Maintain property temperature in baby tortoise enclosure

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Hello all... i currently have 2 baby Leopards in an open top tortoise table... after reading some great information on here about humidity and pyramiding, i decided to have a custom enclosure built for them that is completely enclosed except for a couple of small vents along the top... my concern is maintaining the proper temperatures in the enclosure... the enclosure itself is 60" L X 24" W X 18" T... on one end is a ceramic basking fixture and along the front are 2 24" flourescent light fixtures... one for UVB and one for natural lite or extra UVB... right now i have a 25W red heat bulb in there on the basking side but the temp will only get up to about 70F on the cool side... i am afraid that if i put too high of a wattage bulb in there the entire enclosure will get too warm for them... especially since the temperature in the room fluctuates... i live in Texas so one day its 40F out and then the next its 75F... LOL!.. i thought about using a thermostat... any ideas!

Thanks, Tammy

 

[jesst]

I have a closed chamber enclosure, not as big as yours but still closed. I use a che on one end a 50w basking light and a uvb fixture with her as well. My temps always stay above 80. You may need to just get a che and a bigger wattage basking bulb. I would get a temp gun also so you can check the temps all over the enclosure. Also I have heard that the colored bulbs are not that good for them, I guess it confuses them as to day and night.

 

[[email protected]]

Thank you so much for the info... also, thanks for the advice about the colored bulb... i wondered about that... i have a che... not sure of the wattage though... what temp is considered too hot for baby leopards on the cool side?... the cool side of my table right now fluctuates between 80F & 85F... the hot side stays around 100.

 

[wellington]

I would also get some ceramic heat emitters and exchange your UVB light for one MVB mercury vapor bulb. Closest bulb there is to natural sun light, plus it gives off heat. You will have to keep playing with it until you get it where it needs to be. Humidity not below 80 higher if possible and temps With the higher humidity not below 80-85. Please read if you haven't the threads at the bottom of my post by my signature. Both are good for leopards and Sulcata's.

 

[[email protected]]

I have read the two threads you have posted... that is why i had the enclosure custom designed... thank you so much for your info... i will try our suggestions.

 

[jesst]

As much as I love mvb's I think having a closed chamber enclosure the mvb will get too hot for the basking area. Because of the lack of air flow, my temps using an mvb got over 110. I had to switch it and finally found a good medium. I use a 50w basking light with a zoo med reptisun 18" 10.0 uvb tube bulb and a 60w che. My enclosure for my leopard it only 36" long, but my temps stay pretty warm all of the time. I do think mvb's are a great product but they are expensive. Good luck