My indian star hatchling enclosure

[Laura51]

This is my two month old Indian star hatchling set up. I took the advice from Garden State Tortoise. Substrate is 1/4 calcium sand and the rest is mix of repti soil forest floor and orchid bark . This set up is until hes at least 1 yr or older it hold humidity great! For lighting , because its a small area ( 66 qt) i only use 50 watt basking and a repti 10.0 13 w uvb/uva bulb and everything is on a thermostat, so when the temperature reaches 98, the basking light off until it reaches 93 and then on again until 98 . The over all temp only reach 83 and the humidity stays around 85 .

 

[Tom]

Sand or soil should never be used as tortoise substrate. Sand is a skin and eye irritant and potential impaction risk.

The cfl type UV bulb should never be used because they are ineffective UV sources ad some of them burn reptile eyes. Also, UV bulbs should only be run for a few hours mid day, not all day long. You need an HO type tube for indoor UV, or in your climate, you can use the real sunshine periodically if you are careful about not letting the little one over heat.

You still need ambient lighting to make it bright and "sunny", and you need a CHE set on a thermostat to maintain the ambient temp above 80 degrees at night when the lights are all off.

Here is a breakdown of the four heating and lighting essentials:

1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
2. Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night. Some people in colder climates or with larger enclosures will need multiple CHEs or RHPs to spread out enough heat.
3. Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html A good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day.

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Laura51]

Sand or soil should never be used as tortoise substrate. Sand is a skin and eye irritant and potential impaction risk.

The cfl type UV bulb should never be used because they are ineffective UV sources ad some of them burn reptile eyes. Also, UV bulbs should only be run for a few hours mid day, not all day long. You need an HO type tube for indoor UV, or in your climate, you can use the real sunshine periodically if you are careful about not letting the little one over heat.

You still need ambient lighting to make it bright and "sunny", and you need a CHE set on a thermostat to maintain the ambient temp above 80 degrees at night when the lights are all off.

Here is a breakdown of the four heating and lighting essentials:

1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
2. Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night. Some people in colder climates or with larger enclosures will need multiple CHEs or RHPs to spread out enough heat.
3. Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html A good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day.

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

Oh thank you for all the input I did change out the UV light with a regular bulb that I can dim and make different lights cool warm daylight things like that. substrate I will take the sand out and redo the substrate before anything happens. The ambient stays about 77 at night if I put a ceramic heat lamp im afraid he will overheat .mI have a thermostat connected to the basking light so it never goes above 98 on the basking spot. in the ambient always is around 84 until night time and then it goes down to about 77 / 75that’s the lowest I’ve seen it. Mind you this is only a 24 x 24 and closer so it does need to be monitored with humanity which is not a problem it stays pretty humid in there about 85% and it’s constantly closed . I do take him out for about an hour a day when I get off work before the sun gets down he quite enjoys it . it I’m just trying Raise him as healthy as possible to add to their species I really appreciate your input you’re quite knowledgeable and I enjoyed learning from you .you never can stop learning
Thank you

 

[wellington]

Garden state tortoises is not a bad place to get a tort from. However, if you look at a lot of their little ones, they are already starting to pyramid. The info Tom has given us much safer for your tort and more accurate.

 

[Laura51]

Garden state tortoises is not a bad place to get a tort from. However, if you look at a lot of their little ones, they are already starting to pyramid. The info Tom has given us much safer for your tort and more accurate.

no thats where i got info about the tote enclosure. My star came from southern reptiles. Good family owned breeder.

 

[Laura51]

no thats where i got info about the tote enclosure. My star came from southern reptiles. Good family owned breeder.

Also i have followed Toms advice and completely changed the substrate. No more sand or soil. I didnt want to risk my stars health.

 

[Tom]

Oh thank you for all the input I did change out the UV light with a regular bulb that I can dim and make different lights cool warm daylight things like that. substrate I will take the sand out and redo the substrate before anything happens. The ambient stays about 77 at night if I put a ceramic heat lamp im afraid he will overheat .mI have a thermostat connected to the basking light so it never goes above 98 on the basking spot. in the ambient always is around 84 until night time and then it goes down to about 77 / 75that’s the lowest I’ve seen it. Mind you this is only a 24 x 24 and closer so it does need to be monitored with humanity which is not a problem it stays pretty humid in there about 85% and it’s constantly closed . I do take him out for about an hour a day when I get off work before the sun gets down he quite enjoys it . it I’m just trying Raise him as healthy as possible to add to their species I really appreciate your input you’re quite knowledgeable and I enjoyed learning from you .you never can stop learning
Thank you

Your CHE won't be able to over heat the enclosure because you will have it on a thermostat set to 80-81. You need this because 75-77 is too cool for this species. Especially so for a new baby. With all that humidity, which is correct for the species, you run the risk of an RI with cool night temperatures.

You don't want the basking bulb on a thermostat. Its no good for the sun to be going off and on all day. Get the correct basking temp by using the correct wattage bulb and adjusting the height correctly using a digital thermometer that you let cook under the bulb. If the basking area is getting more than a few degrees over 100 in the hottest part of the day, you need a lower wattage bulb, or you need to raise the fixture a bit.

 

[wellington]

no thats where i got info about the tote enclosure. My star came from southern reptiles. Good family owned breeder.

I see. Then just follow the info Tom gives. Garden uses some new and still some old info.

 

[wellington]

Your CHE won't be able to over heat the enclosure because you will have it on a thermostat set to 80-81. You need this because 75-77 is too cool for this species. Especially so for a new baby. With all that humidity, which is correct for the species, you run the risk of an RI with cool night temperatures.

You don't want the basking bulb on a thermostat. Its no good for the sun to be going off and on all day. Get the correct basking temp by using the correct wattage bulb and adjusting the height correctly using a digital thermometer that you let cook under the bulb. If the basking area is getting more than a few degrees over 100 in the hottest part of the day, you need a lower wattage bulb, or you need to raise the fixture a bit.

Be sure you measure all temps at tortoise height though, not up high.

 

[Laura51]

Your CHE won't be able to over heat the enclosure because you will have it on a thermostat set to 80-81. You need this because 75-77 is too cool for this species. Especially so for a new baby. With all that humidity, which is correct for the species, you run the risk of an RI with cool night temperatures.

You don't want the basking bulb on a thermostat. Its no good for the sun to be going off and on all day. Get the correct basking temp by using the correct wattage bulb and adjusting the height correctly using a digital thermometer that you let cook under the bulb. If the basking area is getting more than a few degrees over 100 in the hottest part of the day, you need a lower wattage bulb, or you need to raise the fixture a bit.

Thank you I have it mounded going uphill where it's basking so I'll lower that a by a couple of inches .that should take care of the problem . Its only at 50 watt that im using for the basking right now . I have a ceramic one that I can use at night ,That's also 5o watt . So I'll make those adjustments and see how it does . And I'll put my sensor on the night Ceramic bulbs . doesn't get too hot . It is I should have everything dialed in after this. Thank you very much for the knowledge 😎

 

[Tom]

Thank you I have it mounded going uphill where it's basking so I'll lower that a by a couple of inches .that should take care of the problem . Its only at 50 watt that im using for the basking right now . I have a ceramic one that I can use at night ,That's also 5o watt . So I'll make those adjustments and see how it does . And I'll put my sensor on the night Ceramic bulbs . doesn't get too hot . It is I should have everything dialed in after this. Thank you very much for the knowledge 😎

In some of my large closed chambers, I have to switch to 45-25 watt bulbs in summer when the reptile room starts getting hotter.

Try the 50 watt CHE, but some people will need more than 50 watts to keep temps up on a cooler night. If you are already hovering around 75-77, then 50 watts will probably be enough in such a tiny enclosure that is closed up like that, but you may need more when the time comes to go bigger.