Critique my enclosure

[LoonyLovegood]

Hi all, I just made a closed chamber enclosure for my leopard and I wanted to get some feedback on it since I'm new to this.

First off this is Mogget. Although I've been waiting for a PP, I couldn't resist this sweet little oddball. He was born with wonky scutes, and I'm a sucker for the ugly ducklings.

There are a few things I'm concerned about:

1. Humidity is around 80%, but keeps rising; how high is too high??

2. The basking spot is has gotten up to 103 degrees. Is this too high as well? I can't move it up any higher because it's sitting on a hole in the lid. (It's a 65 watt flood light)

3. Mogget appears to be gasping for breath. Is this normal in a closed chamber?

I haven't installed a UV light yet since it's still nice outside, and I have a 100 watt CHE set to 80 degrees that I'll only use at night.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

 

[wellington]

Humidity is fine if it goes over 80%. With leopards you can't really have it too high.
The basking temp is fine also. I would line the holes you have the lights and Che on with tin foil so the plastic won't melt and become a fire hazard.
He should not be gasping for air, that is not normal. What is the temps on the other end from the 103 it should be 80. I would lower the water dish level with the substrate of its not.
Otherwise it looks good. Concerned about the gasping though.

 

[LoonyLovegood]

Humidity is fine if it goes over 80%. With leopards you can't really have it too high.
The basking temp is fine also. I would line the holes you have the lights and Che on with tin foil so the plastic won't melt and become a fire hazard.
He should not be gasping for air, that is not normal. What is the temps on the other end from the 103 it should be 80. I would lower the water dish level with the substrate of its not.
Otherwise it looks good. Concerned about the gasping though.

The cool side is about 80-81 degrees. I did line the holes with foil, but I'll add more.

As for the gasping, his mouth wasn't open but his head and legs were heaving up and down. It's hard to describe, but that's what it looked like to me. I'm wondering if he's trying to acclimate to the humidity since his breeder kept him in an open enclosure?

 

[Yvonne G]

That's how babies breathe. Take a look at this thread that's pinned at the top of our FAQ section:

https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/why-do-my-tortoises-legs-move-when-hes-resting.148876/

Your closed chamber looks great. If it were mine, though, I would change out the incandescent-type bulb for a tube type fluorescent like this:



I buy my bulbs and fixtures at lightyourreptiles.com.

 

[wellington]

I couldn't see the tin foil. As long as you have them line already you don't have too add more.

 

[LoonyLovegood]

That's how babies breathe. Take a look at this thread that's pinned at the top of our FAQ section:

https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/why-do-my-tortoises-legs-move-when-hes-resting.148876/

Your closed chamber looks great. If it were mine, though, I would change out the incandescent-type bulb for a tube type fluorescent like this:

View attachment 246172

I buy my bulbs and fixtures at lightyourreptiles.com.

I'm very relieved after reading that, thanks Yvonne!

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I also much prefer the tube UBV lights.

 

[SushiAndReptiles]

Hi all, I just made a closed chamber enclosure for my leopard and I wanted to get some feedback on it since I'm new to this.

First off this is Mogget. Although I've been waiting for a PP, I couldn't resist this sweet little oddball. He was born with wonky scutes, and I'm a sucker for the ugly ducklings.

There are a few things I'm concerned about:

1. Humidity is around 80%, but keeps rising; how high is too high??

2. The basking spot is has gotten up to 103 degrees. Is this too high as well? I can't move it up any higher because it's sitting on a hole in the lid. (It's a 65 watt flood light)

3. Mogget appears to be gasping for breath. Is this normal in a closed chamber?

I haven't installed a UV light yet since it's still nice outside, and I have a 100 watt CHE set to 80 degrees that I'll only use at night.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!






View attachment 246090View attachment 246091View attachment 246092View attachment 246093

Can you link me to where you got that thermometer/humidity gauge? Thanks