I was just wondering if I would need any additional heat over the winter months? We have a 125watt lamp

As long as you can maintain the 30c under the basking lamp, perhaps by lowering the lamp if necessary, you should be ok.  Best to keep thermometers under the basking lamp and at the cool end to make sure temps are constant.

Vivienne

yeh we have thermometers at each end and the basking end usually reads at 30 but today it was only at 25, ill see if i can lower it, thanks for your advice

Hi, one of my larger tables is affected during the winter (the leopards table), its on a lower level, so I have a second basking lamp in there and on really cold days when temps are low, I put the extra lamp on to boost the heat.  Is your table indoors?  If so, you may find the temps aren't too bad as we tend to have heating on which raises the ambient room temperatures.

Vivienne

ah ok, yeh it is indoors, we dont actually have heating at my house as the boiler is broken which isnt so good! thats why i was wondering about the extra heat, we do have heaters tho so i guess i could put one of those in the room hes in if its not getting to the right heat

Personally I would try what Viv said first: as by putting an extra bulb in there it can be directed to the desired area. Where as if you put a heater in there you are heating the complete room and not neccessarily the area where your tortoise is. I always have an oil filled heater on at all times set to frost, so depending on where about you live in the country and how well your house is insulated this might also be an idea.

HTH

Elaine

ive lowered the lamp and its getting to the right temp now so ill keep a close eye on it

 glad to read things are working out!

TC

Elaine

sorry i have another question! my mum is gettin a bit worried about the temp at night when she turns the lamp off, she said that it can get as low as 12 and is worried about him getting too cold, should we get a normal desk lamp to leave on over night and then turn his normal 125watt on during the day?

Hi - sorry I am coming in late here and am not sure of the species of tortoise you have?  I keep hermanns, and a 12C overnight temp would not worry me at all.  However if you have a tortoise which needs it warmer at night, or if the temps drop much lower, I have used the ceramic heat bulbs and found these work really well.  The problem with using a desk lamp on overnight to keep it warmer is that your tortoise will be kept in the light as well - they need a 'day/night' cycle.  Ceramic heat bulbs are realtively inexpensive, and depending on the wattage give out a nice gentle heat in one area - last for years too!

Arlene

I agree, Arlene. I've got a ceramic heat emitter on a thermostat, set to go on if the temperature drops below about 11C at night, and it works a treat. And they last forever. I've got one in my corn snakes's cage that has been there for just over 20 years, and it is still working perfectly.

Nina

oh ok yeh he is a hermanns so 12 is probably ok then, but if it starts to get colder as winter draws near i shall look into a ceramic heat emitter!

Hi Vivienne, i am expecting my leopard tort any time now and need to know ALL the stuff i will need, from lamps, bulbs (how many & wattage) thermos, timers, clamplamps (size) Every thing! He will be living in my unheated tool room which is attached to my house and well insulated. I also partitioned it off, so the "Tort room" is around 2 and a half meters long and 1 and a half wide, inside this, is my table (book shelf) which is 2 meters long and 1 meter wide. Phew!! i hope this helps you help me.
Kindest regards Graham, Norway.

Hi Graham,  to our site, glad to see you are doing your research before you have your Leopard tortoise. We have an excellent Leopard care sheet http://www.tortoise-protection-group.org.uk/site/files/LeopardcaresheetMay08.pdf  which should help answer a lot of the questions you have.  Once you have read through it, if there is anything you are unsure of, please do not hesitate to come and ask us.

Kind regards Vivienne 

Hi Graham

Not Vivienne, but I keep leopards too so thought I might make a start on answering your questions.

First of all you will need to make sure that your background ambient temperature can be kept up to 20°C during the day time and be allowed to drop no lower than 16°C at night. If this is only a small tortoise then you may wish to consider housing it indoors over winter as it can be very costly to heat up an outbuilding (voice of experience speaking here. I use an electric fan heater for this set on a thermostat but this is a very expensive way of providing the heat, although I do know electricity is cheaper in Norway than the UK. You may wish to consider making a closed bedroom compartment which you can heat at night using a ceramic heat emitter and then the whole shed need not be heated, providing it is installed safely.

Leopards do need high levels of light, more than most other tortoise species so hopefully your shed has windows providing natural sunlight.

I should think a megaray 100 flood light may be enough for a basking lamp but if your shed is dark then you will have to provide some other form of bright light. I have a table of a similar size and I have a 4' reptisun 10.0 tube as well.

Viv may have some other suggestions for you when she comes on line.

Helen

Helen

Thanks Vivienne, Fantastic site! I have now cleared most of my bookmarks on torts, as this site seems to have it all!
Regards Graham.

Wow, thanks Helen, am worrying a little less already :) My table is in a little room within the storage house, and the outer walls are insulated like the main house (timber houses here) but do i have to turn things on and off manually? I like the idea of a day/night cycle. The little house within the shed is decked out in Dinosaur decals and i have a dinosaur wall paper border around the inside of his table, a real jurassic theme! I hope i dont reawaken some prime evil fear in the poor chap. Ha Ha. His name is going to be FLYMO for obvious reasons.
Thanks again Graham.

Hi Graham, glad you found the care sheet helpful.  With regards to the lights, the basking light (usually a 60-100w reflector bulb from any supermarket) and the uv lamp, (or if you are getting the combined heat/uv lamps eg Megaray) should be on during the day, say from 8am til 5pm, then off at night.  If the temperatures drop too low (lower than 16c) at night, you could use a ceramic heater over the table to keep the temps up for Flymo  (love the name!!).  All of these can be put on timers.  The ceramic heater at night can also be put on a thermostat, so that it only comes on when the temperature drops below 16c. The combined heat/uv cannot be used on a thermostat.  I hope I havent confused you.

Your room sounds great, when its all set up please post some pics for us to see, and some of Flymo.  Out of interest were you able to buy Flymo from a breeder in Norway?

Regards Vivienne

Whoops sorry, I have just read your other posts on where you are buying your tort from, its an eye opener and very interesting how other countries work!

Vivienne

Thanks Vivienne, thats been a great help :)

Hi Vivienne, So what i need is; 1 thermostat?, 1 ceramic heater,(is that a bulb?) 1 UV/heat bulb 100 watt, (spot or flood?) 1 or 2 timers?
Do i need 2 lamp fitting, and if so, what inch to accomodate the 100w T-rex UV/Heat bulb
Then a quick run down of how i set it all up would be brilliant! Thanks again for your patience and time.
Graham, Norway.
PS it is currently -6 degrees out side with a foot of frozen snow, and the temp in my unheated room attached to the house still stays at around +4 or 5! My tort house within that storage room will be normal ceiling height, but just big enough to walk along the side of my tort table/book shelf lying flat. It will also have a small door. So basically all i need to heat is a 1 and a half meter wide and 2 and a half meter long room.

pps sorry to be a pain!

Hi Graham, its sounds like you've grasped it well. 

Yes you do need a thermostat, mainly for the ceramic heater at night, so that it comes on as and when the temp drops.  A ceramic heater is like a light bulb fitting but its made of plain white ceramic and does not give out any light. Here is a link to what they look like, http://www.cheappetproducts.net/100_Watt_HEAT_EMITTER_Ceramic_Coil__30_to_40Gal_-UKP69296.html

Yes to a uv/heat lamp, you mention T-Rex, is there any chance you can get a Megaray instead? And it is the flood you want.  These cannot be used on a thermostat, you higher or lower them over the table to achieve the correct temperature. You will need to connect the combined bulb to heat resistant wire and a ceramic lamp fitting, and do not touch the glass of the bulb as it leaves a fat deposit from your hand eventually making the bulb blow always handle it with a clean cotton cloth.   

I find that there is not enough heat for my leopards from the combined bulb, I supplement it with a 60 reflector bulb (from the supermarket) but check yours to see if you do.

You will need two timers one for the uv/heat (and extra lamp) to come on and one for the ceramic heater.

To set it up, you will need all the heat and light up one end of the table, so that the other end is cooler (about 20c) so that the leopard can thermoregulate, and choose the temp it wants to be at.  Best to put the food and water and hide in the cooler end, so that it doesnt wilt the food and doesnt make the water evaporate under the lamps.

Any other questions please fire away!!

Regards Vivienne