New and clueless

[Davidson]

Coco coir is ground coconut husk. When wet it expands, it holds moisture very well. You can by it in pet shops, but its also used in the gardening world for seedlings. It doesn't usually have any additives in it for gardening but just read the label to be sure..

Is this the same as coir?

 

[Anyfoot]

Is this the same as coir?

No, that's the coarse stuff, what we use is the consistency of soil. It's used for potting seedlings in. I have used that mixed in with fine stuff before though. Coco coir comes in a compact dry block, really compressed, then you add water, 1 block will fill the sink once it's absorbed the water.

 

[Anyfoot]

No, that's the coarse stuff, what we use is the consistency of soil. It's used for potting seedlings in. I have used that mixed in with fine stuff before though. Coco coir comes in a compact dry block, really compressed, then you add water, 1 block will fill the sink once it's absorbed the water.

This is it. There are many different suppliers though. This particular brand name is eco earth. It's all the same.

 

[Pearly]

This is the kind I had started with, on top of the Reptibark. First was the bark- I felt was too coarse for the babies' teeny-tiny feet. I kept the bark on the bottom of the tank thinking "humidity". I covered that with this Eco Earth. This one was getting EVERYWHERE! Food, water dish, babies' eyes... So I covered that one with layer of moss and happy now. Also as I kept adding more and replacing plants that didn't make it I didn't scoop out the dirt from those, so now there is a little soil in there too. Then few months ago got box of live earthworms for protein but babies wouldn't eat them so I just dumped all of them out and they've lived happily in there since then, also found 3 pillbugs in my garden and put them in there also for snack, but the other day saw one alive and well. I love the moss! and for the indoor enclosure would never go without it. It just works for me and my babies. But I think we all find our own ways that work best for us, our torts, our climate zone, and situation in general

 

[Davidson]

Reptibark I have access to! Can I just leave the pete moss I have in there and stack moss and eco earth on top? He doesn't poop in there so I don't see it being very dirty. How often do you guys do a full empty and rebuild of the substrate?

 

[Pearly]

That's perfect, gives me great ideas! Do you cut the Bottom off the plant pots or just fill them on their side?

I have my che rigged up now. Having trouble finding the uvb t8s. Do you think 2 15w fluorescent 10.0 bulbs would be too much uv?

I have some plants' planted there directly in substrate and some with pots buried in substrate. As for the lights, this is my weakest point. I do really well with keeping temps and humidity but UV levels is whole different story. But we are lucky to keep the forest species of tortoise so I wouldn't sweat it and take time to get what originally planned. As long as they are kept warm and humid with good diet, they are ok till lights get sorted out. That's just my take on it. You saw my light fixtures, I have all that's generally recommended, but after having done this for few months and researching more in depth I have already set up my priorities where I have confidence in my knowledge and skills and those are: top ones: safety, heat, humidity, good diet (can't do without, even short term), then exercise (in my mind that's a MUST but if I'm busy one day and can't take them out, they are not in danger of getting sick), and then there's all the other stuff. As long as I enjoy talking/thinking about all this, all that work is worth it to me

 

[Anyfoot]

Reptibark I have access to! Can I just leave the pete moss I have in there and stack moss and eco earth on top? He doesn't poop in there so I don't see it being very dirty. How often do you guys do a full empty and rebuild of the substrate?

I know of some other redfoot keepers that use peat moss so leave it in, mix it up 1st though.
You won't need to clean him out often. Honestly, once a year. Mix up the substrate from time to time, don't let it get too wet and stagnant and it will last.
Spot clean your tort every day, so take out old food and poop daily. You will eventually end up with tiny little mites crawling all over, these do no harm to your tort and help clean up all the small particles of food and poop you miss. You can put pillbugs(woodlice) in your enclosure to to help keep things tidy if you want, but you need to put small flat pieces of bark or stones for them to live under. Your tort may also get to eat one every once in a while for protein.

 

[Davidson]

Excellent thanx!

Well, this far I've moved everything around and put a line of duct tape over the back of my glass top to seal it. I've got my temperature controller on the right, which is now my hot side. Now ill wait until morning and see how the temp and humidity hold up. As of now the 100w Che is only keeping the temp at 76. Will the 2 15w uvb bulbs bring the heat up at all?

Here's a couple pics, does everything look ok? Is that line of dirt around his mouth normal?

 

[Anyfoot]

Excellent thanx!

Well, this far I've moved everything around and put a line of duct tape over the back of my glass top to seal it. I've got my temperature controller on the right, which is now my hot side. Now ill wait until morning and see how the temp and humidity hold up. As of now the 100w Che is only keeping the temp at 76. Will the 2 15w uvb bulbs bring the heat up at all?

Here's a couple pics, does everything look ok? Is that line of dirt around his mouth normal?

View attachment 162589 View attachment 162590 View attachment 162591 View attachment 162592 View attachment 162593 View attachment 162594

Does the line around his mouth wash off, he looks good though. Keep him humid and he will grow smooth.
Are you sure that tank is only 18" high. What are the dimensions of the tank.(LxWxH). If 100watt can't make your temp you will have to go up to a 150watt CHE. (I just bought 3 x 200w off ebay for £33 total). Glass is a rubbish insulation material too so maybe 150w will be needed.
Even if your UVB did give off enough heat to get you to 82/88f, at night assuming your CHE only gets 76f would be too cold.
Is the terracotta water dish big enough for him to sit in and bathe, also for his feeding plate I use a piece of slate or a flat rock. You don't want something he has to reach over to get his food. Slate or rock helps keep his beak in check as he eats.

Finally it looks a bit open, you need more cover for the little guy to feel safe, Rocks, drift wood, plants(fake or real) Stick a spider plant in there, if that dies nothing will grow. I have 2 water dishes/one I change daily for fresh water, the other has sphagnum moss in it drying up the water. I just fill it every day with water, it helps with humidity a lot and acts like a small piece of marsh land.

Looking good so far.

 

[Davidson]

Ok so it regulated overnight. The cold side is 74 and the hot side is 80. I'll have to order the 200w I guess.

The tank is 18" high and only 12" deep. I have tons of driftwood but raph is already 5.5". I don't want to limit his movement too much. I was waiting until I got the uvb bulbs Wednesday to hang vines and put more cover in.

And the dish is just big enough for him to sit in. Gets so dirty so fast with the peat moss haha

 

[Anyfoot]

Ok so it regulated overnight. The cold side is 74 and the hot side is 80. I'll have to order the 200w I guess.

The tank is 18" high and only 12" deep. I have tons of driftwood but raph is already 5.5". I don't want to limit his movement too much. I was waiting until I got the uvb bulbs Wednesday to hang vines and put more cover in.

And the dish is just big enough for him to sit in. Gets so dirty so fast with the peat moss haha

So that 80/74f you got was with the thermostat tured up to maximum?
I would only go up to 150w if I was you.
My 200w are for something else I have planned

 

[Pearly]

Reptibark I have access to! Can I just leave the pete moss I have in there and stack moss and eco earth on top? He doesn't poop in there so I don't see it being very dirty. How often do you guys do a full empty and rebuild of the substrate?

I don't change my substrate at all. The bugs are doing the clean up for me. I just take the moss off and mix the dirt (coir/dirt layer) trying to leave the bottom layer (bark) alone. My babies pee like young horses, so the smell even without poo would be inevitable but so far there's no smell. I try to leave things be as much as possible.
I like the idea of a mini ecosystem where colonies of beneficial bugs and bacteria keep things in balance.
Some of my my moss holds out for a while and some just doesn't withstand the heat at which point I just mix it into the substrate.
This is how I like to think of my substrate going from the bottom up:

1) the BARK on the bottom of the tank provides drainage and keeps micro organisms undisturbed, kinda like a healthy filter in fish tank

2) the middle (thickest) layer is the coir (eco earth-whatever mixed with little soil and whatever decomposing moss and stuff stirred in, with earthworms, soil centipedes and pillbugs,
There are also plan roots and couple of pots buried in here, and partially buried terra cotta pots-the babies' hides)

3) the top layer is like a "carpet" of different mosses

4) ground cover plants, here I'm still looking for some that will take the extremes (heat etc), my Creeping Jenny died and couple of others, but this is what I shoot for, very tiny foliage, plant creeping very low on the ground, soft enough for those teeny feet

5) low growing plants, rocks, places to climb on

6) tall plants, hills, sight barriers, structures (i.e. hide)
All of the above will be my guiding thought in building the outdoor enclosure but the principle is this same for this tank, only a very tiny version of it

 

[Anyfoot]

Ok so it regulated overnight. The cold side is 74 and the hot side is 80. I'll have to order the 200w I guess.

The tank is 18" high and only 12" deep. I have tons of driftwood but raph is already 5.5". I don't want to limit his movement too much. I was waiting until I got the uvb bulbs Wednesday to hang vines and put more cover in.

And the dish is just big enough for him to sit in. Gets so dirty so fast with the peat moss haha

My signal kept going earlier.

I'm surprised you can't get 82/88f in that size with 100w. My viv has a 150w in and its more than double the size(air mass) than yours, although my CHE is inside the viv and the viv is wood not glass. Are you sure that your thermostat wasn't limiting the heat flow in any way.

Also, the aim is to get the balance between CHE wattage and temps. So for example I have 150w in, my probe is at the cool end controlling it at 82f. My warm end is 88f at tort level under the CHE. If I was to have lets say a 200w CHE in instead, I would still be maintaining the cool end at 82f, however the hot end would be hotter than 88f at tort level. (the 200w simply gives off more heat directly under it than a 150w would). The 200w would be on for less time,but when it is on it would give off a hotter spot all at once.

There are 2 ways for me to maintain 88f at the warm end at tort level, either change the wattage to suit, or raise and lower the height of the CHE.

Hope that helps.

 

[Pearly]

Excellent thanx!

Well, this far I've moved everything around and put a line of duct tape over the back of my glass top to seal it. I've got my temperature controller on the right, which is now my hot side. Now ill wait until morning and see how the temp and humidity hold up. As of now the 100w Che is only keeping the temp at 76. Will the 2 15w uvb bulbs bring the heat up at all?

Here's a couple pics, does everything look ok? Is that line of dirt around his mouth normal?

View attachment 162589 View attachment 162590 View attachment 162591 View attachment 162592 View attachment 162593 View attachment 162594

1) Do you only have one light/heat source? 2) what type of cover do you have on top? Glass? Or 1/2 glass and another 1/2 wood? 3) How does the light /heat fixture fit in with the tank cover (did you cut out opening to fit the shape of dome, and how do you seal around it to keep the heat inside the tank? Or, do you suspend the fixture completely inside the tank?

 

[Davidson]

Does the line around his mouth wash off, he looks good though. Keep him humid and he will grow smooth.
Are you sure that tank is only 18" high. What are the dimensions of the tank.(LxWxH). If 100watt can't make your temp you will have to go up to a 150watt CHE. (I just bought 3 x 200w off ebay for £33 total). Glass is a rubbish insulation material too so maybe 150w will be needed.
Even if your UVB did give off enough heat to get you to 82/88f, at night assuming your CHE only gets 76f would be too cold.
Is the terracotta water dish big enough for him to sit in and bathe, also for his feeding plate I use a piece of slate or a flat rock. You don't want something he has to reach over to get his food. Slate or rock helps keep his beak in check as he eats.

Finally it looks a bit open, you need more cover for the little guy to feel safe, Rocks, drift wood, plants(fake or real) Stick a spider plant in there, if that dies nothing will grow. I have 2 water dishes/one I change daily for fresh water, the other has sphagnum moss in it drying up the water. I just fill it every day with water, it helps with humidity a lot and acts like a small piece of marsh land.

Looking good so far.

I haven't tried washing it off. He's a little jumpy when you go near his face. He loves being scratched on the head but nothing around the nose or mouth.

I put a 150w Che in and out only gives me 84/78. I'm wondering if I'd need a 200w or maybe go for the 250w.

I finally got my uvb tubes in the mail so I'm going to get some fake plants from the pet store and hopefully figure out how to suspend the uvb tonight.

 

[Davidson]

1) Do you only have one light/heat source? 2) what type of cover do you have on top? Glass? Or 1/2 glass and another 1/2 wood? 3) How does the light /heat fixture fit in with the tank cover (did you cut out opening to fit the shape of dome, and how do you seal around it to keep the heat inside the tank? Or, do you suspend the fixture completely inside the tank?

1/2 glass 1/2 wood. For the last couple days he's only had heat, and the light on in the room but I'm hooking up 2x 15w uvb bulbs tonight tho. I cut out the wood so it fit the dome really snug. I had to twist the dome into the hole so I can't see that letting off much heat at all. As for the lid it's also cut to snug in perfectly to the aquarium lip on the tank and the glass lid is half heavy and sits right on the aquarium lip as well.

 

[Anyfoot]

I haven't tried washing it off. He's a little jumpy when you go near his face. He loves being scratched on the head but nothing around the nose or mouth.

I put a 150w Che in and out only gives me 84/78. I'm wondering if I'd need a 200w or maybe go for the 250w.

I finally got my uvb tubes in the mail so I'm going to get some fake plants from the pet store and hopefully figure out how to suspend the uvb tonight.

Your kidding me. Are you sure your stat is not hitting its overide limit and cutting off.
Try it for an hour without stat. But watch it. If it overheats it will kill your tort. You also need to watch what the maximum wattage allowance is in your dome.
Can I see a photo from the side please. Where is your probe for the stat?

 

[Davidson]

Your kidding me. Are you sure your stat is not hitting its overide limit and cutting off.
Try it for an hour without stat. But watch it. If it overheats it will kill your tort. You also need to watch what the maximum wattage allowance is in your dome.
Can I see a photo from the side please. Where is your probe for the stat?

It's not a thermostat it's a temperature controller. I set it to 88 and it doesn't shut off until it reaches 88. Sadly that hasn't happened yet. The probe is 1/2" above the substrate on the far right hand side(hot side).

I'll take a pic soon as I get home. What difference does the wattage on the dome do?

I'll try using a regular thermometer and see what it says too

Thanx!

 

[Anyfoot]

It's not a thermostat it's a temperature controller. I set it to 88 and it doesn't shut off until it reaches 88. Sadly that hasn't happened yet. The probe is 1/2" above the substrate on the far right hand side(hot side).

I'll take a pic soon as I get home. What difference does the wattage on the dome do?

I'll try using a regular thermometer and see what it says too

Thanx!

The connection in your dome will have a limited wattage usage, its so you don't burn the bulb connection.
Move your probe to the cooler end. I think it's getting a false reading, well hoping. If your not getting 88f directly under the CHE theres something wrong. A 150w CHE runs at about 600f ish. If it can't get 88f down 18" I'll eat my hat. Lol.

 

[Davidson]

The connection in your dome will have a limited wattage usage, its so you don't burn the bulb connection.
Move your probe to the cooler end. I think it's getting a false reading, well hoping. If your not getting 88f directly under the CHE theres something wrong. A 150w CHE runs at about 600f ish. If it can't get 88f down 18" I'll eat my hat. Lol.

The cool end has a hydrometer/thermometer as well. But here are the shots, and my dome is only rated for 75w!!