heat at night

[Vilt]

Hi !
My Hermann hatchling enclosure ( plastic bin : 27 inches/ 20 inches/ 15 inches) is at about 25 degrees Celsius during the day using a Solar UVA/UVB 125W bulb, but at night it drops to 20, sometimes even 19 degrees Celsius, so I'm thinking about buying a ceramic heat emitter with a thermostat. Would 100W be enough? I heard that it really burns the humidity and I'm already struggling to keep it at least at 45% during the day, at night with a closed lid rises to 80%, so what are some ways to raise the humidity ( I spray the soil 3 times a day)??

Also, under the lamp is 27 degrees, so it's not a basking spot, but on the bulb it says that it has to be 23 inches away from a tortoise and it's already 15 inches away, so I'm afraid to down it any further.. I'm not sure if I should get another lamp for basking, because it might be too bright or hot in the enclosure, and also the humidity will be much lower.. What should I do?
Thanks in advance!

 

[Yvonne G]

I use a 25 watt CHE for a tort table in an outdoor shed, however, the tort table is covered making the 25 watt plenty big enough to keep it warm inside.

 

[Lyn W]

Can you post a pic of his enclosure so that members can give advice based on your set up?

 

[Vilt]

How do you keep the humidity up?

 

[Blackdog1714]

You can add some hot water daily to your substrate to keep the humidity level up. What is your substrate composed of? Also is your enclosure covered?

 

[Vilt]

I'll post a photo when I can ! the plastic lid is off during the day, I heard it might block out the UVB rays from the bulb.. my substrate is soil with a little bit of sand, like 90/10.. also the bulb is 125W

 

[Blackdog1714]

sand is not good for babies due to eating hazard and impaction from it- CoCo Choir is good but messy, Cypress mulch if you can be sure its clean and all cypress, and of course Fine Fir Bark also known as Orchid Bark- They all are good at holding moisture with Orchid Bark as the best and least messy. A shower curtain could be draped over the the lights to help maintain the humidity since when the lid is off the humidity will escape. Just make sure to use a piece of pvc or something to keep the shower curtain from physically touching the lights. Hope you two are doing well!

 

[Tom]

How do you keep the humidity up?

By preventing it from escaping in the first place. Use a closed chamber, aka vivarium, instead of an open topped enclosure. As you are seeing, spraying the surface of the substrate does very little. Soil and sand should both not be used for tortoise substrate. You cannot know what composted material the soil is made of and it could be something toxic. Sand is a potential skin and eye irritant, as well as a an impaction risk. They will eat some sand daily as it sticks to their food and over time it can collect in their GI tract.

 

[Vilt]

thank you all for the advice! I will change the substrate to coconut coir on the weekend when i get it