When I got my Sulcatas they came with a pretty nicely built, good sized enclosure. It did, however, need some major tweaking.
The substrate was pure sand, and the lighting was placed too far up to provide any UV or to provide enough warmth. The substrate was only a few inches deep and provided no area for digging, and was totally dry. They had NO water dish at all, let alone one they could soak in.
After getting them home, I made some adjustments to the enclosure. Unfortunately, the room they are in is a bit small at the moment, so we made some temporary adjustments to it. We are buying a new house and it will be set back up to maximum capacity as soon as we get in over there.
This is the enclosure with the lights all on. In right back corner is a 120 watt incandescent light. In the front left corner is my UV light, right over where the tortoises eat. In the front right corner, over the slate tiles, is a 250 watt red "brooder" bulb that provides night time heat and a darker option for warming up. The ambient air temperature in the room is 80 degrees farenheit, and under the red bulb it is 95-98, and under the incandescent it is 85-90.
With the bright lights off. Ella is soaking, Gwen is munching on cuttlebone. The overall substrate is Timothy hay. They do graze on it in between meals, which is fine.
All lights turned off except the overhead light in the room that is always on during daylight hours.
In the corner is a cement mixing tub that contains a damp 50/50 mix of play sand and sphagnum moss. They like to bury up to the bridge of their shells in it, with legs and heads covered. That is one of the ways that they conserve humidity in the wild.
My set up gives a bit less room to walk around, but I feel offers more of a healthy environment. Once I get it fully set up I am going to build an external box with a hinged lid to place the cement tub in, which will open up more space.
Kristina
The substrate was pure sand, and the lighting was placed too far up to provide any UV or to provide enough warmth. The substrate was only a few inches deep and provided no area for digging, and was totally dry. They had NO water dish at all, let alone one they could soak in.
After getting them home, I made some adjustments to the enclosure. Unfortunately, the room they are in is a bit small at the moment, so we made some temporary adjustments to it. We are buying a new house and it will be set back up to maximum capacity as soon as we get in over there.
This is the enclosure with the lights all on. In right back corner is a 120 watt incandescent light. In the front left corner is my UV light, right over where the tortoises eat. In the front right corner, over the slate tiles, is a 250 watt red "brooder" bulb that provides night time heat and a darker option for warming up. The ambient air temperature in the room is 80 degrees farenheit, and under the red bulb it is 95-98, and under the incandescent it is 85-90.
With the bright lights off. Ella is soaking, Gwen is munching on cuttlebone. The overall substrate is Timothy hay. They do graze on it in between meals, which is fine.
All lights turned off except the overhead light in the room that is always on during daylight hours.
In the corner is a cement mixing tub that contains a damp 50/50 mix of play sand and sphagnum moss. They like to bury up to the bridge of their shells in it, with legs and heads covered. That is one of the ways that they conserve humidity in the wild.
My set up gives a bit less room to walk around, but I feel offers more of a healthy environment. Once I get it fully set up I am going to build an external box with a hinged lid to place the cement tub in, which will open up more space.
Kristina
