I recently finished Milo's new vivarium. Thanks to Chris and TerryO on the suggestions!
Substrate is bioactive, with 6inches of cyprus/soil/coco coir mixture, a little sand, and some worms and isopods. I laid down some heat ropes 3-4 inches from the top, and with a plastic storage bin lid on top, humidity has been over 75% consistently. It's normally mid-to-upper 80%'s. Temps are 78 at one end, 84 at the other, and 89 in the middle. A single 100watt CHE has been doing the trick.
One of the biggest improvements is that, with the heat ropes under the soil, I can keep the top of the substrate dry. My tort never had problems with shell rot in his old enclosure (and the fogger that would keep it humid, thus wetting the top layer of substrate), but it's no longer a risk. It's been very entertaining watching Milo run around and inspect his new environment. He has become more juvenile-like the past month, gaining better motor and visual skills, and sleeping slightly less.
My next task is to catch that moth that made its way in to my apartment when I brought the pill bugs back from the woods!
The old enclosure:
And the new:
Substrate is bioactive, with 6inches of cyprus/soil/coco coir mixture, a little sand, and some worms and isopods. I laid down some heat ropes 3-4 inches from the top, and with a plastic storage bin lid on top, humidity has been over 75% consistently. It's normally mid-to-upper 80%'s. Temps are 78 at one end, 84 at the other, and 89 in the middle. A single 100watt CHE has been doing the trick.
One of the biggest improvements is that, with the heat ropes under the soil, I can keep the top of the substrate dry. My tort never had problems with shell rot in his old enclosure (and the fogger that would keep it humid, thus wetting the top layer of substrate), but it's no longer a risk. It's been very entertaining watching Milo run around and inspect his new environment. He has become more juvenile-like the past month, gaining better motor and visual skills, and sleeping slightly less.
My next task is to catch that moth that made its way in to my apartment when I brought the pill bugs back from the woods!
The old enclosure:
And the new:
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Milo is very lucky!!!
