Suggestions needed

[Sh3wulf]

Hi all, I know I have the thread "who's enclosure is this?" And I posted the finished table there, but I need some suggestions. It's not getting warm enough now that the enclosure is so large. Need some suggestions to consider on how to get it warmer.

Benny is almost two years old. 8" long and 6"tall. My house is very cool, only about 70 degrees (husband has to have AC for health reasons so warming it up isn't an option)

The table lids were vented with two inch holes to prevent warping, but I think I could maybe cover a few with tinfoil, that would bounce back some heat wouldn't it?

I really need some suggestions. I have two basking areas, one that's direct to the tile is at about 102 degrees and the other, beside his favorite hide is around 88. However if I turn off the basking light at the far end (over the tiles) to let Benny sleep in the dark, his temps drop to the low seventies.

I'm so upset. I have invested a lot of time, effort and money into this table to give Benny a huge space to grow in over the next two years and feel I may have totally messed it all up

Here are some pics. I can take more if needed.

 

[Jodie]

Beautiful table. Add a CHE on a thermostat for night heat might work.

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

Wow, that's nice. Your tort is pretty too. Yes, I'm not a fan of CHE's but it'll heat it up more.

 

[Sh3wulf]

I have a CHE that comes on at night and is directly over his nighttime hide.

 

[johnsonnboswell]

You haven't messed up, you're just still working on it.

That bare floor needs substrate. What kind of tortoise is this? Some of them do very well with a night time temperature drop to 60 or thereabouts. For those that don't, a ceramic heat emitter is the answer.

 

[Robber]

Why is a nighttime temp in the low 70s a problem?

 

[Sh3wulf]

My understanding, and from threads where people have been dealing with health issues, any temps below 80 degrees for a leopard under two years is possibly a problem.
I have managed to get temps up by sealing up the lids with tinfoil and only keeping two vent holes open.
This weekend I will be installing a waterfall feature to help with some humidity and give Benny running water.
Appreciate the help and will keep tweaking

 

[Jodie]

My understanding, and from threads where people have been dealing with health issues, any temps below 80 degrees for a leopard under two years is possibly a problem.
I have managed to get temps up by sealing up the lids with tinfoil and only keeping two vent holes open.
This weekend I will be installing a waterfall feature to help with some humidity and give Benny running water.
Appreciate the help and will keep tweaking

A water fall is a great idea. I Love. Will be very pretty as well.

 

[Teodora'sDAD]

Tables looks nice, so does your tort!

 

[Tom]

I would add 3-4" of substrate, cover the holes, add another CHE and run both CHE's on a thermostat. This will maintain your ambient temps day and night. Like this one: http://www.lllreptile.com/products/13883-zilla-1000-watt-temperature-controller.

 

[Tom]

Why is a nighttime temp in the low 70s a problem?

Low 70s with humidity could cause a respiratory infection.

 

[Sh3wulf]

Thanks Tom. I am going to look at some supplies this weekend, including a thermostat (the one the person is selling is zoomed however). Getting a few extra lights fixtures, I will add another and get that extra CHE going
I also have four bricks of coco coir and a bag of the fine bedding coming this weekend to get the substrate up deeper. Benny has four inches of it at the far end that he burrows into to rest.

 

[Team Gomberg]

I agree that you should keep the vent holes covered, deepen the substrate and have 2 CHEs running on a single thermostat. I'd put a CHE on each end with the temperature probe in the center.

 

[Maro2Bear]

Since you are looking for suggestions, it looks like you have one of the fairly cheap / rather unreliable pet-store humidity/temp guages there in the one food bowl. From my experience, these are very inaccurate, and could also be part of the issue. Id spend a few more dollars and upgrade your guages to ensure 100% accurate temps and humidity readings. Good luck, nice looking enclosure and hood.

 

[Sh3wulf]

Good eye MarcoBear. Your right, that cheap little gauge is completely useless and I'm actually running digital ones that aren't pictured. I keep that one for my kids, they like to see that it's hot enough for Benny by seeing the needle on the yellow red line
Thanks TeamGomberg I'm gonna do exactly that with the CHEs and the probe.

 

[Robber]

I just noticed he is only 2; I kind of assumed he was older given his size. I was careful to avoid anything below 75 the first year, but have gotten a little more relaxed with that after the first year and a little more size(70 is my cutoff for putting him outside, although I do not use the sprinkler unless it's close to 80); maybe I should still be a little more cautious.