HYou sent some time typing that out!
1. Every other day soaking will ensure good hydration. I like it.
2. Humidifiers are okay to run in the room where the enclosure is, but they should not be blowing directly into an enclosure. I don't use them at all. Also, at 9 inches, humidity is not all that important anymore.
3. "Loose on the floor" isn't loose on the floor if the whole floor had been made into a dedicated tortoise enclosure. I have done this before in a little house that I lived in with sulcatas. Half the living room was their enclosure. They weren't loose. They were in their enclosure. A whole room sized enclosure sounds fantastic.
4. About your greenhouse tent. It won't hurt anything , but its not critical for larger tortoises that are mostly already grown. High humidity id VERY important for hatchling leopard tortoises. Older larger ones do fine with drier conditions, as long as they are well hydrated, like with every other day soaks for example...
5. CFLs should never be used over tortoises. They are ineffective UV sources and some of them burn reptile eyes. I would turn those off ASAP.
6. Blacklights and other colored bulbs shouldn't be used either. Tortoises see colors better than we do. If you can see that light at night, your tortoise can see it better. It should be dark at night. A CHE or two controlled by a thermostat can work, but your tortoise is getting borderline too big to be under CHEs and incandescent bulbs. RHPs are better, but must be close and have a relatively low ceiling to be effective.
7. Ambient heat should be on a thermostat. Basking bulbs and ambient light on one timer, and UV on a different timer. Thermostats can be found on amazon for $18-30.
You are welcome. More questions and tortoise conversation are welcome.
Hi again Tom,You sent some time typing that out!
1. Every other day soaking will ensure good hydration. I like it.
2. Humidifiers are okay to run in the room where the enclosure is, but they should not be blowing directly into an enclosure. I don't use them at all. Also, at 9 inches, humidity is not all that important anymore.
3. "Loose on the floor" isn't loose on the floor if the whole floor had been made into a dedicated tortoise enclosure. I have done this before in a little house that I lived in with sulcatas. Half the living room was their enclosure. They weren't loose. They were in their enclosure. A whole room sized enclosure sounds fantastic.
4. About your greenhouse tent. It won't hurt anything , but its not critical for larger tortoises that are mostly already grown. High humidity id VERY important for hatchling leopard tortoises. Older larger ones do fine with drier conditions, as long as they are well hydrated, like with every other day soaks for example...
5. CFLs should never be used over tortoises. They are ineffective UV sources and some of them burn reptile eyes. I would turn those off ASAP.
6. Blacklights and other colored bulbs shouldn't be used either. Tortoises see colors better than we do. If you can see that light at night, your tortoise can see it better. It should be dark at night. A CHE or two controlled by a thermostat can work, but your tortoise is getting borderline too big to be under CHEs and incandescent bulbs. RHPs are better, but must be close and have a relatively low ceiling to be effective.
7. Ambient heat should be on a thermostat. Basking bulbs and ambient light on one timer, and UV on a different timer. Thermostats can be found on amazon for $18-30.
You are welcome. More questions and tortoise conversation are welcome.
hope all is well. As winter approaches, I am making some adjustments to the inside enclosure. The biggest of which is new UV bulbs. I was going to get the 12% Arcadia HO (22 inch) you recommended in other posts. would that still be your recommendation? If so, the default lamp bundle on Amazon has a poor rating for the lamp despite the bulb quality. Do you have a recommendation for the lamp/housing?
I could have sworn once I saw a combo that had day light LEDs on one side and a T5 for UVB on a separate timer on the other. Would be great for space, but A) I can’t find it anywhere and B) thought I’d get your input.
thanks again!
-Red
