'm new to this forum although i've had a Hermans tort now for about 8 years. He currently lives inside in a table when he's not hibernating and outside in the summer. However, he is driving me mad by doing laps of his table and I'm struggling to find anywhere in the house that I could put a bigger table for him. So....i'm thinking about buying a greenhouse for the garden - we currently have a wall which is west facing (no sun until the afternoon sadly) but I have power so could heat it as well as put his combined lamp in and I was wondering whether this would do as an enclosure for early spring/autumn and then he can have access to the garden for the summer months? I've read loads online but nothing that quite says it's ok to use a greenhouse this early if it's heated (and no idea how hot I could get it!). I don't want to buy a greenhouse only to find it's too cold.

Any thoughts would be really appreciated.

Cheers,

Anna

Hello and welcome Anna.

I use a greenhouse all year round apart from when my lot are hibernating. This time of year I use a 150w ceramic heat emitter in the open area of the greenhouse and I have a large (lot of torts to fit in it) wooden box with a small tubular heater in it set at about 15 degrees most will choose the box to sleep in at night. As soon as the outside temps warm up at night to +10 I turn it all off.
He will be fine in the greenhouse until it's warm enough to go out in the daytime

I too use my heated greenhouse all year around. My tortoises even hibernate in the soil of the GH. Works well.
I keep the GH bubble wrapped to help keep in the heat in early Spring and the bright scorching sun off the torts during the Summer months.
My GH is on a footing of around four bricks high, and one brick missing from the front so my torts can come and go as they please during the good months. I just block it off when needed.

Outdoor housing
 

Thanks for your replies. Does your greenhouse get lots of sun all day? I'm trying to work out where to put it in our garden as the obvious wall doesn't get sun until the afternoon. Also, do you use a standard greenhouse heater to give background heat (as well as the tort specific heating)?

Thanks

I’m afraid I don’t have a greenhouse but just wanted to extend a welcome Anna.

Im lucky my greenhouse gets sun all day from about 10 am till it sets it faces side on to the early sun and the boxes are on the back wall so the sun hits them as soon as it is up which warms the box and brings the torts out.
The only heating is the ceramic in the open area and the tube in the box the sun does the rest:)

My GH also gets the sun (when its around) from early morning:0)
I only use the GH heater in the Winter when they are hibernating:0)

My greenhouses get the sun all day long so don't need much in the way of extra heating.

welcome Anna and torts, my Horsfields live all year round without heat outside in GH and enclosed area. Sun all day but you have to think that the UK isn't the Bahamas so not sure it matters too much, you don't have to have a lot of sun. You just have to test with an IR into a little cloche in the garden and it will always be masses warmer as earth / sun / light / no wind all helps. In early morning the cloches in the shade are at least 5 - 6 degrees higher than just houses outside on own. My lot are up now and it goes down to 6 degrees , but make sure they are well wrapped though as Gordon says rule of thumb is above 10 overnight and usually around 15 during day minimal, but my others are in over night under lamps and out during day as had lovely warm up so they cant complain. CB

Outdoor Housing - reply
 

Thanks everyone for your welcome and your advice. It's been very reassuring so I think I need to go for it with the greenhouse!