(Hopefully) improved setup

[slaz]

Afternoon everyone!

I’ve taken on board the advice given. And we’ve created the following for our tort. Still yet to be named!

The below will be enclosed but in the meantime.

- We’ve added a flood light rather than the MVB. Set up on a thermostat
- Dedicated T5 12% uvb
- Ambient light at the cooler end of enclosure in the form of jungle dawn light so we can grow plants in the enclosure.

We’ve also got a larger enclosure. Added more sensory items for Tort.

I don’t want to disrupt too much more as this is the 4th iteration in a week

Hoping it fits the bill!

 

[Yvonne G]

Looks pretty darned good to me!

 

[chigs184]

Looks cool. I have never had any luck with spider plants in the enclosure, but boston ferns always seem to do well. Interested to see how them spider plants do

 

[slaz]

Looks cool. I have never had any luck with spider plants in the enclosure, but boston ferns always seem to do well. Interested to see how them spider plants

Will keep you posted, Soider plant was my wifes idea. I’m not convinced it’s going to be a happy plant in there

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Aw this looks SO much better! Well done! I’d still remove the sphagnum moss and have a look into a cover, but such a great improvement! Nice job

 

[Tom]

- We’ve added a flood light rather than the MVB. Set up on a thermostat

Great improvements and it looks terrific.

I agree on the moss. Tortoises will eat it and it can cause impaction.

Also, the basking lamp is meant to simulate the sun when indoors. You don't want the sun going on and off all day. Set the basking lamp on a timer, not a thermostat. Thermostats are for controlling ambient heat sources like CHEs or RHPs when needed.

Here is a breakdown of the four heating and lighting essentials:

1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
2. Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night. Some people in colder climates or with larger enclosures will need multiple CHEs or RHPs to spread out enough heat.
3. Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html A good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day.

 

[slaz]

Great improvements and it looks terrific.

I agree on the moss. Tortoises will eat it and it can cause impaction.

Also, the basking lamp is meant to simulate the sun when indoors. You don't want the sun going on and off all day. Set the basking lamp on a timer, not a thermostat. Thermostats are for controlling ambient heat sources like CHEs or RHPs when needed.

Here is a breakdown of the four heating and lighting essentials:

1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
2. Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night. Some people in colder climates or with larger enclosures will need multiple CHEs or RHPs to spread out enough heat.
3. Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html A good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day.

Moss is now gone! We are also adding some Orchid Bark in to allow for more digging and to stop the Coco Coir mess everywhere!

My bad on the thermostat, I meant that it was on a timer. We've bought a temp gun so are monitoring. We've also swapped out the larger lamp holder for the smaller one as it was super hot with all the reflection.

I've actually decided to go fancy and a little bit more set and forget and have swapped the UVB and LED to Lumenize. Any recommendations on a shedule for both the UVB and the LED would be appreciated!

And my daughter finally settled on the name Elvis for the tortoise!

 

[Tom]

Moss is now gone! We are also adding some Orchid Bark in to allow for more digging and to stop the Coco Coir mess everywhere!

My bad on the thermostat, I meant that it was on a timer. We've bought a temp gun so are monitoring. We've also swapped out the larger lamp holder for the smaller one as it was super hot with all the reflection.

I've actually decided to go fancy and a little bit more set and forget and have swapped the UVB and LED to Lumenize. Any recommendations on a shedule for both the UVB and the LED would be appreciated!

And my daughter finally settled on the name Elvis for the tortoise!

The King!

The UV tube should only be on for a few hours mid day. There is a wide margin of error here, and the exact time is not critical. 1 hour is plenty of time to get the job done. 8 hours a day really will not do any harm if they height is set correctly. I usually set mine for 2-3 hours a day. For tiny hatchlings that aren't going outside every day, or for people who live in climates where the tortoise has to be inside all day every day for months, I might set it to 4-5, or 6 hours a day, mid day.

LEDs should be on all day. 12-13 hours for tropical tortoises and up to 14 hours a day for temperate species in summer, and cutting down to 8-10 hours a day for temperate species in fall when trying to induce brumation. I usually set LEDs on the same timer as the basking bulb for simplicity's sake. You can use two different timers and make a dawn and dusk if you want to get "fancy".