Basking Heat
- Thread starter Erik
- Start date
Eric, what type of tortoise are we talking here?
How do you keep the humidity high with that setup?
A large aquarium or plastic tub would be easier to heat and keep humid. Also, I only see one light fixture. Growing baby tortoises need UVB either from the sun or from an expensive UVB light.
Sorry - on second look I see a tube type fluorescent fixture. That's probably your UVB, right? It seems a bit high, though.
Sorry - on second look I see a tube type fluorescent fixture. That's probably your UVB, right? It seems a bit high, though.
Take a look at some of the threads pinned a the top of the Sulcata section. We have some new and cutting edge info for you on keeping baby sulcatas healthy and growing smoothly.
Hello and welcome to the forum Erik. I'm very glad you decided to join us because you are headed for disaster there. You have a multitude of problems there. What follows is intended as constructive criticism, intended to help you take better care of your new baby.
1. No red bulbs. Tortoises have better color vision than we do. If your can see red light, they can see it better. It makes things look funny to them and it messes with their heads. Imagine if you were locked in a room and that sort of red light was on all the time. No bueno.
2. How are you measuring temps under the bulb? Those stick on dial type thermometers are notoriously inaccurate and unreliable.
3. You can change the basking temperature by raising or lowering either the fixture or the wattage of your bulb.
4. The florescent tube will do nothing but light the enclosure from that high up. Is it a 10.0 bulb? It needs to be no more than 10-12" away from the tortoise to have even a little benefit. If your tortoise get real sunshine a few times a week, then you don't need to worry about it until winter.
5. That open enclosure will make it impossible to maintain the correct conditions for this species. They hatch during the African rainy season and they need it warm and humid.
Please read these for more info:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/closed-chambers.32333/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/
1. No red bulbs. Tortoises have better color vision than we do. If your can see red light, they can see it better. It makes things look funny to them and it messes with their heads. Imagine if you were locked in a room and that sort of red light was on all the time. No bueno.
2. How are you measuring temps under the bulb? Those stick on dial type thermometers are notoriously inaccurate and unreliable.
3. You can change the basking temperature by raising or lowering either the fixture or the wattage of your bulb.
4. The florescent tube will do nothing but light the enclosure from that high up. Is it a 10.0 bulb? It needs to be no more than 10-12" away from the tortoise to have even a little benefit. If your tortoise get real sunshine a few times a week, then you don't need to worry about it until winter.
5. That open enclosure will make it impossible to maintain the correct conditions for this species. They hatch during the African rainy season and they need it warm and humid.
Please read these for more info:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/closed-chambers.32333/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/
I lowered the UVB.
Did this do the trick for you and the family tortoise?
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