Help with Night Temps Sulcata Hatchling

[Babysmallz93]

What you just described above is all good and really doesn't need changing. Putting her in her hide every night will get her to eventually do it herself which is a good thing. I wouldn't change anything. A lot of people use similar, maybe different shape, greenhouses and don't have any problems with heating or pyramiding. They do use che's more than the panels, but your temps are fine.

Alrighty. Which temp would you not change? The thermostat set at 86° or what I started doing last night with the thermostat set at 83°.

 

[wellington]

Alrighty. Which temp would you not change? The thermostat set at 86° or what I started doing last night with the thermostat set at 83°.

Either way would be fine.

 

[Babysmallz93]

Either way would be fine.

Awesome. Thank you!

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Just wanted to say I think your enclosure looks good too! I also don’t see an issue with the tent you’re using personally, overall your temps sound decent, and if the humidity is reading correctly on your monitors, the tent is doing its job🙂
I always trust Tom, he’s an absolute guru, but on this occasion I wouldn’t personally follow the suggestion of adding a fan, I don’t think it’s necessary here and could do more harm than good, just my opinion😊
I would however try shortening the height of the tent if it’s possible, not a bad suggestion and should help with the heating

Oh and if you haven’t already, I’d get some lining under your substrate. It might be worth having it go over the sides and pinned in place by the greenhouse frame, I only say because I’d worry how the wood is going to hold up with the condensate that’s dripping down from the tent

 

[Babysmallz93]

Just wanted to say I think your enclosure looks good too! I also don’t see an issue with the tent you’re using personally, overall your temps sound decent, and if the humidity is reading correctly on your monitors, the tent is doing its job🙂
I always trust Tom, he’s an absolute guru, but on this occasion I wouldn’t personally follow the suggestion of adding a fan, I don’t think it’s necessary here and could do more harm than good, just my opinion😊
I would however try shortening the height of the tent if it’s possible, not a bad suggestion and should help with the heating

Oh and if you haven’t already, I’d get some lining under your substrate. It might be worth having it go over the sides and pinned in place by the greenhouse frame, I only say because I’d worry how the wood is going to hold up with the condensate that’s dripping down from the tent

Thank you. The humidity stays good. I will be dropping the tent down. I do have a sealant on the wood. Do you think that will suffice or should I get an actual liner? I do worry about the condensation dripping onto the cords for my lights. Do you have any advice on how I might prevent that? Thanks again.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Thank you. The humidity stays good. I will be dropping the tent down. I do have a sealant on the wood. Do you think that will suffice or should I get an actual liner? I do worry about the condensation dripping onto the cords for my lights. Do you have any advice on how I might prevent that? Thanks again.

The sealant should help but I’d probably personally line it too for good measure, especially directly under the substrate. Those fixtures should be built to withstand some moisture potentially getting on them sometimes so I wouldn’t worry too much🙂

 

[Babysmallz93]

The sealant should help but I’d probably personally line it too for good measure, especially directly under the substrate. Those fixtures should be built to withstand some moisture potentially getting on them sometimes so I wouldn’t worry too much🙂

Alrighty. I will do that. OK great. Thanks!🙂

 

[Tom]

That makes perfect sense. I will make the adjustments above. Last night I put my tort in her hide under the RHP and set the thermostat to 83°. The temp in the hide stayed at 83°, but the temp on the cool side only dropped to 78°. Typically when I set the thermostat to 86°, the cool end does stay above 80°. Before I started putting her in her hide she would sleep a couple of inches from the outer edge of the RHP where the temp would be 84-86°. I've seen that there needs to be a temperature drop at night. How much of a temp drop does it need to be or is it different for hatchlings? Thank you so much for your helpful advice.

Temperature drops at night are more for temperate species like Testudo. The temperature drop for your species should be something like ambient of 90 during the day and dropping to 80 at night.

The issue with your temperatures is because you are trying to heat a large area with a small device. It would be best if you added another heat source to the cooler side. It can run on the same thermostat.

 

[Tom]

No, it's not incorrect. Its just a different way to heat. Ceramic heat emitters, have always been recommended for babies, not adults. If you would have read my other posts, you would have seen that I never said they couldn't be used for babies. The OP was having problems getting all areas the right temps without putting some areas much higher for night. The distance between baby and a che is too far for a che to be harsh on a baby or we wouldn't be seeing so many growing smooth as more people use the che's than the panels.

Until you have used both systems extensively, as I and many other people here have, you don't have a leg to stand on. Please don't argue about things you know nothing about. It doesn't help new people who are trying to figure out what to do. My comments to the OP are based on years of first hand experience with both heating devices used in a wide variety of ways in a wide variety of enclosures for a wide variety of reptiles.

 

[Tom]

I always trust Tom, he’s an absolute guru, but on this occasion I wouldn’t personally follow the suggestion of adding a fan, I don’t think it’s necessary here and could do more harm than good, just my opinion😊

What harm would a fan do? Have you been using lots of fans over lots of years and seen some detrimental effect that I have not seen? Please tell us what detrimental effect using a fan to push warm air down in a large tall enclosure you have experienced. What is your opinion based on here?