is my lighting OK?

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tortoise007

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Hello! I'm just making sure my lighting/heating setup is good. for night heat I have a CHE (during the winter I have it turned on for a few hours in the middle of the day too.)I'm running a normal old light bulb (not LED) that gives off a considerable amount of heat for day time along with a strip UV light. I'm mostly concerned with the UV light I don't know anything about it because it's not mine and the label has almost completely faded away :( Is there anything else that I need to have or do differently?

:tort::tort::tort::tort::tort::tort::tort::tort::tort::tort::tort::tort::tort:: :D


if you are wondering what the tape on the end of the wires is for go here:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-66977.html
 

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Tom

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Your CHE should be on a thermostat so the temps will be controlled automatically day and night, winter or summer. These cost around $30. LLL Reptile, a site sponsor here, sells them.

Florescent bulbs need to be replaced every 6-12 months to get good UV out of them. If that bulb is so old that the label has faded, it is probably not producing much usable UV. Do your tortoises go outside for sunshine? If not, you might want to consider a mercury vapor bulb. I don't trust florescent bulbs as a sole source of UV for basking tortoises that are always indoors.

You have a low sided tub with hot bulbs and no humid hide. In my opinion, you are asking for pyramiding. I hope you soak them every day and keep that water bowl topped off. Walmart sells black dish washing tubs for about $2. Flip it, cut out a door hole, wet the substrate under it, keep it on the warm side, and it will reduce the effects of pyramiding that this sort of enclosure will normally encourage.
 

tortoise007

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cool! thanks! I do wet the substrate every day fill up the water dish ALL the time. I don't have room for a humid hide but i'm going to add a second level soon so I can make room then. I'll look into the thermostat thing...
Thanks
 

Tom

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My friend, you don't have room to NOT have a humid hide. Every day that passes does damage.

They will still have the same floor space with a humid hide, some of it will just be enclosed and humid.
 

tortoise007

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good point :p I forgot to say that "soon" meant today or tomorrow. :D
just making sure, you know that they are deserts?
 

Cowboy_Ken

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Everything Tom is suggesting is valid. When desert type tortoises hatch in the real world it is during a very moist time environmentally. Also, at the level a hatchling is, the humidity is higher than say a weather station would measure humidity. Then, you need to understand that hatchlings are food to just about anything with a mouth. They spend a great deal of their time hidden in burrows where the humidity level is even higher still. Follow Tom advice, he has years of experience and the smooth tortoises to back up his advice.
 

tortoise007

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alrighty then! I just got another concrete mixing tub so I'll have ample space for every thing I'll need! :D


will post pics soon
 

Tom

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I've raised CDTs using these methods too and they positively thrived, just like a sulcata or a leopard.
 

tortoise007

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Tom said:
I've raised CDTs using these methods too and they positively thrived, just like a sulcata or a leopard.

CHECK OUT THIS!!!!!!!! LOOK IT HAS A HUMID HIDE TO!!!!!!

I don't mean to brag.......but THIS THING IS EPIC!!!!
 

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wellington

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Sorry to have to tell you this when you are so excited about your nice handy work. However, I have too. The lights, please try to hang them straight down and do not use the clamps. The clamps have been know to not work very good and tortoise could get burnt or house catch fire. So for your safety and that of your tort, find a different way to hang the lights straight down. Otherwise though, looks good.
 

tortoise007

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Okey-dokey! I'll see what I can do........I just remembered my favorite quote(by me:p ) "when and doubt... DUCT TAPE!!!"
 
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