Recent content by ATHiker17

You as well!

The Indian Star is a Ferguson zone 3 reptile, requiring a UVI of 2.9 to 7.4 in the basking area and then naturally decreasing in all directions from that point. Remember, those numbers are at shell height, so you need to get the TOP of Solarmeter pointed directly at the bulb from that height, or...

A small foam cooler and some hand warmers will get you through a power outage if it gets extremely cold. But if temps stay above 50⁰f you're okay for a few days.

Did you create that backdrop? I really like the way it looks.

Respectfully I disagree about nighttime temperatures in T. Horefeldi. Temps into the mid to upper 60s for juveniles are fine as long as they get plenty of heat during the day. His daytime basking temp is 91-97⁰ and the ambient gradient is 87⁰ down to 72⁰.

Insomnia has led me down a rabbit hole this morning. I've been reading many of the articles on the Tortoise Trust website and that has led to some questions regarding humidity and proper husbandry. I tend to agree with a statement I read from Tom on the subject regarding the attempted mimicking...

While enduring a bad experience with hatchling failure syndrome in an Eastern Hermann's from another breeder, we were very nervous about getting a new tortoise. Our anxiety turned out to be completely unwarranted. Ryan at Southern Reptiles spent nearly 30 minutes on the phone with me and after I...

I'm considering this idea for next spring as a spot to take the babies and juveniles out for an hour or so. My concern is how hot the black plastic will get after a bit of direct sunlight. The whole purpose of getting them outside is to get sunlight, but I don't want them injured. What are your...

Thank you for this information. I'll definitely be tweaking things in the coming days.

Thanks for the input! I have a humidifier running adjacent to the open top and during the day my humidity gradient slopes up from 58% near the basking area to 75% at the cool end. At night, after putting the cover in place, the humidity of the entire enclosure quickly climbs to 82-85%. He gets...

We have a Hermann's tortoise that is estimated to be 6 weeks old. We're running an Arcadia 12% at 14.5 inches just over the basking area and it's slightly filtered by a 1/2" welded wire screen. As measured by a Solarmeter 6.5R, the UVI is 8.5 when taken 4 1/2" above the basking zone. Based on...

I would think 125w or 150w. Hang it at whatever height gives you a basking temp of 90-95. What's the ambient temperature in the room you keep the tortoise in?

Since you already have UVB supplied by the strip light, the basking light should not provide additional UVB. An incandescent flood basking light is typically recommended and given the large area you're trying to heat, 100 watts would probably be the minimum required.

What type of bulb are you using for basking and how high is it hung?

I'm still new to tortoises, but I suspect some keepers with more experience will chime in soon. Until then, I think you can rest easy. 😉