Indoor room for my large torts
- Thread starter lazybfarm
- Start date
Building the 4’x4’ frames for the basking bulbs , 4-65w incandescent flood bulbs. 1 at each corner. There will also be a 48” T5 12%UVB bulb down the middle of the rack. I will suspend this rack from the ceiling to maintain 20” above the top of their carapaces. Probably flat rocks under this rack
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Great work, looking forward to more updates!
Today Im working on painting the basking light racks and then installing the wiring and lights. This afternoon Im heading to Home Depot to get 140 bags of cypress mulch . 560 sq ft x 6" deep = 280 cubic feet. 2 cubic feet per bag , so 140 bags to make a substrate 6" deep. This room is about to become a reality very soon ! I hope Jackson and General like it . ???
@lazybfarm Are you going to have night boxes for them inside the room? My plans for a room like this includes a night box with temps at 82° and letting the room go to 70° or so at night. More energy efficeint. Plus I like having them in the habit of going into a shelter at night on their own each night. As they get bigger that is very valuable behavior!
Yes there will be 2- 6x6 x 4’ night boxes, each with a 120 w RHP and a Kane mat 27x36, both controlled by a Vivarium Electronics VE-300x2 programmable thermostat , the mats are a little big for them now, but they are growing into them every day ! I figure I can make them a bigger house when needed and use the same components
I figure I will build the night houses last, as they can do fine just in the room for a few days. They need to be in there ASAP, their 4x8x3 PVC enclosures are getting smaller every day !
Love it!!
I would check temps on the black mats to see how even the temperature distribution is from those 4 lights. They are spaced a bit far apart for low wattage. See what you get for even heating. You may find 100 or150 watt bulbs higher up would give a more even distribution. You don't want hot spots smaller than the tortoise is.
UVB lights installed, also I just installed a Wi-Fi connected thermometer/ humidity hub with 3 sensors, it will notify me if my parameters are off, I have the temps set at 70 minimum and 95 max on temp alerts and humidity is 60 min and 90 max .
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The racks are a little high still , waiting for the mulch installation, then I will position them, but I had checked it and it was only 76 at the floor , but I am not running any heat now, the temps here have been in the mid 70s all week
I may change out the keyless fixtures for a flood light socket that I can adjust and aim them as needed, but you are right that I may need some higher wattage bulbs , at least 75 or 90w
That is a fantastic room for your torts they are very lucky.
The only thing I would suggest is covering the joins in the mats with something to stop urine seeping through.
I used to use interlocking mats but had to take them up everyday to clean up the puddles beneath and wash the back of the mats - a real pain!
The only thing I would suggest is covering the joins in the mats with something to stop urine seeping through.
I used to use interlocking mats but had to take them up everyday to clean up the puddles beneath and wash the back of the mats - a real pain!
Well I figured the deep mulch would soak up any urine and I have the pond liner underneath. This room will be for winter only , and my plan is to clean out the mulch every spring down to the mats.
Mulch is in. The area by the door will be framed with rock , so you don’t open the door and the torts will be in the way. The area in the middle will be a soaking pond
