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?

 

[wellington]

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.

I never said they couldn't be used, or that the OP can't use it or that they were bad to use. Just recommended maybe that's the problem as out of all the members using closed enclosures, I don't remember anyone having a cold area after all other temps were reached. But yes, with the experience I had with mine, had two I used years ago, I thought maybe that was the problem with the cooler area.
Btw, the smart enclosure have the che's!

 

[wellington]

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

I agree with this.
Although I wouldn't use a fan that can't be slowed way down or point it right at the baby. A fan going fast pushes cool air, yes, even when it's hot out to a point. 90's and up, it's just warm air. One that can be slowed way down will move the warm air down without adding cooler air.
I have never used a computer fan but have a fan running all winter 24/7 on very low speed to push the warm air down in my shed for my adult leopards. If it goes to fast, it's cooler air.

 

[Tom]

Btw, the smart enclosure have the che's!

I have two Smart Enclosures and have assembled a half dozen for friends and family. Some have CHEs and some have RHPs.

 

[wellington]

I have two Smart Enclosures and have assembled a half dozen for friends and family. Some have CHEs and some have RHPs.

EXACTLY!

 

[Tom]

If it goes to fast, it's cooler air.

You think the speed of the moving air somehow cools the air? A fan merely pushes the air. It does not change the temperature of the air it is pushing. If anything it could be argued that the heat generated by the electric motor would slightly warm the air in a small space. The only way the air is cooler is if air is being sucked in from a cooler air source, like from outside the enclosure for some reason.

What you are feeling there is evaporative cooling due to the moisture on your skin. Tortoises don't have moisture on their skin. Faster moving air isn't cooler. Use a thermometer and check this. Put your thermometer under your fan at low speed and let it stabilize for a while. Then turn the speed up. Unless you are sucking air from a cooler area, the temperature isn't going to change based on fan speed.

 

[Babysmallz93]

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.

Alrighty. Thanks for clarifying about the temp drop. That is very helpful. I will definitely do that.

 

[wellington]

You think the speed of the moving air somehow cools the air? A fan merely pushes the air. It does not change the temperature of the air it is pushing. If anything it could be argued that the heat generated by the electric motor would slightly warm the air in a small space. The only way the air is cooler is if air is being sucked in from a cooler air source, like from outside the enclosure for some reason.

What you are feeling there is evaporative cooling due to the moisture on your skin. Tortoises don't have moisture on their skin. Faster moving air isn't cooler. Use a thermometer and check this. Put your thermometer under your fan at low speed and let it stabilize for a while. Then turn the speed up. Unless you are sucking air from a cooler area, the temperature isn't going to change based on fan speed.

I have a fan on me almost 24/7. Sleeping sometimes two, relaxing in the evening and I even have a neck fan for most of the day. My body does not like warm/hot. None of these are computer fans of course. I also use a ceiling fan in the tort shed.
In really hot and humid temps, the air is warmer coming from the fans, unless on high which then does it's job cooling me not as good as if it's just warm out, but the cooler air is felt. If the fan is on low, it's not cooling at all. My shed fan, if ran on high, the warmer/hot air is dispersed from the ceiling area, and then it's cooler air being blown around.
In a small enclosure, it's possible it never gets cool at any speed. However, in my experience with fans, the faster it goes the faster you will get cool air being dispersed while the slower it moves you don't.
I get how a fan works. I also get how sucking(facing fan out) the hot air out of an area is said to be the better way to cool an area. It doesn't work for me. If it's not blowing on me, I'm not going to get cooled off no matter how much it's sucked out of a room.