Leopard Hot House

[newforestmum]

Tom has just picked up a supply of free plywood that he for waiting for so we are now ready to build the new Leopard house.

It is going to be either 4' x 4' or 4' x 6' which should last them for a while obviously depending on how quickly they grow and as to whether Honey goes home or not. It will be constructed of ply plus celotex insulation plus ply. so it will be a ply sandwich with a celotex filling. (celotex is a material that builders use to insulate houses).

now the plan so far is to cut a doorway in the front with a drop down door to close at night. then one of the side panels will be hinged to allow me access to inside the house for cleaning, etc.

in the other house we had a double glazed glass roof on it but it was getting very cold in the winter so this time we are going to have a ply sandwich roof. but obviously in the summer it has worked the other way and we have not needed the lamps on during the days when it has been sunny as the house has been heated by the sun reaching temps over 30 degrees. however this means the house will be fully enclosed with no windows. Will that be okay? They will still have access to the grass area all year round.

so what about light and heat. in the existing house they have a t rex flood lamp and a ceramic heat lamp that dad has wired into some sort of circuit board so that the t rex comes on like your heating does at specific timed intervals and the ceramic one comes on when the temperature drops via a thermastat.

the stuff dad used is quite old and I would like to purchase a digital version that is more accurate. any ideas? what do you guys use? how do you regulate the temps?

[Dazza]

Lisa,

I am in the process of making/converting a 8 x 6 shed into a fully insulated house for my tortoises, i have found that greenhouses are either to hot or to cold !!

I have come to the conclusion myself to block the window up and have no glass at all, also i had considered polycarbonate roof but again opted for insulated, so my shed will be just like yours heat fvrom the sun will be deflected away meaning this time of the year will need lights, but think about it today some of mine are under the lamps while others will be out and about, when the sun is really hot you can afford to prop the door open and encouage light & heat in and tortoises out !!

Now mine are all meds and differ from your leopards, but even when mine first woke in mid feb it was really hard to keep temps up so having windows is just somewhere else heat can escape !!

I think as long as they have a good supply of uv and access to the great out doors (weater permitting) should be fine !!

Darren

[terrypin]

hi i have an 8x6 insulated shed it is insulated with cellotex insulation board includeing the roof like ,Darren i chose to block out the existing window everything works and it holds the heat well ,mine is heated by two 250w infra red spots this seems adequate but i may incorporate a seperate heater this winter, even though i only have to just turn the heat lamps on a bit in winter at night(they are both on seperate dimmer switches) it isnt ideal and i feel they would be happier with no night light at all and i hope to change to combined uvb heat and light when this is done.

[Dazza]

Great Terry, i was thinking about tublar heaters but your infa red sounds a good idea, thanks !!

Darren

[TANK]

8) SOUNDS COOL 8)

[terrypin]

hi Darren i dont think infra red is ideal for background or nighttime heat but as for besking they pile up under them and seem to absorb the heat well so it does the job its just i think i will put a different nighttime heater in thier this winter so they can sleep in total darkness i will run it with a thermostat and it can be on all year as backup heating .although the old system has worked well for the last 12years that i have had the shed.
terry