Good afternoon. Need some advice. I have a small sulcata. I tried keeping it in a closed box to increase the humidity. But the temperature inside turns out to be more than 90, and I was afraid that it would cook in there 🙈 there is no way to lower the temperature yet. When the temperature starts to drop, this will be possible. Maybe someone will advise? At night the temperature drops somewhere around 80, is it better to close the box at night?
Small sulcata enclosure
- Thread starter Mariia
- Start date
Are you able to post a pic of the "box" please? Would also help to know what kind of heating/lighting you're currently using.
What is overheating the box? 90-95 degrees during the day is fine. Over 100 would be getting dangerous.
Its very hot every day in Africa where they come from. Most people keep this species too cool.
Hello. At the moment I don't use any heating and light. Becouse its already hot. For UV I bring her outside on the sun every morning and evening and I open full her box. I will try to make pic of box later.
The tortoise should be inside your house. Outside all day is not good for them. Set the tortoise up indoors with the proper heating and lighting. They can't be in a little box all day with no light. They need the correct temperature gradients.
She is inside the house, only sometimes I bring her on the sun for UV. But temperature in the house also warm. Today was a first cool day, And I was finally able to close it in a box with a lamp. She likes to sit under the lamp for a very long time. When she sat in the sun, she warmed up and went into the shade, and sat under the lamp for a very long time. She can't overheat, can she? She understands when she needs to go into the shadows, right? What is the maximum temperature on basking? I think I got more than 100. But she’s still sitting there🤷
This enclosure is too small, and that is part of why you are having trouble.
If the heat lamp is overheating the whole box, then you need a lower wattage heat lamp, or you can run it through a rheostat and dial it down a bit.
Your basking temperature directly under the bulb should not get higher than 36-37C, 95-100F. Check this temperature by laying a digital thermometer on its bask at tortoise height directly under the basking lamp and letting it bake for an hour or more. If its getting up to more than 100 degrees F, you need to raise the fixture higher up, or use a lower wattage bulb.
I would not put a small see-through enclosure like this in the sun. Overheating is likely. Make a suitable large enclosure out of a kiddie pool, or some wooden boards, or some cinder blocks, or something like that. Make the enclosure in an area that has plants for shade, or add your own plants in pots for shade.
Misting and spraying an open topped enclosure is futile. You are fighting physics and you can't win. You need a large closed chamber with all of the heating and lighting inside.
Thank you for your reply. I already ordered thermostat, dimmer and others and waiting for it. I will do the bigger house for her little bit late. Basking temperature around 100, but she likes to be there over than 1 hour. The point I bring her in this box, I worry to stress her from beginning to change all the time her enclosure. Becouse I saw, that she need few days to get use for something new.
I mist her inside close box I always keep bottom close except time when she is outside. Thank you very much for your recommendation I will do my best 🙏
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