Tort93
New Member
hi everyone, as per advise found on this site, I've changed my substrate to damp coconut coir ready for a new arrival.. However.... It is cold to touch everywhere other than under the basking lamp, is this right??
Coconut coir cold to touch???
- Thread starter Tort93
- Start date
Is the basking light the only heat your using? Maybe a pic of your enclosure and a run down of all your temps will help. I don't really remember if mine was cold. I doubt it but don't remember. Btw, make sure you spray with warm water not cold.
Mine isn't cold feeling, but that's because it's about 80F everywhere in the enclosure. If the substrate feels cool to you, likely your enclosure is cool. What species of tortoise is this for?
Hiya, excellent choice of substrate. If its cold to the touch it means your ambient temp is not 80+ Are you using a closed chamber? What type of lights are you using? Are you using a heat emitter? What are you going to use for food and water dishes? Do you has a enclosed hide? Are you using a closed chamber tank? And like Sarah asked, what type of tort are you getting and how old?
Because your body temperature is 98.6F degrees, anything not warmer than 98.6F is going to feel cool to your touch. You need to get a good thermometer (the point and shoot laser thermometers are very good) and test the temperature all over the whole floor of the habitat.
Tort93
New Member
Ive been doing a bit of reading since this post and i think the coir was too wet, ive since emptied it and squeezed it all out (which took a while haha), and while doing so i realised my heat mat was upside down which probably wasnt helping! I have very recently lost my first baby tort, so i emptied out the tank and disinfected it which is why it was upside down... ive turned everything off now, but the coir was feeling a bit warmer than it did so i think ive fixed the problem, but have ordered a che just to up the temp a bit and stop it from going cold again!
When I rehydrate a coir brick I always use less water than what the directions state and I use very warm water. I just place the coir brick in a clean bucket and add very warm water and let it set for a while. I then take a table knife and dig off the hydrated coir. If needed, I then add more water to rehydrate the remaining inner part of the coir brick. The first time I followed the directions and it was way too wet and I had to put it out in the sun and stir it up ever so often to help dry up the excess water.
Cold and damp is dangerous for tortoises.
Coco coir should never be cold, though it may feel cool if you are hot.
As has been said, you need a digital thermometer to measure the temps accurately, just feeling it is a bit hit and miss.
Warm and damp s necessary.
Coco coir should never be cold, though it may feel cool if you are hot.
As has been said, you need a digital thermometer to measure the temps accurately, just feeling it is a bit hit and miss.
Warm and damp s necessary.
