Hoods for tortoise enclosure

[Samantha hoffman]

what sorta hoods would be best for my sulcata tortosie? Right now i have no hood on him. Hes in a 30 gallon long everyone is telling me he is not getting enough humidity but no ones helping out

 

[Yvonne G]

I just cover mine with foil and plastic.

 

[BrianWI]

I have a screen top. I put lights and heaters on the screen. Then I used aluminum foil to cover much of the remaining screen.

 

[Speedy-1]

Plastic or foil is the least expensive solution !

 

[AZSid]

Whatever you do, it should be a temporary fix while you work on getting/making him a new home as terrariums are really not ideal! Could you share some pics of his current habitation now?

 

[ZEROPILOT]

How about buying a full hood designed for a 30 gallon long tank?
Remove the glass from the area where the light tube is and install a tube UVB in place of the stock tube.
Is it a Sulcata?
This will quickly be too small.

 

[Samantha hoffman]

Im switching him today into a 100 gallon tank and putting lives plants in. Need to get a humidity checker. some tort pellets. I also got some moss and coconut fiber to help the humidity

 

[Tom]

Be careful with the live plants. Anything sold in a store will be full of systemic pesticides and your baby will surely sample or trample them.

Moss is likely to be eaten too. I wouldn't use it.

You are having humidity trouble because the top is wide open and the humidity is escaping up and out into the room to be replaced by cooler drier air. There is no ready made solution for you to go buy. You must customize something that works for your situation. Some people put the entire enclosure inside a portable green house, some people build a proper closed chamber (or have one built), and some people cover their tops with plastic or foil.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Humidy and heat at a glance.
$10.
Home Depot.
Far superior to any petshop type.

 

[BrianWI]

Try
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Digital-Dis...083870?hash=item1ea0389dde:g:GYAAAOSwstxVe6Cn

 

[Tom]

Humidy and heat at a glance.
$10.
Home Depot.
Far superior to any petshop type.

I've been having trouble with the Accu-Rite ones being really off on humidity for that past couple of years. Are they working well for you? The older ones used to work great, but the newer models have not been reliable for me.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Mine's at least 7 years old.
I love it. But maybe it IS an older model?

 

[Pearly]

I think as long as your pet has plenty of "walking room" in his terrarium I'd take a tank any time to raise a baby tort. To me it's the easiest way to cover/insulate it and keep proper temps/humidity inside here is how I did mine. Bought the metal screen lid that fits my 40 gal (they have different sizes) in reptile area of petstore. The lamps sit on top, and the UVB tube comes with the long black fixture (also in reptile section). then I used insulation material called Reflectix to cover in between the lamps. It is secured with special metal adhesive tape, both are made for withstanding high temps, I bought both at Home Depot in construction insulation area.