Ideal Day/Night temps for RF

[RosieRedfoot]

So we're building an enclosure that should hopefully help keep up the heat and humidity better than her rubbermaid bin.

It will be 6 feet by 4 feet and 2 feet tall (with an additional top being about 2 feet tall).

Currently she has a 100W MVB powersun with a basking rock/temp of 92-95 during the day. I also have a regular heat lamp bulb on the other end of her enclosure (but it goes through the plastic lid) to keep things around 78 on the cool end.

Her humidity under the heat lamp rarely gets above 50% and it's about 80% in the cooler end.

With the totally enclosed enclosure we're hoping to be able to better keep up the humidity overall. I do typically mist her every day and she has the ability to soak herself (which she usually does daily anyway).

I'm aiming for basking temps around 92-96, ambient humidity at 70-80%, cool temp on the far side around 80-83 during the day. At night is it alright for the humidity to drop to 60% or so if the temp is around 75? Or should I not be letting it drop this low in temperature?

I'll also be adding a lot more plants. My plan is to have some silk plants and succulents closer to the "hotter half" and more ferns, spider plants, hostas, wandering jew, etc. on the cooler half where the uv isn't as bright and likely to burn them. Should I also be mounting a plant light during the day for the plants?

We're planning on doing under-substrate heat rope as well, and if that doesn't keep it warm enough at night we can add on a CHE. And if humidity doesn't keep up high enough we might be adding a mister/humidifier system that goes off when humidity drops below a certain range.

Any advice is welcome! Pics will ensue when it is complete!

 

[Redstrike]

How old is Rosie?

I like to use CHE's and thermostats to maintain a fairly constant temperatures in my enclosures. Personally, I don't let things get below 80ºF on the cool end at night, but this is mostly due to the fact that I have hatchlings. Keeping things nice and warm for them helps reduce sickness - in addition to a good humidity, regular poop removal, substrate changes, etc. The older redfoots can take lower night-time dips in temperature because their surface area to volume ratio is less than a hatchling, so they can retain more heat.

Your new enclosure sounds like it will retain heat and humidity well.

 

[RosieRedfoot]

She's about 16 months old. I've noticed a few mornings lately where it's dropped to 68 overnight (in the moistened substrate, slightly warmer surface temp) and I usually don't feed her until later when it's warmed to at least 75-80. She's still very active though with no breathing issues or goopy nares/eyes (and she keeps trying to escape). The plastic bin just doesn't seem to have much insulation and I don't want to chance her health. I do clean up poop nearly daily with her. There are some days when she doesn't poop, then others where she seems to poop out 10x what I fed her that day, but it's been well formed and normal looking. I usually use some tp to pick up her poos and throw them in the toilet for quick disposal (and to avoid the dogs going for a tempting snack in the garbage). When the house was constantly 75 all summer (up to 85 in that room) she was fine and I wasn't concerned, but that's why I put the 2nd heat bulb on the cooler end when I started noticing temps were getting lower.

I've also got plans to build a fake rock-wall background and hopefully a fake tree hide-out and will adhere some live tillandsia (air plant bromeliads) to it since I know they love humid and warm places and naturally grow on vines/trees. Even thinking of making some fake mushrooms to have "growing" out of the tree for a natural and non-edible aspect of the landscape. I'll have to put it far out of reach though, knowing her.

The wood for the frame is still slightly damp and we will be letting it dry completely before I caulk the seams and paint it, so fingers crossed that all continues to go well and she can be in it within a month. She's going crazy in that storage tub now that she doesn't get outside run around time...

I'm just thankful my boyfriend is tolerant of my pets AND willing to build this whole thing. He's building it super heavy and over constructed but I think that's what engineers do

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Oh, and the control panel will be an LCD screen that gives read outs of the temps/humidity and can also maintain specific conditions throughout the day and night and have a variable schedule. He's going to install computer fans in the sides that kick on when it's too hot as well as periodically to prevent stuffiness, but can be shut off to maintain heat as well.

I told him if he built in a mini fridge crisper for fresh greens with an auto-feeder and a self draining/filtering pond she wouldn't even need us anymore except to refill the veggies! Maybe a little poop-scoop robot disguised as a frog or snail...

 

[Redstrike]

Everything sounds okay, but I'd stress again that I wouldn't let those temps drop much below 80 at night for a 16 month old redfoot. A 100-watt CHE is about $20 on Amazon and it will last you at least a few years and a Zoo Med 500R thermostat is ~$25.

Good building instructions for CHE housing, costs ~$10 to get everything at Lowe's/Home Depot.
http://www.redfoots.com/emitter/color.htm

The $60 investment is cheaper than a potential vet visit.

 

[LongislandPhan]

I Use a Ceramic Heater with a dimmer 24/7 to keep heat just right during the day and especially at night when i use no lights.