CHE placement
- Thread starter Natalie44
- Start date
Littleredfootbigredheart
Well-Known Member
@Alex and the Redfoot she should hang it near the floodlight correct? And place the thermostat probe in the cooler end?
Sorry I’ve tagged Alex to double check because the set up for our red foot is completely different for your Russian, I just want to make sure I’m advising you on the correct placement, hang tight🙂
Sorry I’ve tagged Alex to double check because the set up for our red foot is completely different for your Russian, I just want to make sure I’m advising you on the correct placement, hang tight🙂
Thank you for your reply
also not forgetting I need to add the uvb light aswell. The floodlight is the basking area right? And no worries- the more the merrier!
Littleredfootbigredheart
Well-Known Member
Have you decided how you’re securing the uv yet? Did you decide to make a stand or are you going to hang it from the greenhouse topper frame? Just curious😊 and yes the floodlight is the basking area🙂Thank you for your reply
I’m thinking of making a stand. My dads a carpenter to he’ll make one out of
I've thinking a stand. My dads a carpenter so he’s making a wooden one hanging over, like the one in the picture
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Littleredfootbigredheart
Well-Known Member
Ah cool! Handy having a carpenter dad!😁can’t wait to see pics once you’re all set up!I’m thinking of making a stand. My dads a carpenter to he’ll make one out of
I've thinking a stand. My dads a carpenter so he’s making a wooden one hanging over, like the one in the picture
You’re doing the smart thing making sure you’ve got the set up running and getting your levels correct before getting your new baby🥰I’d run it for a few days once you’ve got the topper, checking your day and night temps, humidity etc, you’ll be in the home run then😊did you get yourself a temp gun? SO handy when setting up to check the parameters🙌🏻
Alex and the Redfoot
Well-Known Member
For this enclosure size you can place CHE between the middle and the "cold end" (opposite to basking zone). CHE is needed to maintain temperature at night and tortoises often sleep in the darker part or in the middle. If they tuck at night in the basking area this often a sign that ambient temperatures are low.
Littleredfootbigredheart
Well-Known Member
Perfect! There you go Natalie, hope that helped😊
The CHE is intended to maintain ambient temp all over the whole enclosure, right? This is best accomplished by putting it in the middle of the enclosure. In many cases, is better to use two CHEs to spread the heat out more.
If you are getting a temperate species and your room temp stays above about 19-20C, you really don't need ambient heat.
Littleredfootbigredheart
Well-Known Member
She’s getting a hatchling and our uk winters get very cold! I think she’ll definitely need that CHE and her enclosure isn’t very big yet so I reckon one will do her for now🙂
Yea, I do think I should for when it starts to get cold. The tort is 7 months old…. So not tiny tiny but still a baby!
Its not the day time temp that matters. You'll have the basking lamp, ambient lighting and UV to keep temps up during the day. Its the overnight low you have to be concerned about.
A night drop down to 20-21 is fine for any temperate species. Yes, hermanni is a temperate species. They come from a "Mediterranean" type climate with cold nights and cold winters, as opposed to a tropical climate nearer the equator that is warm and sunny all year long day and night.
Littleredfootbigredheart
Well-Known Member
It drops to that right now but bare in mind this is us in our ‘mild weather’ our winters can be brutal😂her night temp will be lower than 20-21 here I reckon, depending how they keep their house
The temperature outside your house doesn't matter. The temperature inside your enclosure is what matters. In a large closed chamber with proper heating and lighting, the temperatures will stay where they need to be even when it is snowing outside. If the room temp in winter will be dropping below 20C at night, then you will need the ambient heat source. If you keep your house reasonably warm, then you don't need the ambient heat source.
In either case, it won't hurt anything to have the ambient heat source set up on a thermostat. If the temperature stays warm enough, it will simply never turn on.
You can also use a thermostat that allows two different temperatures for day and night. Set it to 25-26C during the day and 21C at night.
Littleredfootbigredheart
Well-Known Member
Can’t she simply get a 600w thermostat I’ve already recommended to her and set it to the night temp? I think she’s only going to need that che on cold nights here anyway, the night and day thermostats are so much more expensive and seem pointless here with her floodlight.
I like day time ambient temps to warm up to 23-26C during the day. Warmer than that is okay in summer too. Basking temp during the day directly under the lamp should be around 36-37C. In a tented closed chamber, the heat lamp should bring your ambient temp up during the day.
This is why you have to set it all up, run it, and make adjustments for several days BEFORE bringing the tortoise home. We can give you guidelines and suggestions, but every enclosure is a little different and requires "fine tuning". Even the same enclosure needs adjustment throughout a given year.
Littleredfootbigredheart
Well-Known Member
She’s doing a great job by making sure she’s getting everything set and running beforehand and asking lots of all the right questions bless her❤️
Taking all the advice here💕
