Humid Enclosure Idea for Juvenile Hermann

RatQueen_Irene

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I've finally found something that works really well for me, and I wanted to share for those with similar issues, and for feedback!

The container is 21 by 39 inches, 17 inches high, with opaque sides. I have 4-5 inches of coco coir substrate, soaked from bricks to remove dust and squeezed for excess water, as he loves to tunnel quite deep under leaves and in his hide. There's a T5 UVB (with ranges measured effective) with a 100W heat/UVA, with temps ranging from around 90 to 75 throughout. Humidity is finally in an acceptable range and stays high without excessive misting! I had reptibark on the coco coir last time, but fruit flies would hide in it and repopulate, I found attaching a fruit fly trap above his food he can't reach to the wall and removing the bark chips as a whole works to keep the amount down. The soil gets stuck to him a lil more but he has an easier time walking in general too.

I made the top by sawing out holes (larger than the heat lamp width so it doesn't touch), then drilling small openings for zip ties, attaching galvanized steel wire fencing from home depot to the underside. It doesn't spark at the temp it reaches, and doesn't heat high either to the touch. Pics are during construction.

I'm well aware he'll need more room as he ages, but to ensure he has a warm and moist start, I think it works rather well at him being 3 inches long. He never scratches or tries to climb up the sides, so it seems to be a good fit!
 

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wellington

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Looks good. The only suggestion and they might be already, is to bury the water dish to be level with the substrate.
The pic of the tort with that flower is so cute
 

TaylorTortoise

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Mar 24, 2020
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beautiful set up and tort. I like that idea you came up with for the top, my only concern is can it get too hot around the rim of that lamp?
 

RatQueen_Irene

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Jun 14, 2021
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Location (City and/or State)
Corvallis, Oregon
beautiful set up and tort. I like that idea you came up with for the top, my only concern is can it get too hot around the rim of that lamp?
Thank you!! I've had it set up this way for a while, the plastic doesn't heat up at all with no contact (as it is set up currently), and with contact to the rim it does become slightly lukewarm to the touch after a whole day, but barely noticeably. It was a weather resistant storage container from home depot, it may have to do with the material, to resist warping from high temperatures in storage and all

I tested melting with the extra cut scrap pieces on different areas of the heat lamp, I'd for sure be careful if doing it with any alternative container (and with testing)!
 

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