New Redfoot/Cherryhead, Bert!

Nookole · May 17, 2019

I got my first cherryhead last wednesday! And his name is Bert!

Here are some cute pictures

However, Bert's set up has been a huge challenge. This was attempt #1

The temperature was only getting to 80 max directly under the light, and while the humidity would stay past 80% the first hour or so, of course it went down again.

Attempt #2

I added a second bulb and cut the original lid to the tote to cover it and maintain the humidity. I was reaching around 85-90 degrees on the warm side, and then like 75-80 on the cool side (under the lid). However, much to my surprise, Bert isn't the smartest tort under the shell, and dug to the furthest corner from the heat and digging down into his coir which was like 65 degrees. That worried the mess out of me.

However, the humidity has been fine.

Current Attempt:

I moved the tote to the other side of the couch, away from any vents, and covered it in insulation. It's also sitting on padding. That's pipe insulation for winter time. It's essentially foil and cotton padding. I used the insulation and duct tape to make little covers for the "lid", and moved the heater to the center.

Currently, it's about 87 degrees in the center and 80 on either side. I'm checking it every 30 minutes or so becuase I'm worried about it overheating at this point lol

My question is... HOW are you guys keeping the temperatures consistent? Especially in your totes or vivs? Like I already feel like two CHE's are overkill and bad for his shell. I thought the temp would be the easy part!! Like especially if I reach in to mist... the temps drop! Or they did. We'll see how Bert's Spaceship works out.

it definitely looks like a spaceship.

ZEROPILOT · May 17, 2019

Closing off the enclosure...Making a "closed chamber" enclosure not only holds in humidity, it also holds in heat.
87 is ideal. By the way.
Be very careful not to get temps up much higher as an overall temperature as Redfoot will overheat.

Nookole · May 17, 2019

ZEROPILOT said:
Closing off the enclosure...Making a "closed chamber" enclosure not only holds in humidity, it also holds in heat.
87 is ideal. By the way.
Be very careful not to get temps up much higher as an overall temperature as Redfoot will overheat.

I've read that a little over 80 is ideal for the warmest spot in there.

And in between attempts 2 and Spaceship I put the longer lid on, so the only open spaces was just the CHE and UVB bulb, and even with it 98% enclosed the temps wouldn't stay consistent. Maybe it's just my house?

Any other suggestions to make this better? Is 87 center and 80 on either side okay for him?

ZEROPILOT · May 17, 2019

Nookole said:
I've read that a little over 80 is ideal for the warmest spot in there. And in between attempts 2 and Spaceship I put the longer lid on, so the only open spaces was just the CHE and UVB bulb, and even with it 98% enclosed the temps wouldn't stay consistent. Maybe it's just my house?

Any other suggestions to make this better? Is 87 center and 80 on either side okay for him?

Mine live outdoors.
But when I did have a closed chamber indoors. It stayed from 79 to 83 and it seemed ideal.
Redfoot seem to like temps a bit cooler than most other species. And dislike the bright lights and higher temperatures that some others need.
If you can lock in anything from 78 to 85, call it a win.
I also had plexiglass lids and I dropped the florescent strip light and mounted it inside. Attaching it to the underside of the lid.
That allows for a closed, full top.
I had no other heat source and the tiny bit of heat generated by the florescent lights transformer kept the thing near 82.
The house A/C is set at 73. The enclosure stayed 82ish. At night. With the light off, 76 was the average. As low as 73 is still an ok night temperature for Redfoot.
Your findings might be different. But give it a shot.
I find that sometimes simpler is better.

Nookole · May 18, 2019

ZEROPILOT said:
Mine live outdoors.
But when I did have a closed chamber indoors. It stayed from 79 to 83 and it seemed ideal.
Redfoot seem to like temps a bit cooler than most other species. And dislike the bright lights and higher temperatures that some others need.
If you can lock in anything from 78 to 85, call it a win.
I also had plexiglass lids and I dropped the florescent strip light and mounted it inside. Attaching it to the underside of the lid.
That allows for a closed, full top.
I had no other heat source and the tiny bit of heat generated by the florescent lights transformer kept the thing near 82.
The house A/C is set at 73. The enclosure stayed 82ish. At night. With the light off, 76 was the average. As low as 73 is still an ok night temperature for Redfoot.
Your findings might be different. But give it a shot.
I find that sometimes simpler is better.

My house is between 71-72 degrees and I can't imagine just letting the lights keep the thing near 82. Just by itself it would sit at 68-70 because it's damp. My tote is larger, but it's not THAT big. I was going to downsize, but since I had the insulation I thought it may be worth trying it out before making him go through another home change.
I went simple to begin with, but it just didn't work.

So, after the spaceship was finished, I kept an eye on the temps and checked it between every 30 min to 45 min. It stayed at a solid 85 degrees in the center, and then 82 or so on either side of it. Humidity at 85%. After about 5 or 6 hours of this, I went to bed. Then, this morning, I checked it and it was at 82 center and 80 either side. This was weird, so I checked the temperature of the bulbs and it seems like one of my bulbs died in the middle of the night. One was giving off the normal amount of heat (bulb temp was like 550?), and the other was only at like 85-90degrees.

So, I swapped the bulb for another one (this one a 75W) and i'm checking it every 30 minutes now. It's warming back up in there. (using both a temp gun and a thermometer/hygrometer combo)

On a side note:

When I checked on him this morning he had burrowed down in the coir below the bark so deep it was like 73-74 degrees. I guess this is normal? Why won't he just stay in the warmth? I made him come up and warm up a bit for the day.

Also, last night he gave me a really big, good poop and somehow that's really comforting.

Ketta · May 18, 2019

@Nookole lol i know what you mean by that it feels comforting when you see they do a good big poop. LOL I also feel good now that i see Keto poops everyday and he does big poops! Now every time in the last 3 days that i soak him in warm water he poops & pees lol. and i feel great to see that LOL It means he is now relaxed.

ZEROPILOT · May 18, 2019

Nookole said:
My house is between 71-72 degrees and I can't imagine just letting the lights keep the thing near 82. Just by itself it would sit at 68-70 because it's damp. My tote is larger, but it's not THAT big. I was going to downsize, but since I had the insulation I thought it may be worth trying it out before making him go through another home change.
I went simple to begin with, but it just didn't work.

So, after the spaceship was finished, I kept an eye on the temps and checked it between every 30 min to 45 min. It stayed at a solid 85 degrees in the center, and then 82 or so on either side of it. Humidity at 85%. After about 5 or 6 hours of this, I went to bed. Then, this morning, I checked it and it was at 82 center and 80 either side. This was weird, so I checked the temperature of the bulbs and it seems like one of my bulbs died in the middle of the night. One was giving off the normal amount of heat (bulb temp was like 550?), and the other was only at like 85-90degrees.

So, I swapped the bulb for another one (this one a 75W) and i'm checking it every 30 minutes now. It's warming back up in there. (using both a temp gun and a thermometer/hygrometer combo)

On a side note:

When I checked on him this morning he had burrowed down in the coir below the bark so deep it was like 73-74 degrees. I guess this is normal? Why won't he just stay in the warmth? I made him come up and warm up a bit for the day.

Also, last night he gave me a really big, good poop and somehow that's really comforting.

I had a custom closed chamber made.
It was 30" long. 20" wide and just 10 inches tall. Completely closed.

Ketta · May 18, 2019

ZEROPILOT said:
I had a custom closed chamber made.
It was 30" long. 20" wide and just 10 inches tall. Completely closed.

wow!!!

Nookole · May 18, 2019

Ketta said:
@Nookole lol i know what you mean by that it feels comforting when you see they do a good big poop. LOL I also feel good now that i see Keto poops everyday and he does big poops! Now every time in the last 3 days that i soak him in warm water he poops & pees lol. and i feel great to see that LOL It means he is now relaxed.

It's so nice. And honestly, I'm surprised at how BIG they can be. He had to stand up on his hind legs to stretch and get all the poop out--that was pretty funny to me.

Ketta · May 18, 2019

Nookole said:
It's so nice. And honestly, I'm surprised at how BIG they can be. He had to stand up on his hind legs to stretch and get all the poop out--that was pretty funny to me.

mine does the same! mine even moves his legs from side to side until he poops.

KarenSoCal · May 18, 2019

Nookole said:
I got my first cherryhead last wednesday! And his name is Bert!

View attachment 272390
Here are some cute pictures

View attachment 272391

View attachment 272392 View attachment 272393

However, Bert's set up has been a huge challenge. This was attempt #1

View attachment 272395
The temperature was only getting to 80 max directly under the light, and while the humidity would stay past 80% the first hour or so, of course it went down again.

Attempt #2

View attachment 272396
I added a second bulb and cut the original lid to the tote to cover it and maintain the humidity. I was reaching around 85-90 degrees on the warm side, and then like 75-80 on the cool side (under the lid). However, much to my surprise, Bert isn't the smartest tort under the shell, and dug to the furthest corner from the heat and digging down into his coir which was like 65 degrees. That worried the mess out of me.

However, the humidity has been fine.

Current Attempt:

View attachment 272397

I moved the tote to the other side of the couch, away from any vents, and covered it in insulation. It's also sitting on padding. That's pipe insulation for winter time. It's essentially foil and cotton padding. I used the insulation and duct tape to make little covers for the "lid", and moved the heater to the center.

Currently, it's about 87 degrees in the center and 80 on either side. I'm checking it every 30 minutes or so becuase I'm worried about it overheating at this point lol

My question is... HOW are you guys keeping the temperatures consistent? Especially in your totes or vivs? Like I already feel like two CHE's are overkill and bad for his shell. I thought the temp would be the easy part!! Like especially if I reach in to mist... the temps drop! Or they did. We'll see how Bert's Spaceship works out.

it definitely looks like a spaceship.

It does look a bit like a space ship! How do you find Bert under all that?
"Take me to your leader" [emoji23]

Nookole · May 18, 2019

Ketta said:
mine does the same! mine even moves his legs from side to side until he poops.

Lol! Tonight he gave me a big poop in the bath instead of on the paper towel. He just stopped fighting to get out and just chilled there in the water. I was worried until I saw his little tail come out and i was like "oh.. yep. here we go!" It was a sizeable one too. I'm kind of surprised it floated.

KarenSoCal said:
It does look a bit like a space ship! How do you find Bert under all that?
"Take me to your leader" [emoji23]

Haha! Poor Bert. I'm the leader here.

At least I'm doing my best!

Nookole · May 18, 2019

Welp, heating and Bert update.

Bert was more brave/active today. He explored his spaceship a bit, and he doesn't freeze up every time I stick my hand in there anymore. He also took a few munches on the cuttlebone! So exciting! I tried dusting dinner with calcium tonight but made a mess of it, and then he hated it. So. That's a challenge to conquer another day.

Heating update:
The second bulb, even though it was 75 watts, was BADASS. Too much so. At the 30 minute check up after turning it on, the tank was well over 90 degrees. This almost gave me a heart attack, but Bert was burrowed down and his shell and hidey hole was an okay 84 degrees. (thank god for this temp gun lol). I THINK the heat spike was because it was very warm outside today and i'm quickly learnign how much my house temperature fluctuates. I took the second bulb away immediately, misted it again, and made sure Bert got a drink of water just in case lol. The spaceship stayed around 83-85 degrees all day, and then dropped to around 82 tonight. This tells me my insulation experiment is at least keeping the temperatures much more consistent, and it's doing SOMETHING.

I don't really understand why the combo of two 100 W CHE's was barely keeping the hottest part of the spaceship at 87 degrees (again, i hate having so much power on him), but then swapping one of them out with a 75 heated it up like a toaster oven. Defective bulbs, maybe? Could it be the fixture blowing the bulb? Seriously, if anyone has any advice, I'm completely open to it.

Cheryl Hills · May 20, 2019

Put your che on a thermostat. Get it set for proper temps and the thermostat will regulate your temps, keeping them where they are supposed to be.

New Redfoot/Cherryhead, Bert!

Nookole

New Member

ZEROPILOT

REDFOOT WRANGLER

Nookole

New Member

ZEROPILOT

REDFOOT WRANGLER

Nookole

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Ketta

Active Member

ZEROPILOT

REDFOOT WRANGLER

Ketta

Active Member

Nookole

New Member

Ketta

Active Member

KarenSoCal

Well-Known Member

Nookole

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Nookole

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Cheryl Hills

Well-Known Member

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