New African Sulcata 2 years old

[MandyV]

Hi everyone my name is Mandy from Texas. I recently adopted an African Sulcata Tortoise. I am new to the tortoise world and I did do my research or so I thought to give her a good home. I have read the introduction post which was very informative but also very alarming. The information is so so contradictory from site to site. I finally chose here to depend on because it seems this site is truly people who care and are not motivated by selling products. That said all I want is for Sammy to have a safe happy healthy life and I’m confused about a few things. The light I have is the mega ray mercury vapor light and I just bought her a new home on Amazon attaching picture. I am using top soil in her cage and put some orchid hay around in there too. I give her romaine lettuce from the store ugh I already know but I don’t have a garden. And I soak these pellets attached pic and feed her. I bought the stupid ramped water bowl I already ordered the one you recommended and took that out. I do have a back yard but I don’t have an outside enclosure yet anyway. The instructions regarding the lights was so confusing to me I’m still unsure what to get as well as the substrate. When you say to soak or bathe her every day can you explain that a little she is getting more comfortable with me but when I pick her up she goes in her shell how would I soak her without harming her. I want to provide her with what she needs but I feel after reading your introduction I’m failing her. Please help me and Sammy!

 

[wellington]

Glad you found this forum but unfortunately most everything is wrong
Enclosure is way to small for her and not appropriate for any tortoise. When hatched, they need high humidity, 80% until around 3 years old.
This can only be done easily in a closed chamber enclosure. Get a pop up greenhouse to use, they are cheap. Add a tarp for the floor and you have a closed chamber
The vapor bulb will also cause pyramiding. Replace it with a 65 watt incandescent FLOOD bulb for basking under temps that range from 95-100.
The rest of the enclosure needs to be 80-85 never lower than 80 day or night
Remove the hay, it's not good for substrate. Molds to easily too.
Diet must be greatly improved. Grass, arugula, escarole, dandelions, cactus pads, to name a few.
Here is the greenhouse I'm talking about

 

[wellington]

Soaking is filling a sink or tub and vessel that will hold water, not glass, with enough warm water that it comes up just past where the bottom and top shell meet. You keep them in this for 20-30 minutes, keeping the water warm the whole time.
Either placed off to the side of the basking light, half in sun and half in shade outside, or I would keep dumping the water and adding fresh warm water.

 

[MandyV]

Glad you found this forum but unfortunately most everything is wrong
Enclosure is way to small for her and not appropriate for any tortoise. When hatched, they need high humidity, 80% until around 3 years old.
This can only be done easily in a closed chamber enclosure. Get a pop up greenhouse to use, they are cheap. Add a tarp for the floor and you have a closed chamber
The vapor bulb will also cause pyramiding. Replace it with a 65 watt incandescent FLOOD bulb for basking under temps that range from 95-100.
The rest of the enclosure needs to be 80-85 never lower than 80 day or night
Remove the hay, it's not good for substrate. Molds to easily too.
Diet must be greatly improved. Grass, arugula, escarole, dandelions, cactus pads, to name a few.
Here is the greenhouse I'm talking about
View attachment 374216View attachment 374214

Thank you so much, yes I know it’s all wrong unfortunately I didn’t find y’all until now I paid triple what that costs. But this is so helpful I will get that enclosure as well as the bulb. For the diet I read they needed hay to eat, I’ll remove right away. For her diet I’m sure this is a stupid question Where do I buy grass that’s safe for her to eat or the other things you mentioned?

 

[MandyV]

Soaking is filling a sink or tub and vessel that will hold water, not glass, with enough warm water that it comes up just past where the bottom and top shell meet. You keep them in this for 20-30 minutes, keeping the water warm the whole time.
Either placed off to the side of the basking light, half in sun and half in shade outside, or I would keep dumping the water and adding fresh warm water.

Ok this is great information thank you

 

[wellington]

Thank you so much, yes I know it’s all wrong unfortunately I didn’t find y’all until now I paid triple what that costs. But this is so helpful I will get that enclosure as well as the bulb. For the diet I read they needed hay to eat, I’ll remove right away. For her diet I’m sure this is a stupid question Where do I buy grass that’s safe for her to eat or the other things you mentioned?

Hay is fine for them to eat. Orchard grass hay should be used for that and most cut it up in small pieces and soak it. When he's an adult, or much bigger you don't have to do that.
Grass can be from your yard if it's not treated.
The other items are found in grocery stores
Mulberry leaves, rose of Sharon flower and leaves,, hibiscus flower and leaf are also good you can add if you have them grown around you that aren't treated.
The greenhouse, if you got a big enough one, you could put it over the enclosure you have and remove one end of your enclosure to give him the room needed until he can live outside, which is around 10 inches straight measurement from bottom shell tail to head.

 

[MandyV]

Ok im taking all this in sorry if im asking to many questions. Does she need calcium powder stuff and do I stop giving her the pellets?

 

[MandyV]

I can’t thank y’all enough! I gave her her first bath that was amazing it felt like we actually bonded a little she came out of her shell and everything! New home ordered! Working on food now I just gotta figure out the light. I am so thankful to find a forum that cares about the actual tortoise and not trying to promote products and products that did her no good but would actually do her harm!!!! Oh thank you so much!

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Welcome to the forum! So happy you’ve made your way here! I’m sorry you didn’t find this place before buying stuff😣at least now you can be put on the right track😊

I’m going to include some information below on how I’d personally tackle an indoor starter set up for this guy until they’re bigger. Hopefully it helps give you some ideas!

Basking light should be an incandescent floodlight(example attached) on a 12 hour timer.

Basking temperature directly under the floodlight should be 95-100f. The rest of the enclosure should be ranging 80-85, not dropping lower than 80 at night all over.

You may also wish to add ambient lighting on the same timer as the basking light, providing shady areas with hides and such.

If the floodlight isn’t enough to bump up the over enclosure temperature, you could add a CHE(ceramic heat emitter)or two depending on the size you go for, they’re a non light emitting heat bulb that people use to help make heat up/night heat. Again if it’s dropping below the 80’s at night, a CHE is a good idea. Always run any ceramic bulbs on a thermostat, you’ll set the thermostat for around 80, plug the ceramic(s) into the thermostat and plug the thermostat into the mains, it’ll be on 24/7, but the thermostat will only turn on the ceramic(s) if the temperature drops below 80, and will keep them off if the temperature is fine.
As you’re from a warm climate, I’d do temperature gun checks with the floodlight running and do checks at night to see if you need the ceramics, if you have ac you might need them to help control them temperature for an indoor enclosure.

Dome fittings do help in projecting the heat down, just make sure to never solely rely on the clamp fittings that can come with them, they can fail, so it’s always best to hang them securely👍

Uv should be a t5 fluorescent tube, avoid the compact and coil uv bulbs, they don’t give out enough uv and can hurt the tortoises eyes. The uv can be on a 4 hour timer from noon.

With lighting always avoid anything labelled halogen or mercury vapour.

For substrates, either coco coir, dampened and packed down by hand as a base, with a layer of orchid(fir not pine) bark or forest floor on top, or just the orchid bark/forest floor. Never use anything with sand mixed in, no top soils and no kinds of moss. The trouble with top soil is you don’t know what kind of plants have gone into it, they could be toxic.
As wellington has said, the hay is fine for them to eat, but doesn’t work well as a substrate, it moulds with high humidity.

You want to aim to have the bottom layer of substrate damp, to do this pour lukewarm water into the corners, not loads but enough to dampen the entire bottom layer. To stop that top layer getting too dry/dusty, mix the substrate now n then, which also helps boosting humidity or give the top a spray. Check your monitors and substrate to do the pours as and when needed. I don’t recommend misters or foggers, they get the air too wet and cause respiratory problems.

Humidity for young growing tortoises benefits when maintained around 80%, 24/7, you’ll find that difficult to achieve with an open top, for the set up I’m recommending I’d get a greenhouse cover.

To maintain humidity whilst the tortoise is younger a greenhouse style set up works well and provides more space, the bigger you go the better, it’s ideal if you can build your own base to go as big as you can for the room you have for now.

If you can’t find an exact fit for your base with the cover, then place it over like the one with the white base in the photo, I’d put lining down under the base and cover though to stop condensate getting on your floor. Bear in mind the ones pictured I don’t think are personally big enough to house this tortoise, they’re just to give you an idea.

When making your base, just make sure the material is safe, some use flower beds or just make their own, for both these options I’d line with cheap pond liner to protect the base, making sure the liner goes up the sides too and make sure those sides are deep enough to prevent escapes.

Some people even hang their lighting from the greenhouse frame! Simply wrap the wire round so it’s at the height you need(check with temp gun/put thermostat in, 18-21 inches for uv I recommend) then secure with cable ties.
I’ve also included examples of stands people make/buy.

I think for the size you’ll need to go, you may struggle to find a topper, in that case you could maybe throw some pvc covering over the stands if you can’t find one, but again if you do that, I’d put lining down under the base to stop condensate.

For a water dish a shallow terracotta saucer large enough for the tortoise to soak in, is considered safest, they have grip in the event your tortoise flips themselves, most pet store options are a known hazard.

Ignore whatever else is in these enclosures in the photos, they’re just to give you an idea, and again these particular ones look to small for your tortoise imo, but hopefully they help inspire an idea👍

I’d also always recommend getting your hands on a temp gun, they’re SO handy when setting up a new environment or for checking your monitors are correct🙂

Wishing you all the best from the uk🥰

 

[Ink]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[MandyV]

Welcome to the forum! So happy you’ve made your way here! I’m sorry you didn’t find this place before buying stuff😣at least now you can be put on the right track😊

I’m going to include some information below on how I’d personally tackle an indoor starter set up for this guy until they’re bigger. Hopefully it helps give you some ideas!

Basking light should be an incandescent floodlight(example attached) on a 12 hour timer.

Basking temperature directly under the floodlight should be 95-100f. The rest of the enclosure should be ranging 80-85, not dropping lower than 80 at night all over.

You may also wish to add ambient lighting on the same timer as the basking light, providing shady areas with hides and such.

If the floodlight isn’t enough to bump up the over enclosure temperature, you could add a CHE(ceramic heat emitter)or two depending on the size you go for, they’re a non light emitting heat bulb that people use to help make heat up/night heat. Again if it’s dropping below the 80’s at night, a CHE is a good idea. Always run any ceramic bulbs on a thermostat, you’ll set the thermostat for around 80, plug the ceramic(s) into the thermostat and plug the thermostat into the mains, it’ll be on 24/7, but the thermostat will only turn on the ceramic(s) if the temperature drops below 80, and will keep them off if the temperature is fine.
As you’re from a warm climate, I’d do temperature gun checks with the floodlight running and do checks at night to see if you need the ceramics, if you have ac you might need them to help control them temperature for an indoor enclosure.

Dome fittings do help in projecting the heat down, just make sure to never solely rely on the clamp fittings that can come with them, they can fail, so it’s always best to hang them securely👍

Uv should be a t5 fluorescent tube, avoid the compact and coil uv bulbs, they don’t give out enough uv and can hurt the tortoises eyes. The uv can be on a 4 hour timer from noon.

With lighting always avoid anything labelled halogen or mercury vapour.

For substrates, either coco coir, dampened and packed down by hand as a base, with a layer of orchid(fir not pine) bark or forest floor on top, or just the orchid bark/forest floor. Never use anything with sand mixed in, no top soils and no kinds of moss. The trouble with top soil is you don’t know what kind of plants have gone into it, they could be toxic.
As wellington has said, the hay is fine for them to eat, but doesn’t work well as a substrate, it moulds with high humidity.

You want to aim to have the bottom layer of substrate damp, to do this pour lukewarm water into the corners, not loads but enough to dampen the entire bottom layer. To stop that top layer getting too dry/dusty, mix the substrate now n then, which also helps boosting humidity or give the top a spray. Check your monitors and substrate to do the pours as and when needed. I don’t recommend misters or foggers, they get the air too wet and cause respiratory problems.

Humidity for young growing tortoises benefits when maintained around 80%, 24/7, you’ll find that difficult to achieve with an open top, for the set up I’m recommending I’d get a greenhouse cover.

To maintain humidity whilst the tortoise is younger a greenhouse style set up works well and provides more space, the bigger you go the better, it’s ideal if you can build your own base to go as big as you can for the room you have for now.

If you can’t find an exact fit for your base with the cover, then place it over like the one with the white base in the photo, I’d put lining down under the base and cover though to stop condensate getting on your floor. Bear in mind the ones pictured I don’t think are personally big enough to house this tortoise, they’re just to give you an idea.

When making your base, just make sure the material is safe, some use flower beds or just make their own, for both these options I’d line with cheap pond liner to protect the base, making sure the liner goes up the sides too and make sure those sides are deep enough to prevent escapes.

Some people even hang their lighting from the greenhouse frame! Simply wrap the wire round so it’s at the height you need(check with temp gun/put thermostat in, 18-21 inches for uv I recommend) then secure with cable ties.
I’ve also included examples of stands people make/buy.

I think for the size you’ll need to go, you may struggle to find a topper, in that case you could maybe throw some pvc covering over the stands if you can’t find one, but again if you do that, I’d put lining down under the base to stop condensate.

For a water dish a shallow terracotta saucer large enough for the tortoise to soak in, is considered safest, they have grip in the event your tortoise flips themselves, most pet store options are a known hazard.

Ignore whatever else is in these enclosures in the photos, they’re just to give you an idea, and again these particular ones look to small for your tortoise imo, but hopefully they help inspire an idea👍

I’d also always recommend getting your hands on a temp gun, they’re SO handy when setting up a new environment or for checking your monitors are correct🙂

Wishing you all the best from the uk🥰

Thank you so much the actual specific details on what exactly I need are perfect and what I need. A few questions does the light go inside the enclosure does this cause any fire hazard? I am including the pictures of what I am actually fixing to purchase this time before I buy lol. Does the light come the timer? You also mentioned dome fittings is that a different light? I have 2 ceramic dome lights now but they are mercury vapor so I am replacing those with these long lights.

I don’t see a temp gun either

Please understand I am not very creative I am going to buy exactly what you recommend I know you are the professionals and I’m so new at this.

I am unsure what you mean by ambient lighting is this a different light?

I have already removed all hay for now

I got the water dish ordered

I can’t find the thermostat and I’m not sure which one the one you pictured I don’t see at all

My Sammy is about 6 in right now

Last will these threads stay here for me to reference when needed?

Thank you, Your very grateful member

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Thank you so much the actual specific details on what exactly I need are perfect and what I need. A few questions does the light go inside the enclosure does this cause any fire hazard? I am including the pictures of what I am actually fixing to purchase this time before I buy lol. Does the light come the timer? You also mentioned dome fittings is that a different light? I have 2 ceramic dome lights now but they are mercury vapor so I am replacing those with these long lights.

I don’t see a temp gun either

Please understand I am not very creative I am going to buy exactly what you recommend I know you are the professionals and I’m so new at this.

I am unsure what you mean by ambient lighting is this a different light?

I have already removed all hay for now

I got the water dish ordered

I can’t find the thermostat and I’m not sure which one the one you pictured I don’t see at all

My Sammy is about 6 in right now

Last will these threads stay here for me to reference when needed?

Thank you, Your very grateful member

No problem at all! Happy to help in any way I can, with your current enclosure, the lights won’t go inside because it’d be too low, depending how high your enclosure is(the uv needs to be roughly 18-20inches)you might be able to rest the uv on the mesh like the pic attached, I’d check with a temp gun for the basking light to make sure it’s not too close resting on the mesh, it might be fine but always good to check, I’ll attach a photo of a temperature gun too but if you just type it into Amazon or Google there’s lots of reasonable priced options🙂

The lights don’t come with timers, but again they’re very affordable, just a simple plug in wall timer will do, I’ll attach an example. You need one for your UV(set to 4hours from noon) and one for your basking light&ambient lighting, use a power strip to be able to plug both the basking and ambient into the same timer.
When I say ambient lighting, it just means no heat lighting that helps brighten the entirety of your enclosure, some people use screw in leds in the colour range 5000-6500k from the hardware store, or other use led strip lights.

Sorry for the confusion, when I say dome fittings, I just mean the domes you’ve screwed the bulb into, not the bulbs themselves👍

You’ll only need one of the T5 uv bulbs, mounted by the floodlight(screw the floodlight into one of your domes)if going with Arcadia I’d recommend going for the ‘proT5 kit’ because it comes with the reflector fitting that you can easily mount onto a stand, or rest on the mesh if it’s not too close(measure your enclosure height) the Arcadia option you attached is just the bulb on its own I believe.

If you need to add CHE’s, a simple on/off thermostat will work, you could use a pulse thermostat, they’re technically more sophisticated for the ceramics, but tbh more expensive and the on/off will work fine too, I’d go for a 600w or more, it needs to be higher than the input of watts you’re plugging in. I’ve seen lots of people use the habitat brand, we personally use the microclimate brand. I can’t speak for other brands but perhaps you can ask around on here🙂

With the orchid bark you attached, because it’s listed as potting media, just read the fine print and make sure it’s just pure orchid fir bark, no added fertiliser or chemicals.
The coco coir looks fine👍
If those greenhouse toppers will fit your measurements, either of the ones you attached will work😊

Yes this thread, and any future threads you wish to make, will remain here for you to go over and reference back too🙂

All the best, any further questions please ask away! I’ll do my best to answer if I can, but if I can’t, there’s always someone around who will be along to help🥰

 

[MandyV]

Welcome to the forum! So happy you’ve made your way here! I’m sorry you didn’t find this place before buying stuff😣at least now you can be put on the right track😊

I’m going to include some information below on how I’d personally tackle an indoor starter set up for this guy until they’re bigger. Hopefully it helps give you some ideas!

Basking light should be an incandescent floodlight(example attached) on a 12 hour timer.

Basking temperature directly under the floodlight should be 95-100f. The rest of the enclosure should be ranging 80-85, not dropping lower than 80 at night all over.

You may also wish to add ambient lighting on the same timer as the basking light, providing shady areas with hides and such.

If the floodlight isn’t enough to bump up the over enclosure temperature, you could add a CHE(ceramic heat emitter)or two depending on the size you go for, they’re a non light emitting heat bulb that people use to help make heat up/night heat. Again if it’s dropping below the 80’s at night, a CHE is a good idea. Always run any ceramic bulbs on a thermostat, you’ll set the thermostat for around 80, plug the ceramic(s) into the thermostat and plug the thermostat into the mains, it’ll be on 24/7, but the thermostat will only turn on the ceramic(s) if the temperature drops below 80, and will keep them off if the temperature is fine.
As you’re from a warm climate, I’d do temperature gun checks with the floodlight running and do checks at night to see if you need the ceramics, if you have ac you might need them to help control them temperature for an indoor enclosure.

Dome fittings do help in projecting the heat down, just make sure to never solely rely on the clamp fittings that can come with them, they can fail, so it’s always best to hang them securely👍

Uv should be a t5 fluorescent tube, avoid the compact and coil uv bulbs, they don’t give out enough uv and can hurt the tortoises eyes. The uv can be on a 4 hour timer from noon.

With lighting always avoid anything labelled halogen or mercury vapour.

For substrates, either coco coir, dampened and packed down by hand as a base, with a layer of orchid(fir not pine) bark or forest floor on top, or just the orchid bark/forest floor. Never use anything with sand mixed in, no top soils and no kinds of moss. The trouble with top soil is you don’t know what kind of plants have gone into it, they could be toxic.
As wellington has said, the hay is fine for them to eat, but doesn’t work well as a substrate, it moulds with high humidity.

You want to aim to have the bottom layer of substrate damp, to do this pour lukewarm water into the corners, not loads but enough to dampen the entire bottom layer. To stop that top layer getting too dry/dusty, mix the substrate now n then, which also helps boosting humidity or give the top a spray. Check your monitors and substrate to do the pours as and when needed. I don’t recommend misters or foggers, they get the air too wet and cause respiratory problems.

Humidity for young growing tortoises benefits when maintained around 80%, 24/7, you’ll find that difficult to achieve with an open top, for the set up I’m recommending I’d get a greenhouse cover.

To maintain humidity whilst the tortoise is younger a greenhouse style set up works well and provides more space, the bigger you go the better, it’s ideal if you can build your own base to go as big as you can for the room you have for now.

If you can’t find an exact fit for your base with the cover, then place it over like the one with the white base in the photo, I’d put lining down under the base and cover though to stop condensate getting on your floor. Bear in mind the ones pictured I don’t think are personally big enough to house this tortoise, they’re just to give you an idea.

When making your base, just make sure the material is safe, some use flower beds or just make their own, for both these options I’d line with cheap pond liner to protect the base, making sure the liner goes up the sides too and make sure those sides are deep enough to prevent escapes.

Some people even hang their lighting from the greenhouse frame! Simply wrap the wire round so it’s at the height you need(check with temp gun/put thermostat in, 18-21 inches for uv I recommend) then secure with cable ties.
I’ve also included examples of stands people make/buy.

I think for the size you’ll need to go, you may struggle to find a topper, in that case you could maybe throw some pvc covering over the stands if you can’t find one, but again if you do that, I’d put lining down under the base to stop condensate.

For a water dish a shallow terracotta saucer large enough for the tortoise to soak in, is considered safest, they have grip in the event your tortoise flips themselves, most pet store options are a known hazard.

Ignore whatever else is in these enclosures in the photos, they’re just to give you an idea, and again these particular ones look to small for your tortoise imo, but hopefully they help inspire an idea👍

I’d also always recommend getting your hands on a temp gun, they’re SO handy when setting up a new environment or for checking your monitors are correct🙂

Wishing you all the best from the uk🥰

Thank you so much the actual specific details on what exactly I need are perfect and what I need. A few questions does the light go inside the enclosure does this cause any fire hazard? I am including the pictures of what I am actually fixing to purchase this time before I buy lol. Does the light come the timer? You also mentioned dome fittings is that a different light? I have 2 ceramic dome lights now but they are mercury vapor so I am replacing those with these long lights.


The
I don’t see a temp gun either

Please understand I am not very creative I am going to buy exactly what you recommend I know you are the professionals and I’m so new at this.

I am unsure what you mean by ambient lighting is this a different light?

I have already removed all hay for now

I got the water dish ordered

I can’t find the thermostat and I’m not sure which one the one you pictured I don’t see at all

My Sammy is about 6 in right now

Last will these threads stay here for me to reference when needed?

Thank you, Your very grateful member

No problem at all! Happy to help in any way I can, with your current enclosure, the lights won’t go inside because it’d be too low, depending how high your enclosure is(the uv needs to be roughly 18-20inches)you might be able to rest the uv on the mesh like the pic attached, I’d check with a temp gun for the basking light to make sure it’s not too close resting on the mesh, it might be fine but always good to check, I’ll attach a photo of a temperature gun too but if you just type it into Amazon or Google there’s lots of reasonable priced options🙂

The lights don’t come with timers, but again they’re very affordable, just a simple plug in wall timer will do, I’ll attach an example. You need one for your UV(set to 4hours from noon) and one for your basking light&ambient lighting, use a power strip to be able to plug both the basking and ambient into the same timer.
When I say ambient lighting, it just means no heat lighting that helps brighten the entirety of your enclosure, some people use screw in leds in the colour range 5000-6500k from the hardware store, or other use led strip lights.

Sorry for the confusion, when I say dome fittings, I just mean the domes you’ve screwed the bulb into, not the bulbs themselves👍

You’ll only need one of the T5 uv bulbs, mounted by the floodlight(screw the floodlight into one of your domes)if going with Arcadia I’d recommend going for the ‘proT5 kit’ because it comes with the reflector fitting that you can easily mount onto a stand, or rest on the mesh if it’s not too close(measure your enclosure height) the Arcadia option you attached is just the bulb on its own I believe.

If you need to add CHE’s, a simple on/off thermostat will work, you could use a pulse thermostat, they’re technically more sophisticated for the ceramics, but tbh more expensive and the on/off will work fine too, I’d go for a 600w or more, it needs to be higher than the input of watts you’re plugging in. I’ve seen lots of people use the habitat brand, we personally use the microclimate brand. I can’t speak for other brands but perhaps you can ask around on here🙂

With the orchid bark you attached, because it’s listed as potting media, just read the fine print and make sure it’s just pure orchid fir bark, no added fertiliser or chemicals.
The coco coir looks fine👍
If those greenhouse toppers will fit your measurements, either of the ones you attached will work😊

Yes this thread, and any future threads you wish to make, will remain here for you to go over and reference back too🙂

All the best, any further questions please ask away! I’ll do my best to answer if I can, but if I can’t, there’s always someone around who will be along to help🥰

I was planning on not using the enclosure I have at all and using the ones I sent in the picture unless I’m confusing something. I thought they were a better habitat for her

Will the Acadia light screw into that dome light or do I need to get one for that specific light

If I work and I’m not home at 12 to turn the light on does it have to be around that time? Is that important

Thank you I am going to take all your advice and start working on it I’m sure I will have plenty more questions but it’s important to me to get this right for her.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Forgive me, I didn’t see that one of the listings comes with the garden bed frame, I thought it was just the cover. In that case, if the frame is sturdy enough, you should be able to hang your lighting from the frame, or you could still make your own stand to go under the cover, with this kind of set up the lights are going to be under the cover hanging directly over the base, like the photos attached(again it’s a smaller example for a smaller species of tortoise, but basically that on a larger scale lol)

For the size your tortoise is already, I’d personally go a bit bigger if you can until their finale permanent enclosure is created.

The floodlight should fit your dome fitting.

If you put your lighting on the 12 hour plug in wall timer, you won’t have to worry about being there to switch your light on and off to create the day and night cycle, your timer will do that for you. We set ours to turn on around 9am to 9pm🙂

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Will the Acadia light screw into that dome light or do I need to get one for that specific light

Also if you meant the Arcadia uv light here and not the floodlight I mentioned in my first response, the proT5 kit comes with the fitting for the uv bulb, you can mount it onto a piece of timber and hang it from your stand to adjust the height, or if your stand is the right height, mount it straight onto that. You see the long black hood type thing in the photos? That’s the kind of reflector fitting the light comes with, it’s so less UV light is wasted😊

 

[MandyV]

Ah ok I think I got confused with the vertical bulbs. I know I’m making this so much harder than it needs to be but with so many options that are harmful to her and getting all the wrong things the first time I want to be 100% this time around. Let ‘s see if I understand this correctly I have read and read all the responses multiple times it’s still kinda confusing.

I can use both of the dome fittings I currently have. I need to replace both bulbs one bulb should be the incandescent flood light for basking and heating and the other one ambient lighting. I need a third light which is the vertical tube that should be T5 fluorescent tube.

It was mentioned I should go a little bigger then the enclosure I previously attached. What measurements would you recommend to have.

Dumb this down for me please lol. I think I’m starting to get it just want to fully understand. I want to get exactly what you are recommending I have no opinion or preference as I very clearly have no experience.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Don’t you worry, I type very fast to get all the information possible to you, but if you ever need any part of it breaking down/ explaining, please don’t hesitate to ask on anything! Even if it’s multiple times, I don’t mind explaining multiple times, I remember how lost and overwhelmed I felt when first joining, so please never worry or feel bad for asking multiple questions, I actually prefer people do to make sure we’re all on the same page🙂
And rest assured no question is silly or invalid! We all started somewhere😊

So yes, you can use both the dome fittings you have, one for the floodlight which I attached an example of in my first reply, and the other for just a regular LED bulb, both of these bulbs need to go onto the same plug in wall timer(you can use a power strip to do that) set for 12hours👍you don’t necessarily need the dome for the LED though, you could use that fitting for a CHE perhaps, depending on the measurement of the dome🙂

Yep you need a third light which will be the T5 tube UV light, I’d recommend the Arcadia personally, the proT5 kit comes with everything you need to mount it, I’ll include a photo, you may wish to go for the watt up depending how big you’re willing to go with your enclosure. This will go on a separate plug in timer, set to be on 4 hours from noon, so you won’t ever have to worry about turning it on/off yourself.

You may still also need CHE(s) which are non light emitting heat bulbs to make up heat/give night heat, id also recommend getting domes for these. Make sure they’re run on a thermostat, if you need further advice on how to set that up when they come, we can help every step of the way😊

Do some temperature gun checks both day and night, see if your levels are where they should be(previously discussed) to determine if you need the ceramics.

Size wise, the biggest you can go the better, for the size they are right now I’d recommend roughly 8x4 foot, but this species you have will outgrow that quite quickly, potentially in a year or so.

Anything else you are unsure of, please ask away!🥰

 

[MandyV]

Here is what I was able to find not all are available I tried to go exactly where it looked like you took the screen shot from but not all are available here. I can not find the same thermostat any where.I am what I did find.also I found the temperature gun do I need that and the thermostat? I can’t find the right Orchard for bark.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Floodlight is the correct one, if you can’t get your hands on the Arcadia UV that zoo med one you’ve attached works fine too, I don’t have personal experience with it, but I’ve seen lots of well known members use that brand. The ceramics you’ve attached are also correct, as is the heat gun, the heat gun is to do back up checks/help you when setting up your new environment. I can’t speak for the specific monitors and thermostat you’ve added but they do appear fine from the listing titles, let me tag @Tom to see if he has any recommendations for US brands for thermostats/ digital monitors, or if he can tell you those ones you’ve added are fine, hang tight🙂
Just a heads up Tom she needs the thermostat for her CHE(s) I can’t imagine she’ll need more that 200watts worth so I suggested a 600w thermostat.

 

[MandyV]

Here is what I was able to find not all are available I tried to go exactly where it looked like you took the screen shot from but not all are available here. I did find the Arcadia kit but it’s a little different than what you showed percentages etc