Don't know what to do to keep my tort warm

[derrick0312]

Originally Posted by EJ

IR bulbs can burn a tortoise pretty easily.

Function-wise, is IR bulb any different to ceramic bulb??? I thought they are doing the same thing?? Is it one better than the other??

[Shelled Lady]

Ceramics come in quite high wattage, whereas an Infra Red can be used as 100w for night time. My tortoises much prefer IR,it seems to be very therapeutic to them. They will use it over a white light.

I would suggest you put your tortoise in moist soil for night time and have the lamp come on early about 5-6a.m. By the time you get up, your tortoise should be up and basking, warmed through and ready to eat.

[Easter Bunny]

I use a low wattage usually 75watt infrared bulb at night.. They don't sleep under it though. I have it pointed in the direction of where they're sleeping. It just gives out a very gentle heat to take the chill off.
As soon as their Arcadia D3 combined bulb come on in the morning they are up straight away

[suttysue]

i know some people dont like the idea of heat mats but I use them in the bedrooms of my torts and it makes a huge difference in winter.
I create a false bottom to the bedroom by using a piece of plywood & 4 of those plastic things you get in BnQ that are used to join wardrobes etc together (1 side has 2 hole thother 1). Use these to the ply to act as legs. You can also use them to hold the heat mat in place which should be attached to the ply also. You now have underfloor heating all winter. I have it on a timer so that when thier lights go out the heat mat comes on and then goes off when the lighs come back on in the morning.
My are all now running round the table where as before they where very lethargic.
sue

[Anita Sayles]

Originally Posted by derrick0312

This is brilliant but I am not good at wood works myself...I guess you buit this rather than bought it?

No, the table and the viv were bought, my son cut the little doorways so he can go from one to the other.
It works out more expensive but on the other hand it increases the size of his space, so he can stay on the table for a bit longer as he gets bigger.

[EJ]

All electrical circuits give off IR wavelengths. The intensity or the power of the IR wave is what you have to watch out for. I'm guessing that the power of the IR in a bulb is way higher than that found in a ceramic emitter.

I've seen many tortoises severely burned bu IR bulbs but I've never seen a tortoise burned by a ceramic heat emitter.

As to functionality... they are very different. The bulb relies on emitting a higher power of IR to... in a sense... cook what is under it... similar to microwave.

A ceramic emitter produces heat as a result of a high resistance embeded coil in the ceramic housing.

Originally Posted by derrick0312

Function-wise, is IR bulb any different to ceramic bulb??? I thought they are doing the same thing?? Is it one better than the other??

[derrick0312]

Originally Posted by suttysue

i know some people dont like the idea of heat mats but I use them in the bedrooms of my torts and it makes a huge difference in winter.
I create a false bottom to the bedroom by using a piece of plywood & 4 of those plastic things you get in BnQ that are used to join wardrobes etc together (1 side has 2 hole thother 1). Use these to the ply to act as legs. You can also use them to hold the heat mat in place which should be attached to the ply also. You now have underfloor heating all winter. I have it on a timer so that when thier lights go out the heat mat comes on and then goes off when the lighs come back on in the morning.
My are all now running round the table where as before they where very lethargic.
sue

Why do some people don't like heat mat??

[derrick0312]

Originally Posted by Anita Sayles

No, the table and the viv were bought, my son cut the little doorways so he can go from one to the other.
It works out more expensive but on the other hand it increases the size of his space, so he can stay on the table for a bit longer as he gets bigger.

I see...so from the pictures, do you have 2 basking spots - one inside one outside?

[suttysue]

Some folks dont like the heat mat system because if your tort has full contact with the mat they can burn themselves. Which is why I create a a false floor
Sue

[Anita Sayles]

Yeah I guess I do.
Yesterday I changed the heatmat in the viv for a ceramic bulb because the little heatmat was working 24/7 and it was a lot warmer up at the ceiling than down near the floor.
Directly under the ceramic it is 25.5deg (just checked) but I think this gives an overall good temp. 24deg where you see the sensor and 23deg at the cool end.
The ceramic heat bulb is on a thermostat.
The compact light in the viv is a UV so if he didn't want to come out all day, that's fine.
Out side is an Arcadia UVB, slightly higher temp in the basking area 32deg, but cooler ambient air.


Here's the little guy






As I said the set up works well for me