trouble with heat

[ehopkins12]

hi, I am having problems with the ambient heat level in my tortoise table. on one side i'm able to maintain a temp around 77 degrees and around 91 degrees under the basking lamp. I use two lights, one is a zoo med basking lamp basking lamp and the other is a 26w repti glo uvb. so the 2 lights maintain a good temp on one side of the table...but the other side is around 59 degrees. and that is also the night temp. so im wondering if I can increase the ambient temp without going out and buying another lamp for the other side and night bulbs. any suggestions?

 

[Stephanie Logan]

Hooboy, you will get several recommendations on this one.

I use a 160W Ceramic Heating Element on the non-basking side of Taco's enclosure, which brings the temps to 80-85 degrees directly under the CHE and 65-70 on the edges away from the heater. I think you can also use black light bulbs and other things but I'll let the knowledgable folks fill you in on the options!

 

[GBtortoises]

I would first look at the ambient temperature of the room that the enclosure is in and the location of the enclosure within the room. If your room is only 59 degrees you are going to be hard pressed to raise the ambient temperature within the enclosure much higher than that and keep it consistent. If your enclosure is located next to a window or sometimes even on an exterior wall it will also be more difficult to maintain consistency. because there is constant heat loss in those areas of home.

Before adding more heat to the cool side of the enclosure consider the potential problems with doing so. First, by adding more heat you may also drying the substrate and air within the enclosure more and unless it's covered most of that heat is going to escape into the room if it's cooler. If you cover it, you run the risk of making the air too hot and dry. Adding moisture (if covered) could create an environment that is too humid (for a Russian tortoise). Especially without adequate airflow. So essentially you'd be solving one problem and possibly creating another.
I would first look at the room that the enclosure is in to see what might be able to be changed before adding more heat, especially at the cool end of the enclosure.

Also, 59 degrees is by no means too cold for a Russian tortoise at night. During the daytime the cool end of the enclosure should be higher, mid 60's to low 70's. But there should be a significant difference in day to night time temperatures for Russian tortoises.