Recent content by John J

That natural phenomenon process of heating makes total sense to me and the rock is indeed the ambient temps of the morning which is sometimes from 68 to 72 , so that makes me feel a LOT better about that part of the process. My bulb is indeed a flood so I think with that than the downward...

Thank you for making me feel better about it haha! I'm trying not to be neurotic over it but I do obsess over their well being and sometimes I don't think I'm doing enough so lately I've been using the forum to cross reference my husbandry and to address my problems and questions, I will soon...

Just for clarification too I understand basking is not done from the ground temp but rather from the ambient temps. So in that regard the heat from the stone doesn't matter but it does have its function. As I will do the needed adjustments for the bulb to get a more proper basking temp, I'm...

I will do some adjusting because the stone gets just below 100 like at 98, the temp gauge when I baked it on a block as high as the torts under the lamp said 103. So it doesn't matter how fast the stone heats up in terms of basking? Because my torts will get up pretty early and the stone isn't...

Does anyone have information on how long a basking rock should heat up optimally? I am experimenting with three different stones, slate tile, flagstone, and a stepping stone which there will be a picture at the bottom for reference of thickness and texture. I haven't tried the tile yet but the...

The plants are doing good and standing tall after getting uprooted and than transplanted and watered. I didn't actually see anything in there but I'll be watering it with that mixture for a day or two more than wait a week for all larvae to be dead.bitbwas just the one tortoises enclosure my...

That is true. I feel more equipped now at least, thanks for all the advice and perspective again as usual lol!

All plants were quarantined and soaked in a small hydrogen peroxide and water mix at a ratio of 1:4, and I got some UV bug zappers. For now I put a bunch of fake plants in there so it's not bare as I treat all the plants for potential issues. I bought some "mosquito dunks" and was thinking of...

What's crazy is they are all gone now! One Day it was Jumanji and the next, calm. I attribute this I think to the organic material at the very bottom of the Coco coir I never changed out it was a small bag of soil. As you have stated before that that's not a good idea at all I neglected to...

Just a quick update. I replaced all the substrate and there are hardly any more gnats! Once I employ these mitigation tactics now hopefully I will not have that happen again, I'll post a few pictures of the process and what it looked like, a gnats that were caught in a 30mimute session at the...

That's pretty cheap for that unit, looks great! Yes it is plenty big for that, I'm gonna give that a try too I've seen some people use bug zappers. Maybe have it on a timer to kick on before the morning lights, just to get a bulk of the adult population.

Thanks a lot as always for your advice and insight! Hopefully with all this info I can get this situation under control, if I found any reliable systems that work for me I will post it here for others to see, thank you!

Yeah I didn't even think of it either so thank you! That's something I'll have to actively pay attention to over the months!

That's a possibility, although I don't know if the degradation process happens that quick. The enclosure is now 4 to 5 months old with only a few boards exposed and all wood was freshly bought from home depot. Ide say 80% of the wood has pond liner stapled into it that meets and overlapping...

Okay I'll look for these bigger blocks and replace the substrate tomorrow, I'll soak all the blocks break em down and throw em in. If you don't mind whenever you have time, can you share a picture of your desert tortoise enclosures or indoor enclosures of any species so I can get an idea of how...