New African Sulcata 2 years old

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

so by fitting you are referring to the dome is that correct? I need to buy another dome?

The fittings are what your bulbs are screwing into, the two you have will be great for your floodlight and che, you won’t need a fancy dome fitting for an led though, I’ve tagged Alex to see if you’ll be better getting a ceramic fitting or if a standard plastic fitting will do, hopefully he’ll attach an example for you🙂

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Yep that’s definitely the right one!

Though going off what Alex said, there’s the potential the bulbs in photo were ok, always best to hang tight on his confirmation, but at least you’ll have plenty of replacements at the ready! Lol😂 either way go with the Arcadia for now because it’ll definitely work well😁

And yes those fittings are perfect for your che and basking light, I just mean you’ll need and extra one(or two depending how many led bulbs you’re wanting) and it won’t need to a be a fancy dome fitting or anything, a standard led fitting should do the trick, @Alex and the Redfoot it won’t need to be a ceramic fitting for the led will it? A plastic one will do?

Yes, no need to use ceramic sockets for the LED bulbs.

@MandyV those two domes you already have, will be occupied by ceramic heater and basking bulbs. You will something to put your ambient LED bulbs in. While it can be a plain lamp socket, it's better to have a lampshade/dome/whatever to direct the light below (it would be more comfortable for your eyes as well) - no need to get anything fancy, cheap lampshades from IKEA (or similar) will do the job.

 

[MandyV]

Ok I’ll get that ordered

 

[MandyV]

While I have to wait a week obviously I can’t remove the lights she currently has on her now so how can I let it de gas without removing her stuff

 

[MandyV]

should I get a light on in there now? Can I just use the spot light so the process starts. Sorry I just want to get her in there

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

should I get a light on in there now? Can I just use the spot light so the process starts. Sorry I just want to get her in there

The absolute minimum you need is a basking lamp and ambient heat. Try to lift basking lamp as high as you can while keeping basking area temperature in 90-95F.

If you want to "heat up" the enclosure to air out fumes and such - spot or flood bulb doesn't matter.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

While I have to wait a week obviously I can’t remove the lights she currently has on her now so how can I let it de gas without removing her stuff

Good point! we had this issue with ours when upgrading and brought extra fittings😂

But tbh I don’t think you’ll need to, I’d get a ceramic fitting(ceramic because the floodlight will be hot) to run the heat to get your process stated, then you can just use that spare ceramic fitting for your led, just a thought🙂 as it’s temporary though to start heating the enclosure, it might be ok to be a plastic fitting👍 flood or spot won’t matter as long as it heating through to off gas things😊

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Hopefully both me and Alex are making sense for you, I can only apologise if we’re sounding a bit confusing at times! There’s multiple correct ways to approach this so we’ve been throwing a few different options at you, but if anything isn’t quite making sense, please say and we’ll try to break it down better! You’re doing great Mandy!❤️

 

[MandyV]

Ok at the risk of sounding like a complete fool I have to ask. In earlier threads @Littleredfootbigredheart you explained ambient light as a no heat light. So now the message @Alex and the Redfoot mentions ambient heat. I am just staying in a constant state of confusion. I have all this stuff I’ve bought everything recommended now I just have to figure out what to keep on her for now and what to put in the new enclosure to start the off gas. I’m more and more concerned her current conditions need changed as soon as possible

 

[MandyV]

I don’t feel like I’m doing great at all I feel like a big dummy lol

 

[Tom]

Ok at the risk of sounding like a complete fool I have to ask. In earlier threads @Littleredfootbigredheart you explained ambient light as a no heat light. So now the message @Alex and the Redfoot mentions ambient heat. I am just staying in a constant state of confusion. I have all this stuff I’ve bought everything recommended now I just have to figure out what to keep on her for now and what to put in the new enclosure to start the off gas. I’m more and more concerned her current conditions need changed as soon as possible

For a Sulcata, you want the ambient temperature in the enclosure to remain no lower than 80 24/7. Its good if ambient rises to the high 80s or low 90s during the day. Also during the day, there needs to be a basking area where it is 95-100 directly under a flood light type basking bulb. Usually this basking bulb raises the ambient temp all day long, so it serves a dual purpose for you. Your thermostat controls the ambient heat devices, like a CHE or a radiant heat panel, to keep the temperature in the entire enclosure above 80 all night them the lights are off.

Ambient lighting has nothing to do with these other things. Ambient light simply makes the whole enclosure look bright and "sunny" during the day to simulate what happens outside. Many tortoise enclosure are too dim. The basking bulb and UV tube are not enough light. It needs to look like daytime in that enclosure.

UV is necessary if your tortoise never goes outside. Its still good to use it indoors, even if your tortoise does go outside.

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.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Ok at the risk of sounding like a complete fool I have to ask. In earlier threads @Littleredfootbigredheart you explained ambient light as a no heat light. So now the message @Alex and the Redfoot mentions ambient heat. I am just staying in a constant state of confusion. I have all this stuff I’ve bought everything recommended now I just have to figure out what to keep on her for now and what to put in the new enclosure to start the off gas. I’m more and more concerned her current conditions need changed as soon as possible

You don’t sound a fool one bit please don’t worry!
When Alex said the minimum you need is your basking lamp and ambient heat, the basking lamp is the floodlight(which does also contribute to the ambient heat), and the ambient heat is the CHE. The ambient lighting is non heat emitting(think of them like our household lights lol)and you won’t need to worry about those until tortoise is in there tbh, though feel free to hang them at the ready, I reckon one led in the middle should do for the lighting but you can hang two either end if you want, personal preference on how well lit you think it looks for the tortoise🙂go with the ikea light fixture or something similar for those, as alex suggests it’ll help direct the light down👍

Right now, I’d get yourself something to put one of those spot/flood bulbs into and hang that the end where your basking area will be, play around with the height, like Alex says, hang it as high as possible that allows for a 95 spot directly underneath(give it an hour or two to test that) then you’ll have a decent idea of the height your bulb will hang at once the floodlight you ordered comes🙂

When the time comes and there’s no odour, you’ll be putting that floodlight into one of the domes you already have instead of whatever temporary fitting you go with to run the heat, this could mean the height will need adjusting slightly but I can’t imagine it’ll be much, again just run it an hour or two and do a temp gun check😊 once that floodlight is set up, I’ll walk you through setting up your CHE, however @Alex and the Redfoot is there a way for her to temporarily hang that, or shall we say hang fire until everything is off gassed to install the CHE?

You’re going to use the chain stuff to hang your lights(kind of how they are in the photos I’ll attach)on moving day, just so the wire is supported, you could use multiple cable ties to wrap the chain and wire around the frame, if the greenhouse frame feels sturdy enough to use rather than stands? Ultimately just make sure it all feels hung super safe and strong😊

I don’t feel like I’m doing great at all I feel like a big dummy lol

bless you trust me I’ve felt the exact same way! You are not a dummy at all! No one is born knowing this stuff, I started from the ground up, it took me ages to truly understand things, and even now I’m learning every day!
If it’s any consolation, you’re doing far better than I did when first getting my head around everything, you’ve built the enclosure, got lining and the right substrate in, brought all the lighting and monitors you need, and are keen and at the ready to start the process in a pretty short amount of time! That’s brilliant and you ARE doing great❤️

If it calms your nerves a bit on the worry about her current enclosure, whilst it definitely isn’t ideal long term, now you’ve got your temp gun? You can check the ground temps in there, if they’re reading pretty well, your tortoise isn’t in immediate danger, low humidity isn’t great for these guys which is soon going to be fixed with this new enclosure, but so long as your doing soaks and offer fresh water, along with the natural water in their diet, that’ll be helping keeping her hydrated, long term humidity is definitely the goal for both hydration, smooth growth and overall health, another week or so isn’t going to be dire as long as the temps are pretty good and you’re keeping her hydrated, they’re a very hardy animal🐢💚

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

I’ll give you time to digest, once you have feel free to give me a shout if you want some guidance on mounting the uv, what kind of temp&humidity monitors is it you got?🙂

 

[MandyV]

I’ll give you time to digest, once you have feel free to give me a shout if you want some guidance on mounting the uv, what kind of temp&humidity monitors is it you got?🙂

The correct basking bulb is being delivered tomorrow along with additional fixtures for the ambient light. Yes I would like guidance on mounting the uv I don’t think I have the humidity monitor I don’t remember that one unless it’s called something else. I have all the other things that were listed

 

[MandyV]

You don’t sound a fool one bit please don’t worry!
When Alex said the minimum you need is your basking lamp and ambient heat, the basking lamp is the floodlight(which does also contribute to the ambient heat), and the ambient heat is the CHE. The ambient lighting is non heat emitting(think of them like our household lights lol)and you won’t need to worry about those until tortoise is in there tbh, though feel free to hang them at the ready, I reckon one led in the middle should do for the lighting but you can hang two either end if you want, personal preference on how well lit you think it looks for the tortoise🙂go with the ikea light fixture or something similar for those, as alex suggests it’ll help direct the light down👍

Right now, I’d get yourself something to put one of those spot/flood bulbs into and hang that the end where your basking area will be, play around with the height, like Alex says, hang it as high as possible that allows for a 95 spot directly underneath(give it an hour or two to test that) then you’ll have a decent idea of the height your bulb will hang at once the floodlight you ordered comes🙂

When the time comes and there’s no odour, you’ll be putting that floodlight into one of the domes you already have instead of whatever temporary fitting you go with to run the heat, this could mean the height will need adjusting slightly but I can’t imagine it’ll be much, again just run it an hour or two and do a temp gun check😊 once that floodlight is set up, I’ll walk you through setting up your CHE, however @Alex and the Redfoot is there a way for her to temporarily hang that, or shall we say hang fire until everything is off gassed to install the CHE?

You’re going to use the chain stuff to hang your lights(kind of how they are in the photos I’ll attach)on moving day, just so the wire is supported, you could use multiple cable ties to wrap the chain and wire around the frame, if the greenhouse frame feels sturdy enough to use rather than stands? Ultimately just make sure it all feels hung super safe and strong😊


bless you trust me I’ve felt the exact same way! You are not a dummy at all! No one is born knowing this stuff, I started from the ground up, it took me ages to truly understand things, and even now I’m learning every day!
If it’s any consolation, you’re doing far better than I did when first getting my head around everything, you’ve built the enclosure, got lining and the right substrate in, brought all the lighting and monitors you need, and are keen and at the ready to start the process in a pretty short amount of time! That’s brilliant and you ARE doing great❤️

If it calms your nerves a bit on the worry about her current enclosure, whilst it definitely isn’t ideal long term, now you’ve got your temp gun? You can check the ground temps in there, if they’re reading pretty well, your tortoise isn’t in immediate danger, low humidity isn’t great for these guys which is soon going to be fixed with this new enclosure, but so long as your doing soaks and offer fresh water, along with the natural water in their diet, that’ll be helping keeping her hydrated, long term humidity is definitely the goal for both hydration, smooth growth and overall health, another week or so isn’t going to be dire as long as the temps are pretty good and you’re keeping her hydrated, they’re a very hardy animal🐢💚

Thank you I Just want to get her in the right home and knowing I have to wait a whole other week ugh. It’s been very stressful to say the least