Suclata Hatchling babies looking a little dry

[Speedy-1]

I have the I guess you would say "cone shaped" light housing like this and I cut a hole for the

light to fit through , the cone covers the rest . when I turn off the light , I lower my che through the same hole and have a little plate I invented to cover the hole and hold it at the proper height .


The also have hangers for this purpose if you like that idea better they look like this.

 

[teresaf]

You can have a piece of plexiglass cut to fit across your screen then cut A hole in the plexiglass to lay your light On. Heat will transfer thru plexi but the special rays garnered from the lamps will not.

if you don't want to cut a hole just have the piece of plexiglass cut to cover most of the top and leave the end open to place your light on. heck you wouldn't even have to use plexiglass you could use tin foil.

 

[teresaf]

I think they look a little dry and they're starting to pyramid maybe as well. Very early stage so dont freak. I would look into A 'closed chamber'. you can read up about closed chambers... it's just a fancy word for an enclosed area that traps heat and humidity. There are many ways to make a closed chamber.

I don't have Sulcatas but I do have babies that are doing well using the method Tom advises.

you're going to have to redo their home anyway. they're going to grow much faster than that tank can Handle. within a year. They'll probably be a pound or two each.

 

[teresaf]

Any Ace Hardware or Lowes will cut a piece of plexiglass for you and it doesn't cost very much either. I got a 4 ft piece cut for less than $20

 

[Keith D.]

Lights sitting on screens, especially with uvb bulbs aren't good, the screen doesn't allow enough if any of the uvb to pass through.

 

[teresaf]

Lights sitting on screens, especially with uvb bulbs aren't good, the screen doesn't allow enough if any of the uvb to pass through.

I Heard it would be filtered but still get alot through. More like 50-50. I knew it wouldn't go through glass.

 

[Keith D.]

I Heard it would be filtered but still get alot through. More like 50-50. I knew it wouldn't go through glass.

Always best not to have anything in between the uvb and the tort but air

 

[Tom]

Keith and Teresa,
And physical barrier, like screen will filter out some UV, but there are many variable that determine how much, the main variable being the type of screen being used.

I've put my 6.5 meter under some of these screens. Some screens "screen out" (hahahaa…) more UV than others, but it really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I got super high readings of 7.1 on the UV index out of a two year old MVB through some thin screen. That is really strong UV. Too strong to be used all day in my opinion.

EVERYONE who relies on indoor UV for long frozen winters NEEDS to have a good UV meter. This is just as important as having a thermometer.

 

[Tom]

Always best not to have anything in between the uvb and the tort but air

Yes. This is correct, despite the above discussion.

 

[teresaf]

What type UV meter do you use? Is there one on Amazon that is equal?

 

[DawnH]

Agreed - do NOT put anything between your light and tort! No screen, nothing. It's pretty easy to go around, you can even just cut out where you bulb lays and set your lamp on top of the screen, covering the remaining areas with foil. Also adding plants to their enclosure will aid in keeping humidity in. I like to plant tort grasses in extra large "Glad" containers and drop them in the substrate (so the grass is level.) When our guy was little I would pour a large glass of water in his enclosure each night, that helped hold the humidity in his covered enclosure.

 

[Tom]

What type UV meter do you use? Is there one on Amazon that is equal?

This is the standard.
https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html