Ideal hide conditions?

[MXRider215]

I am wondering what ideal conditions are for my Redfoot's hiding spot/cave? (for his indoor enclosure)

He is in a 40 gal breeder, with a large Exo Terra under tank heater stuck to the bottom of it. Substrate is a full big bag of Zoo Med forest floor. His hide is a terra cotta pot that I broke and then filed and sanded the broken edges smooth. It's placed up in the corner or his tank, with the cypress mulched piled slightly thicker so he can go in/ burrow and not dig down to the bottom of the tank.

The inside on his hide sits at about 70 during the night and about 82 during the day, with the lights on.

I know I need to bring those temps up, but I want to do it the right way, and figuring it out by trial and error can get expensive fast, as reptile products are expensive.

So my questions are..

1) Should my (or any) Redfoot Tortoises' hiding place/cave be on the cool side of an enclosure? Or on the hot side???

Do you want a Redfoots cave to be cold and damp or warm and damp or hot and damp? (not too damp or I would guess it would cause shell rot, as much time as they spend in there?)

2) Should a under tank heater be placed directly under a tortoises hide? To provide warmth from below (I would think so, sounds cozy to me)

2) If you ARE trying to get the temps of your Redfoots hiding place/cave up, would it be preferable to put a light-emitting heat bulb above it? Or use a ceramic heat emitter?
(I would think a Redfoots hide spot would be a DARK place? Without a bright light directly outside the opening? So using a ceramic heat emitter would be better because everything wouldn't be so bright?)

I was pretty much already counting on buying a ceramic heat emitter, to raise temps in the enclosure to a solid 75 night and 85-90 during the day. Am I about right on this? And should I give my Redfoots enclosure a basking spot? Do they really need one? Or should I keep the light lower? (just rock the dual fluorescent UVB's and use under-tank/CHE for heat?)

Any other input on the best/most efficient ways to heat my enclosure?

I apologize now for the questions... I have read for countless hours on this thread and everywhere else on the net, and am pretty confident that I know what I need to do to perfect my Redfoots indoor enclosure (except for question #1 above), but I thought I would ask anyway...

 

[terryo]

This is what I do, not saying it's written in stone...just my way. I keep a heat emitter on top of the hide. Inside the hide (I don't use a hide, just a bunch of silk plants that hang over forming a cave) I put long fiber moss (New Zealand moss from CarolinaPetSupply) inside the cave. I wet it with hot water and squeeze it out and fluff it up. I put a lot in there so she has to almost dig her way into the cave. It stays very warm and humid in there. I did this with my older Cherry Head, and now I'm doing the same with the younger one. I keep a long tube UVB 5.0 in the middle and another heat emitter on the other side. I keep the temp. throughout the vivarium in the low 80's. I have plants in there to hold the humidity in. They are planted in the little pots that they came in.

 

[dmarcus]

I have two hides in with my redfoots, but they rather bury into the dirt under a plant than use the hides. Even my redfoots that live outside prefer to sleep or just hide under a bush than the hides and house they have.

 

[Madkins007]

(snip)
I know I need to bring those temps up,

Yes, you do, and how you do it will depend on a lot of things.

1) Should my (or any) Redfoot Tortoises' hiding place/cave be on the cool side of an enclosure? Or on the hot side???

Do you want a Redfoots cave to be cold and damp or warm and damp or hot and damp? (not too damp or I would guess it would cause shell rot, as much time as they spend in there?)

2) Should a under tank heater be placed directly under a tortoises hide? To provide warmth from below (I would think so, sounds cozy to me)

These are related questions. Unless the substrate is chilly or clammy, I vote for a cooler hide. Many people heat their hides to boost the humidity, but if the rest of the tank is pretty humid, the relative humidity of the cooler area is actually higher than it is in the warmer areas.

2) If you ARE trying to get the temps of your Redfoots hiding place/cave up, would it be preferable to put a light-emitting heat bulb above it? Or use a ceramic heat emitter?
(I would think a Redfoots hide spot would be a DARK place? Without a bright light directly outside the opening? So using a ceramic heat emitter would be better because everything wouldn't be so bright?)

Heating a hide from overhead really does not work- the stuff the hide is made of usually blocks and reflects the heat. If you decide to warm the hide, the best way is generally from underneath.

I was pretty much already counting on buying a ceramic heat emitter, to raise temps in the enclosure to a solid 75 night and 85-90 during the day. Am I about right on this? And should I give my Redfoots enclosure a basking spot? Do they really need one? Or should I keep the light lower? (just rock the dual fluorescent UVB's and use under-tank/CHE for heat?)

Any other input on the best/most efficient ways to heat my enclosure?

I like CHEs for heat and using separate UVB bulbs. Your overall target temps should be a bit under 85 overall in the day, and can drop to 75ish at night as long as there is still a warmer spot if they want it.

Basking is nice- it offers them a warmer place to sun, digest, warm up after a cooler night, etc.

There are LOTS of ways to heat, light, and humidify your habitat- there just isn't any one PERFECT way.

I apologize now for the questions... I have read for countless hours on this thread and everywhere else on the net, and am pretty confident that I know what I need to do to perfect my Redfoots indoor enclosure (except for question #1 above), but I thought I would ask anyway...

 

[MXRider215]

This is what I do, not saying it's written in stone...just my way. I keep a heat emitter on top of the hide. Inside the hide (I don't use a hide, just a bunch of silk plants that hang over forming a cave) I put long fiber moss (New Zealand moss from CarolinaPetSupply) inside the cave. I wet it with hot water and squeeze it out and fluff it up. I put a lot in there so she has to almost dig her way into the cave. It stays very warm and humid in there. I did this with my older Cherry Head, and now I'm doing the same with the younger one. I keep a long tube UVB 5.0 in the middle and another heat emitter on the other side. I keep the temp. throughout the vivarium in the low 80's. I have plants in there to hold the humidity in. They are planted in the little pots that they came in.

Thanks Terryo for the response! Your hide looks awesome by the way.. Very natural. I love the abundance of plants (both live/silk) and want to get a lot of them going like that too..
As far as heat goes I am going go to order a CHE from amazon. Wouldnt be surprised if i ended up getting two of them... And I think I need to keep more water in the lower portion of my substrate to boost humidity too, because I have an under tank heater..
I want to try the moss in his hide too. A lot of people seem to use it, and it seems like it would hold humidity the best and be way more cozy to burrow in than the cypress mulch.

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I have two hides in with my redfoots, but they rather bury into the dirt under a plant than use the hides. Even my redfoots that live outside prefer to sleep or just hide under a bush than the hides and house they have.

I have heard other people say this too.... But my lil dude loves the broken terra cotta pot I buried in the mulch for him.. Are your Redfoots older? Rourke is 5 ish...

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And Madkins thanks for your response too. Between all of the input I've gotten I'm pretty sure I know where we're at... My coil UVB in the hood is getting ditched for a long tube fixture, I'm picking up a CHE and most likely one of the Zoo Med temp controllers.

You guys are awesome thanks again.

I'll keep UTD on Rourke and enclosure conditions.