So we're building an enclosure that should hopefully help keep up the heat and humidity better than her rubbermaid bin.
It will be 6 feet by 4 feet and 2 feet tall (with an additional top being about 2 feet tall).
Currently she has a 100W MVB powersun with a basking rock/temp of 92-95 during the day. I also have a regular heat lamp bulb on the other end of her enclosure (but it goes through the plastic lid) to keep things around 78 on the cool end.
Her humidity under the heat lamp rarely gets above 50% and it's about 80% in the cooler end.
With the totally enclosed enclosure we're hoping to be able to better keep up the humidity overall. I do typically mist her every day and she has the ability to soak herself (which she usually does daily anyway).
I'm aiming for basking temps around 92-96, ambient humidity at 70-80%, cool temp on the far side around 80-83 during the day. At night is it alright for the humidity to drop to 60% or so if the temp is around 75? Or should I not be letting it drop this low in temperature?
I'll also be adding a lot more plants. My plan is to have some silk plants and succulents closer to the "hotter half" and more ferns, spider plants, hostas, wandering jew, etc. on the cooler half where the uv isn't as bright and likely to burn them. Should I also be mounting a plant light during the day for the plants?
We're planning on doing under-substrate heat rope as well, and if that doesn't keep it warm enough at night we can add on a CHE. And if humidity doesn't keep up high enough we might be adding a mister/humidifier system that goes off when humidity drops below a certain range.
Any advice is welcome! Pics will ensue when it is complete!
It will be 6 feet by 4 feet and 2 feet tall (with an additional top being about 2 feet tall).
Currently she has a 100W MVB powersun with a basking rock/temp of 92-95 during the day. I also have a regular heat lamp bulb on the other end of her enclosure (but it goes through the plastic lid) to keep things around 78 on the cool end.
Her humidity under the heat lamp rarely gets above 50% and it's about 80% in the cooler end.
With the totally enclosed enclosure we're hoping to be able to better keep up the humidity overall. I do typically mist her every day and she has the ability to soak herself (which she usually does daily anyway).
I'm aiming for basking temps around 92-96, ambient humidity at 70-80%, cool temp on the far side around 80-83 during the day. At night is it alright for the humidity to drop to 60% or so if the temp is around 75? Or should I not be letting it drop this low in temperature?
I'll also be adding a lot more plants. My plan is to have some silk plants and succulents closer to the "hotter half" and more ferns, spider plants, hostas, wandering jew, etc. on the cooler half where the uv isn't as bright and likely to burn them. Should I also be mounting a plant light during the day for the plants?
We're planning on doing under-substrate heat rope as well, and if that doesn't keep it warm enough at night we can add on a CHE. And if humidity doesn't keep up high enough we might be adding a mister/humidifier system that goes off when humidity drops below a certain range.
Any advice is welcome! Pics will ensue when it is complete!