Whew. I am in the middle of a large-scale refurbishing of my almost 4'x10' indoor Red-foot habitat, which I posted about a couple months ago (and am too tired to look up right now. 
)
I'm removing most of the soil so I can add 16' worth of 11" wide Flex-Watt heat strips under the soil to get the soil temps up to 83-85F (using a thermostat controller), which should boost room temps and increase humidity. (Soil heating works by heating the moisture in the soil, so it automatically generates humidity- but you also need to keep the soil moist.)
I am also mixing in some more sand in an effort to keep the soil mix from compacting quite so much. I had tried to rake it periodically but the herd compacted it faster than I could stay ahead of it.
Let's see, what else can I add to delay my return to the project? I added a plant spot light for the potted plants, and a low-output UVB bulb, and I think I am starting to like heat lamps more than ceramic emitters in this large habitat.
After I get the soil back, the next part of the remodel is to add a row of plants along the back and side walls, with a couple big things along the 'cool end' short wall- a fiscus and something else. A small 'retaining wall' should let me pile the soil up nice and deep on that end and have it stay there. Then we add the hermit crabs. Should be a lot of fun! I've held off on these until I could get the soil heater in, which had to wait for some cash flow, etc.
)I'm removing most of the soil so I can add 16' worth of 11" wide Flex-Watt heat strips under the soil to get the soil temps up to 83-85F (using a thermostat controller), which should boost room temps and increase humidity. (Soil heating works by heating the moisture in the soil, so it automatically generates humidity- but you also need to keep the soil moist.)
I am also mixing in some more sand in an effort to keep the soil mix from compacting quite so much. I had tried to rake it periodically but the herd compacted it faster than I could stay ahead of it.
Let's see, what else can I add to delay my return to the project? I added a plant spot light for the potted plants, and a low-output UVB bulb, and I think I am starting to like heat lamps more than ceramic emitters in this large habitat.
After I get the soil back, the next part of the remodel is to add a row of plants along the back and side walls, with a couple big things along the 'cool end' short wall- a fiscus and something else. A small 'retaining wall' should let me pile the soil up nice and deep on that end and have it stay there. Then we add the hermit crabs. Should be a lot of fun! I've held off on these until I could get the soil heater in, which had to wait for some cash flow, etc.
