Closed Chamber Issues?

[B0618]

Back again… I’m trying to get my setup together for a Western Hermann’s tortoise before he arrives on the 18th. (My Birthday Present) He’s a little under a year old. I have finally assembled and set up the PVC enclosure with Bedding/Slate and Plants. (went the Bioactive Route with Clean up crew). My Humidity levels in the Closed Chamber aren’t the problem at moment. I’m maintaining well above 80% and will allow it to dry out from the initial soaking and misting to be in the range needed. What I’m having issues with is the Temps in general inside the enclosure. What is absolutely too High? I know they are able to handle the night drop 72-75 F my home stays at. I have at moment a 75watt Basking Flood bulb which I’ll be lowering to 50watts to possibly help with Ambient Temps. But the UVB and LED Fixtures at 100% raise the internal temps of the enclosure into the Low 90’s throughout the entire 4x2x2 even on the Cooler Side. I have dialed back the LED back to a lower percentage to help which it has. However, my Basking spot at the Moment isn’t exactly where it needs to be at to maintain a temp gradient. I’m only sitting at 88 F. Even with it being too cold, I’m still only able to manage a Cold Side temp of 80.8 F.





I went the Arcadia Lumenize Route with the 36 in. LED 54watt and T5 39watt UVB.





What can I do to possibly lower ambient temps?


I could attempt to Dim the UVB fixture 12% to a Lower setting but won’t that basically negate to benefit of it?

 

[RandyTortoise]

I think you have to play around with the wattage of the basking flood bulb and maybe change it to a lower watt Ceramic heating element. Also, keep in mind that the Arcadia t5 isn’t on at night and in the day probably only 8 hours or so. The ambient temperature should drop off just due to these changes. For me, I try to hit 90 or above in a basking spot and drop to 75 away from the basking site. But I have a larger space.
You should be able to hit the same numbers just playing with your wattages and the hours your T5 is on and changing to the CHE. Or just keeping that basking spot on for short periods, just a thought

 

[Tom]

Back again… I’m trying to get my setup together for a Western Hermann’s tortoise before he arrives on the 18th. (My Birthday Present) He’s a little under a year old. I have finally assembled and set up the PVC enclosure with Bedding/Slate and Plants. (went the Bioactive Route with Clean up crew). My Humidity levels in the Closed Chamber aren’t the problem at moment. I’m maintaining well above 80% and will allow it to dry out from the initial soaking and misting to be in the range needed. What I’m having issues with is the Temps in general inside the enclosure. What is absolutely too High? I know they are able to handle the night drop 72-75 F my home stays at. I have at moment a 75watt Basking Flood bulb which I’ll be lowering to 50watts to possibly help with Ambient Temps. But the UVB and LED Fixtures at 100% raise the internal temps of the enclosure into the Low 90’s throughout the entire 4x2x2 even on the Cooler Side. I have dialed back the LED back to a lower percentage to help which it has. However, my Basking spot at the Moment isn’t exactly where it needs to be at to maintain a temp gradient. I’m only sitting at 88 F. Even with it being too cold, I’m still only able to manage a Cold Side temp of 80.8 F.





I went the Arcadia Lumenize Route with the 36 in. LED 54watt and T5 39watt UVB.





What can I do to possibly lower ambient temps?


I could attempt to Dim the UVB fixture 12% to a Lower setting but won’t that basically negate to benefit of it?

Part of the problem is the small size of the enclosure. Even low wattage bulbs can over heat small enclosures. I switch to 25 watt basking bulbs in my 8 foot long enclosure in summer because my reptile room ambient temps gets hot.

The other way to minimize excessive heat is to open up the vents a little bit more. Hermanni don't need constant high humidity like a tropical species. The stability of the closed chamber will help them even if humidity is a little below 80%.

The temps you listed are higher than they need to be, but they are not too high. There are warm summers in the areas where these come from. There are many summer days well over 90 degrees in their native range. Cooling into the low 70s at night will be perfect. 90 on the warm side and 80 on the cool side is perfectly fine for day time. They can certainly survive at lower temps, but they do well with warm temps too.

 

[Markw84]

In addition to what @Tom mentions, part of your trouble will be the T5 HO UVB. They do run hot and will certainly generate a good amount of heat when on in a closed chamber. I would not have put a 34" in an enclosure that size. In fact, in all my Smart Enclosures, I never recommend an HO UVB bigger than the 22". I believe a tortoise needs a way to get away from the UVB, and needs a good amount of area in the enclosure NOT covered by UVB. I also only run the UVB about 4 hours midday. All of this not only creates the UVB level I want, but then helps dramatically with minimizing the heat the UVB generates. I also use LED lights for ambient light that I choose specifically for type of light produced and low level of heat produced. Not sure how the Lumenize fixture is in that regard. As your enclosure is on the small side, I would definitely recommend a smaller - 22" - UVB.

 

[B0618]

Reporting Back, after a day of trial and error! By George, I think I GOT IT!! The 50watt Basking Flood bulb isn’t warming the entire enclosure up and I’m able to get my Basking slate up to Temperature. 95F (Need to further play with the probe to dial it in. Plus I’m able to Dim the LED to where it’s not Full power but still provides good amble light. Also, I figured that I could dim the UVB as well! I have it at 50% for a Hour. 100% for 2 Hours and back to 50% hour. This didn’t spike my temps as well. I still have time to test just how far I can go with the UVB. But, I was able to manage around 79-81F on the Cool side. With the Lights off at Night I drop to 76F. Does that sound about right in the Parameters? Plus so I just bake the Enclosure with the Basking Bulb to dry it out end lower the Humidity to 80%. At the Moment I spike to around 94% with all lights off. @Tom

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Just seen this thread, sounds like you’re making good progress! Any new set up will need tweaks through trial and error, good that you’re getting it all sorted before your new baby

 

[Tom]

Reporting Back, after a day of trial and error! By George, I think I GOT IT!! The 50watt Basking Flood bulb isn’t warming the entire enclosure up and I’m able to get my Basking slate up to Temperature. 95F (Need to further play with the probe to dial it in. Plus I’m able to Dim the LED to where it’s not Full power but still provides good amble light. Also, I figured that I could dim the UVB as well! I have it at 50% for a Hour. 100% for 2 Hours and back to 50% hour. This didn’t spike my temps as well. I still have time to test just how far I can go with the UVB. But, I was able to manage around 79-81F on the Cool side. With the Lights off at Night I drop to 76F. Does that sound about right in the Parameters? Plus so I just bake the Enclosure with the Basking Bulb to dry it out end lower the Humidity to 80%. At the Moment I spike to around 94% with all lights off. @Tom

I like the night temp to drop a little more when possible. Around 65-70 is good. If 76 is as low as it goes, that will still work.

It's normal for humidity to climb when the lights go off at night. It does this in the wild too.

 

[Markw84]

Reporting Back, after a day of trial and error! By George, I think I GOT IT!! The 50watt Basking Flood bulb isn’t warming the entire enclosure up and I’m able to get my Basking slate up to Temperature. 95F (Need to further play with the probe to dial it in. Plus I’m able to Dim the LED to where it’s not Full power but still provides good amble light. Also, I figured that I could dim the UVB as well! I have it at 50% for a Hour. 100% for 2 Hours and back to 50% hour. This didn’t spike my temps as well. I still have time to test just how far I can go with the UVB. But, I was able to manage around 79-81F on the Cool side. With the Lights off at Night I drop to 76F. Does that sound about right in the Parameters? Plus so I just bake the Enclosure with the Basking Bulb to dry it out end lower the Humidity to 80%. At the Moment I spike to around 94% with all lights off. @Tom

Do not dim the UVB! You cannot dim Fluorescents. They are made to run at a very specific power output. Anything else shortens the life and alters the spectrum being put out.

 

[B0618]

That's a big 10-4! Wasn't aware of the consequences from Dimming them. I'll be making that change once I get home in the AM! @Markw84

@Tom
I don't think I can get the Temps any Lower! The Room at Night is around 73F with our AC and Ceiling Fan on at 72F. His Enclosure is Stacked on top of another. Also, I am unable to manipulate to vents for Air Flow. It's a Toad Ranch Enclosure and they are pre cut in the PVC. So, It Looks like I might be back to Square One.

Depending on how the UVB Fixture raises my temps.