As you all know i have a wendy house for my Sulcata for winter but am in a bit of a quandry about heating My OH was going to make a heated area for Fluff rather than heat the whole house but i dont know if that will be enough.We were going to have a ceramic heater hanging down that we can lower or higher to get right temps and a small strip light for uv.At the moment Fluff is coming into the kitchen at night in a heated open fronted viv and we can continue with that if needed but i would like her outside if poss as she now is 12ins in length and weighs 8 1/2 lbs and growing by the day How do you keep your torts outside in the winter and what works for you

i use a heated and insulated shed that is 8'x6' with two of 250w infrared spots that i have wired through seperate dimmer switches.these are turned up for about 3 hours on winter mornings before they are allowed out through the hatches.this isnt ideal but works for me. i intend on replacing with 150w ceramics through a controller stat for overnight and daytime background heating.i will then have two seperate uvb lamps on timers to come on for the first 3 hours of daylight after i have manually opened the hatches normally this is sufficient to get them going and they can graze as they wish.i put them back into the shed at night where they can rely on the background heating.

Hi Judith Ann

I have hibernating torts, so Don't have to keep them warm over winter.

But if you can get the shed insulated to stop heat being lost, and then maybe fit a false ceiling in the wendy house, so you aren't heating the whole house, just the bottom half, and then maybe a tubular heater fitted to the wall of the house, along with a 160 watt combi bulb with ceramic holder, and an extra uv light, (to keep it bright for her), will keep the house warm enough. I have put old carpet on the walls in Tilly's shed, this helps to keep the heat in for her.

Gail
xx

I have insulated the boys shed with double walled giant bubble wrap - they use it in greenhouses to keep the frost out of the soil, I have then staple gunned industrial thickness corrugated cardboard over the bubble wrap!!! Not ideal but it is working!!! And was fast and easy to do without costing a fortune. Infact apart from the staples, the rest was free.
Kim

excellent! Sounds good (and cheap!) Mine is 2" block polystyrene and hardboard in a breezeblock frame, it really holds the temps well, and last year the background temp (during hibernation) rarely came on! I was well chuffed with it!

The cardboard is hopefully going to work well, but I intend on replacing it with hardboard next year - am keeping my eye out for offcuts on skips
My concern is that even with all the bubble wrap providing a waterproof layer, the cardboard will get damp and so not last very long - also am worried about fire risk!
Kim

Thank you fpr the pictures Terry and all your answers it really has given me something to work with