Squirt’s upgrade

[Alex and the Redfoot]

A car ride does "wonders" to tortoises. Don't know about the snakes, but get a box of tissues just in case.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

A car ride does "wonders" to tortoises. Don't know about the snakes, but get a box of tissues just in case.

Lol that’s actually a good point! It’d honestly great if she did! Messy.. but great😂
Mind you a soak and laxative hasn’t done the trick yet so she might need the vet to give her an enema.. I’d be grumpy too😬

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Managed to get the light brackets, UV and leds in there earlier today!😁getting the bulbs, combos and theremostat sensors in tomorrow, everything’s going suspiciously smoothly with the build so far.. I’m bracing myself with the heat&humidity now😂
We did go ahead and screw the brackets cause I think I have a gut instinct on the placement, but we can always move them, I’ve got some of the wood vinyl leftover to cover any potential holes😊but UV and leds are looking perfect!

I’m thinking whilst we test the heating out for the week, if I shall just place the pond liner and resin hides in there to burn off any new fumes? And not add the substrate till moving day?

*edit* am I also right in thinking we’ll probably have to adjust the thermostats once the substrate is in and the humidity up? Cause it could lower the air temp?

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Yes, it's better to let anything plastic to "off-gas" in heated enclosure before putting substrate. Also, any glue has to dry before you increase the humidity.

Humidity itself should not affect temperatures in a long-term. Evaporation will cool down things, e.g. when you open the vivarium, but when it's closed temperatures will be stable. Also you set a thermostat at exact temperature and it will keep it, no matter what humidity is.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Yes, it's better to let anything plastic to "off-gas" in heated enclosure before putting substrate. Also, any glue has to dry before you increase the humidity.

Humidity itself should not affect temperatures in a long-term. Evaporation will cool down things, e.g. when you open the vivarium, but when it's closed temperatures will be stable. Also you set a thermostat at exact temperature and it will keep it, no matter what humidity is.

Brilliant thanks Alex, just got the bulbs in, only been about 20 mins but looking good already, going to monitor for a few hours, check with the gun, then let it cool back down for us to pin exactly where we want the sensors cause we’ve got them in a temporary spot atm.

One of the bulbs didn’t come on cause I hadn’t turned one of the thermos up yet and so to check the other bulb I went and burnt my damn fingers😂idk what I was thinking touching it!🤣hopefully that’s all that will go wrong today haha!🤪

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Brilliant thanks Alex, just got the bulbs in, only been about 20 mins but looking good already, going to monitor for a few hours, check with the gun, then let it cool back down for us to pin exactly where we want the sensors cause we’ve got them in a temporary spot atm.

One of the bulbs didn’t come on cause I hadn’t turned one of the thermos up yet and so to check the other bulb I went and burnt my damn fingers😂idk what I was thinking touching it!🤣hopefully that’s all that will go wrong today haha!🤪

That's why temp guns exist

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

That's why temp guns exist

Lol I know, I’m quite the fool🤣

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Lol I know, I’m quite the fool🤣

Happens to everyone from time to time, no worries. Just put off electricity works for today And don't look at UVB lamp

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Happens to everyone from time to time, no worries. Just put off electricity works for today And don't look at UVB lamp

Yeah we’re keeping the uv off till a few days before I think to save the bulb😊

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Ok so temp gun is reading no lower than 77 on the slightly cooler end right in the corner furthest from the bulb on the ground, pretty happy with that so far tbh, the end we’re having slightly warmer during the day is reading 84-87, however directly under the 150w it’s in the 90’s which I feared could be a possibility with that watt, tbh the 100 seems to be doing the trick perfectly but shame to waste the 150 now🫤
I’m thinking I’ll put the spare hide I have over that spot? The 150 is going to be set on the 12hr timer and a 100 near it is going to kick in for the night, hopefully bringing it down to around 80-82 that end, which I don’t see being a problem as the 100 the other end is doing a great job and it’s the same position as the other😊
I’ll probably suggest replacing the 150 with a 100 down the line to avoid this hot spot, and just turn up the thermo that controls that bulb to give the slightly higher day temp hes wanting, thoughts? Should I maybe see how she acts with the 150? Cause I panicked last time I put it in her old one but she was loving it, even sleeping under there😂which at least wouldn't be an issue at night with this set up lol

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Turned the 150 thermo down a bit, I’ll see how that goes

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

I suggest to make another test with 150W heater.
Bake a thermometer probe for an hour under the heat source. Probe is usually placed on a rock to be at tortoise shell level, but you will need something higher (like a tea mug) to account for substrate height as well.

And I would have one spare CHE for the winter. As per Murphy's law you will need a replacement on holiday evening.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

I suggest to make another test with 150W heater.
Bake a thermometer probe for an hour under the heat source. Probe is usually placed on a rock to be at tortoise shell level, but you will need something higher (like a tea mug) to account for substrate height as well.

And I would have one spare CHE for the winter. As per Murphy's law you will need a replacement on holiday evening.

Still got the 150 running, and got the thermometer as close as we can get it with the wire, think we’re going to order another that has a longer one though cause need it close ideally, we’ll have one the other side on moving day but she’s using it for now so doing lots of temp gun checks.

When you say one spare, do you mean if that slightly cooler end is to drop in winter? To add another bulb? Cause we do have a spare bracket and can buy another 100 at some point?

Lucky with how we’re setting it, the 100 on the one side is on its own thermo, the 150 is on its own thermo and the ‘night’ 100 is on its own too, should that 150 ever go or not be enough during winter, the other 100 will kick in👍🏻Hope that makes sense..but yeah I am worried the other end could drop too low in cold weather

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

The hot spot dropped down once I’d turned the thermo down, and the rest of that end is about 85, still be a bit too high under the 150, but I think once I’ve got the probe in a better place it’ll be ok, I’ll probably pop the hide over it in case thought depending what it does, the cooler end dropped to 75🫤but again the probe isn’t in the best place yet, I got the temp higher at one point so I’m hoping once pinned in place that’ll be better too, temps aren’t too far off so I think the bulb placements are looking pretty good, think it’s more adjusting the sensors now to get the temps spot on, can hopefully get all the liner and resin stuff in tonight to leave in🙂letting it cool down for now so we can get in there

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Wish we could just do an ambient 80/82 all round, it’d be so much easier😂

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

The 150’s always seem to give a hot spot for us, I guess it cause we’re working with a certain height and can’t raise it up anymore😣

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

On a pulse thermostat in a few hours after temperatures have settled down hot spot should be less noticeable.
On the other hand, 90 and even 95 degrees is not something to be worried about. I guess I have found an explanation for the "redfoots don't need a basking lamp" advice. In one of the older threads there was the concern, that they bask too much under the lamp. Outdoors they sit for 30-60 minutes under the sun, usually in the morning, and then stay away from the bright sun. Indoors they often bask for hours under the lamp and this results in pyramiding. There were two options to resolve this - set basking lamp on 2 hours timers or just remove it.
So you can still have 150W CHE with a hot spot, just make sure she doesn't stay too long under it.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

On a pulse thermostat in a few hours after temperatures have settled down hot spot should be less noticeable.
On the other hand, 90 and even 95 degrees is not something to be worried about. I guess I have found an explanation for the "redfoots don't need a basking lamp" advice. In one of the older threads there was the concern, that they bask too much under the lamp. Outdoors they sit for 30-60 minutes under the sun, usually in the morning, and then stay away from the bright sun. Indoors they often bask for hours under the lamp and this results in pyramiding. There were two options to resolve this - set basking lamp on 2 hours timers or just remove it.
So you can still have 150W CHE with a hot spot, just make sure she doesn't stay too long under it.

Thanks for that info! The hot spot isn’t ideal but I definitely feel less anxious about it now, it sat around 96 yesterday directly underneath, hopefully with a hide or something over it, it’ll be less of an issue too, I’ll have a play about with the sensors later, got the heating running to off gas everything for now🙂

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Had everything running all night and most of today(turned it off again so we can pin everything in place today) and I’m not just saying it, but there’s been zero odour aside from a slight ‘new wood’ smell, should I be concerned things haven’t ‘off gassed’ yet? Or is it possible having everything air for over a month has helped there not to be many fumes to burn off? I even cranked the heat up to see if they would do anything but still no smell🫤everything in there has completely cured.
We’re thinking all being well and providing there’s still no odour, we can get her in there Thursday once we’ve tweaked the temps over the next few days, what do you guys reckon?

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

I think it's fine to go on