New Russian Outdoor Enclosure Advice

[zarawyon]

Hey Everyone.
I am in the process of setting up my russians outdoor enclosure. I have not moved her in yet as I was hoping I could get some advise on this first.

In the indoor section I have an arcadia 12% UV bulb and reflector and an LED light. I also have a habistat heat mat. All of these are plugged into a smart extender so I can programme them to turn on/off. From what I understand, the LEDs should be on for 12hrs a day and the UVB for 4 hours in the middle of the day. This is set up because if it is heavily raining or snowing, I can shut the door to the outdoor section.

The thing I am still stuck on is the heating so any advice here would be great. I live in the UK so it can get pretty cold. I am not sure how I could set up a CHE.

I was also wondering about the basking bulb - Where would the be the best place to put this - on the side with the other lights or does it have to be separate.

The substrate used is a mix of coco peat and cypress mulch and there is some orchid bark in the indoor section.

I have raised the edges of the outdoor section to allow for drainage when is rains. I haven’t moved in her hides or food slate etc as she is using them in her current indoor set-up.

Please have a look at all the photos and give me any advise or anything I need to correct. Thanks

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Hello there! I wouldn’t use the heat mat as they can actually be quite dangerous and cause the tortoise to overheat, they receive their heat from above and burrow down to regulate their temperature, so heat coming from below will be an issue. The only other problem I see is this looks too small to house an adult for prolonged periods and obviously not suitable for a baby

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Hello!
A beautiful build you have!
A few concerns suggestions:
1. UVB tube should be 18-21 inches above substrate to give optimum UV level, but the roof slope seems too steep to place efficiently. Unless you checked with a Solaremeter, there is a risk that UV is underprovided.
2. Basking lamp should be placed near UV source - both heat and UVB are needed for vitamin D3 synthesis.

With that in mind, you may need a "false ceiling" in the indoors part - like a cable tray to mount UVB and basking lamps and point them straight top-down. Or a hinged wooden frame, so you can lift it when do some maintenance in the enclosure. Depending on the indoors house size, a mini oil-filled radiator may work for you or a CHE (or two) in wide dome (10 inches, e.g. chicken brooder lamp).