Me Again, with some more questions for you experts

[katieandiggy]

Ok, so it’s Day 2 and I’m working, my poor mother has had a crash course in tortoise care and she is coming over to switch on my lights at 7am (I’m not brave enough for a timer yet, scared of burning my house down) what I’ve found is, my little one burrows down into the substrate at about 7pm, kind of telling me it’s bed time and then once the lights have been on for an hour in the morning he reappears. She is then coming over to soak him at 9am and feed him.

I mentioned on another post yesterday about the soaking water getting cold so quick, I have explained to my mum she will need to change it about 3 or 4 times in the 30 min soak, but I do have a heat mat which is on a thermostat, now I wouldn’t get my mum to do this, I would want to try it myself, but has anyone put a heat mat under the soaking tub or is that a really stupid idea? Obviously continuing to monitor the water temp at all times...

My other question is around my UVB tube. I know the only way to know how much UVB it is giving out is with the Solarmeter but it’s so expensive I cannot get it yet. So, yesterday my baby didn’t venture to the other side of his enclosure at all. He kind of stayed around the basking spot, my UVB tube covers 3/4 of the enclosure and then the other 1/4 is where the basking lamp is. So pretty much all the time when not basking he will be under the UVB, should I try to cover a portion of the UVB with tin foil or something, I’m worried that the reason he didn’t leave the basking spot is because the UVB is bothering him? Any thoughts? My temps are spot on according to this forum. 95-97 basking, with a gradient to the cooler side which is 80 give or take a degree or 2.

My lights are on from 7am until 7pm should I run the UVB tube for a shorter time? Maybe 8 hours?

I’m going to do an urgent shop tonight to get some fake plants for some more cover, my actual plants have not come on enough to go inside yet but I’m trying to offer more cover from that UVB.

Here is a pic, it was quite hard to take in the dark this morning but hopefully you can see what I mean. I’ve ordered a reflector and I will suspend it from the top once it arrives

Sorry for going on I really appreciate your replies, thanks you for taking the time.

 

[Kasia]

Hi
I would lower the UVB light because it workes best when its ca. 20-25 cm away from the bottom, how high its your? Check that in the leaflet you got with your light. If your baby sits just in the certain area (basking spot) it means that the rest of the enclosure can be little too cold for it, recheck your temps, watch him if it will not change try adding heat. Rule of thumb for UVB expiration is 6 months. I would put it close to the feeding area (he will visit it often, so no problem with his exposition on it).
Your idea with a heat mat under the tub is really cool maybe water changes can be done less frequent in this setup good luck and keep calm!

 

[wellington]

If you can put the soaking container in the enclosure in just too the side of the basking spot it won't get cold. I wouldn't use a heat mat as most are not suppose to have heavy things laying on them, so check that out first for the mat your using.
Get a timer for your lights. It's not the timer that would cause a fire.
As for staying in one spot, recheck temps. It may be too hot or too cold in the other areas. If temps are fine then don't worry about it. He will still get uvb without always being directly under it or when he does venture around. They can go a couple days without actually getting any uvb.