temp. gradiant.., guess i shouldnt be worried...

[bdoyle]

Hey everyone,

as some of you have mentioned in my other posts.. my enclosure being 50" x 36" is larger then most for a sulcata as young as mine.. so this is probably just me having the new parent jitters.. hehe

Along the length of my encloser, I have basking area at one end, temps on the rocks sit at 90 - 92 degrees over night, and up to 95 degrees during the day ( i dont change anything it just seems to adjust according to the ambiant temps in my house ).

A Temp reading exactly 1/2 way from basking zone to the other end , so the middle of the enclosure reads 75 degrees.
That is about where I have his hide placed.

the extreme end, and unlit area of the enclosure reads 71 - 73 degrees.

I have hay stacks between his hide and the basking area, temps there read 76 - 78 degrees.. this is also where his water dish is.

My young sulcata moves around between the basking area, and the pile of hay, occasionally roams but never stays in the hide or the further unlit cool end of the enclosure..

I presume its just because he prefers the 80 - 95 degree area..

who wouldnt..

what id like to know, is it bad for me to have the far end reaching 71 - 73?.. if he never goes there, is it in a sense just wasted space?...

perhapse i should get an underpad heater n' place it over there to raise the temps of the substrate up, and move his hide over there to encourage him to use that space?

most care sheets seem to state 70 - 90 degree variants.. so i am kinda thinking he's just stickin to what he likes best.

but id like him to use the whole enclosure... but what if one day he decides he wants a 70 degree area and if i warm it up there wont be one..


whats your thoughts?

 

[cvalda]

I can't really say, but I can say it won't be wasted space for long! as he grows he'll likely start to utilize that space!

 

[Coldliz]

I have the same problem with my girl. She prefers to stay on the hot end most of the time. I have seen her roaming around the cooler end in the mornings once in a while. I think, them being babies just know and like higher temps. If you don't want to waste the space but want to warm it up without any more cost ( I think under heat pads are a bad idea for torts) you could place a towel over that end to help hold some of the heat in that end and see if he uses it more. I think, as you said what if wants that 70 someday, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

 

[Itort]

Remember that care sheets are written for that specie in general. A hatchling has less mass than an older one. We should remember we are keeping ectotherms and larger they grow the slower they lose heat. In other words right now 70 is uncomfortable for him but later he will welcome that 70 be cool off. Remember that you have the third largest tort in the world and a good care sheet will reflect this. The greater the mass, the longer to loss or gain heat. I think your temp gradient is fine.

 

[Crazy1]

( I think under heat pads are a bad idea for torts) you could place a towel over that end to help hold some of the heat in that end and see if he uses it more. I think, as you said what if wants that 70 someday, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

I agree with Melissa. And I too would stay away from the heat pads. As you stated you have a small tort. They often prefer a smaller area and don't utilize all the space. But as they grow they will. My tort doesn't use its hid but dug a small burrow and covered it with hay all on the cold end that's were she sleeps now but is out most of the day under the heat lamps. I'd try the towel and if s/he doesn't utilities all the space I wouldn't worry. S/He will soon enough.

If you really want to warm it up, then I would use a ceramic heat emitter. But then that's more $$ for the fixture and the emitter. (I’d try the towel first) I would use a smaller watt as to not heat it up too much Maybe a 50 watt.

I have my Adult Greeks in a 59"x48" enclosure. I have a MVB 100 watt and a 100 watt IR bulb and a 100 watt ceramic Heat emitter. I keep my house on the cold side so the Ceramic heat emitter is on all the time and the IR is on a thermostat that it comes on at anything below 80. The MVB is set up for 12 hours a day. They still have a cool area that gets to about 71 during the day and 65 at night. They almost never use that area, unless the heat inside the house is up-Warm days. Then they just cruise the whole enclosure. I figured this just gives them several microclimates to move to and from 65 to 100 is their range.
Here is a link to pics of their enclosure. Now I have switched the lighting around but you get the idea.
http://tortoiseforum.org/new-christmas-housing-t-770.html

 

[bdoyle]

Thanks a bunch,
I will try adding a tower down at that end of the tank and see if that helps at all.

like I said i wasnt so much concerned about the animals health as much as not wanting to limit the poor guy to 1/3 of the enclosure when he's got all that space to roam in.

I think perhapse a 50 watt ceramic heat emitter to bring it up a bit would be good.. I think i might change up the cool end of the enclosure to make a little more landscaping for him to climb in / on / around.. right now its just flat 50/50 sand/coconut fiber.

i wouldnt find it the most entertaining spot either i suppose.

I'm learnign alot just by watching him.. initially i only had a handful of hay in there.. but since he liked climbing on it/ through it so much ive added a couple more handfuls and leaned it up against his hide.. he seems to enjoy that place the most.. ontop more then inside... and he's still not going into his hide at all.

Sleeping tons... sleeps for a few hours.. gets up .. eats some, passes out again inside his food dish.. wakes up.. basks... sleeps some more.. and then repeats...

at least he seems to be splitting his meals up between the dry timothy hay and the fresh greens i give him each day.

I dont think he's eating quite a 1/4 cup a day but the way he eats certainly doesnt make me think he's shy to the idea lol.

and he enjoys gulping down his water at least 2x a day so far.