Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I need some advice on heating my sulcata shed for the winter. I have 6 of them, the largest is around 17" SL and the smallest around 6" SL and they have their own 8'x10' metal garden shed inside their outdoor enclosure that they sleep in every night. The doors are usually left open so they can come and go as they please but I can close the doors on cold days and keep them in it if need be as well. I'm in the Houston, TX area so our winters aren't usually very harsh, Jan is our coldest month and the average high/low temps are 63/45 degrees. Snow is very rare here, we've had it twice in the last 25 years. So, what is my best option to heat their shed up? I was thinking about using a small space heater and building a rack for it so its off the ground and they can't get to it but Ive also seen people using the large heat pads, heat lamps, etc, etc. Any opinions? And what temp should I try to keep it at?

I use Kane Heat Mats. You can buy them on any number of links on this site. You can get a relatively inexpensive thermostat, and keep the temperature around eighty degrees. This usually heats the air to around sixty five on a cool day in South Texas, which, like Houston, rarely falls below 32 F. I use infrared heat lamps during the daylight hours, and ofcourse the animals should be given access to the outdoors on sunny days, even if the air temperature is in the fifties.

T.G.

Ive heard alot of mixed opinions on the heat pads, alot of people seem to have problems with ants when they put them directly on the ground and Ive been told that with sulcatas its better to heat the whole room up then to have a heat source like a pad for them to sleep on. Plus they are the most expensive option, is there any reason I shouldn't just use lamps or a space heater to heat their whole shed up to 80 degrees or so?

We use a Kane heat mat too and in one corner above that is a ceramic heat emitter. CHEs are more expensive than heat bulbs but they last for years instead of months or weeks, so to me they are worth the extra money.
Before we had the Kane we tried a space heater but it got too hot in her home, we couldn't seem to control the heat the way we needed to. And then there was the problem of not having a place to put it where she couldn't knock it over.
That was 2002 the first year we had her, her home was newly built & we were improvising. We ordered the Kane when we couldn't make use of a space heater.
We've had the Kane for 5 years now, I love that thing.
Never had a problem with ants, and it's easy to clean.
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PHRatz

Yeah, I use CHE's for my box turtles. I guess I'm gonna go ahead and try out one of the heaters with a built in thermostat from Wal-Mart, I already have a metal shelf suspended from the ceiling in their shed so I won't have a problem finding a safe place to put it where they can't get to it. Its worth a try since its about 1/4 of the price of the mat I want to order, if it doesn't work out I'll just return it and order one of the Kane heat mats.

Has anyone tried a good old heat lamp? I guess it would probably be difficult to monitor the heat without the rheostat(sp?).

I did pick up an oil filled radiated heater with a thermostat but haven't had to use it yet--getting ready to turn that thing on any day now.

This winter will be all trial and error for me!!