Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am building an outdoor enclosure for my Hermanns and I need input on how to best heat her hide box.

i live in Denver so it gets cold in the winter and I'd like to keep her outside year round. I was planning on building a 4x2x2 house and separating a 1.5x2 area and placing a pig blanket there and filling that with hay or straw. The other area would have one or 2 CHE's and it would be kept around 50 degrees. In theory, the pig blanket would heat the straw so that she could find a spot she like as far as temp goes. I would mount a temp probe about 6" above the mat and keep a temp of 42 degrees there.
So does anyone use a pig blanket and place begging ontop and will this work? We can get temps to -10 on rare ocassion, but I would think that the CHE's along with the insulation provided by the straw would allow me to be able to maintain the 40-45 degree temps I need in the straw area.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry I don't have any experience with pig blankets, etc.

But I wanted to ask you: what are your plans in case of power failure?

I live in Missouri, and while it is a little warmer here than in Denver, temps can drop to well below freezing (and sometimes below zero F), and we have power failures. I keep my russian torts indoors during the winter and let them hibernate in a cool spot in the basement. A power failure would not result in a catastrophic drop in temperatures in the basement.

Best of luck with your plans!

We never really have any power issues in the winter time, maybe during a late spring snow storm. But to answer your question, I guess I would just bring him in when the temp dropped below 40 degrees. Interesting point and sI haven't considered.

DO NOT PLACE ANYTHING OTHER THAN THE ANIMAL on pig blankets. Sorry to shout, but I found out the hard way when my boas pushed their humid hide ontop of the pig blanket and it started a fire which killed the two boas in the enclosure and resulted in the deaths of several other species due to smoke inhalation.

It's the first and only fire I have had in over 25 years of keeping herps.

If you are going to use pig blankets, simply place them on the floor of the enclosure and leave 'em be. Make sure there is no way for any of the torts to push bedding or anything else on top of them. Not the most aestitically pleasing look but definately safe.

Another option would be to put Ceramic Heat emmitters in the roof of the barn or radiant heat panels. Though not exactly what the torts are used to physiologically or psychologically my experience has been that they do adapt well.

Ian