Tortoise table questions for 6 month old star

[Alice McCarthy]

Hi, i am collecting my little indian star in two weeks and was advised by the pet store (reptile specalist place not pets at home!) To buy a tortoise table to allow circulation im worried however about him getting too cold. There will be a heat lamp during the day and at night there is a cover hide section for him to go in which i can put a warmer type bedding in and maybe a heat mat.

What do you guys think?

 

[britsip]

Check out Tom's closed chamber posts. He has the best information on closed chambers and generally everything tortoise related. I'm no expert, but I own a star tortoise and have done a massive amount of research. Star's need high humidity and heat... especially as hatchlings/babies. Closed chambers will allow for high humidity and high heat.
Personally, I keep my star in a closed chamber. I purchased my cage from animal plastics and love it. I live in a dry, cold environment and the closed chambers keeps it hot and humid. You especially need to be careful since Star's are prone to respiratory infection. Inside my cage (which is 6ft long x 3ft wide x 2ft high) I use a 90w basking bulb and 160w radiant heat panel all on a thermostat. The basking spot is set to 97f, overall ambient is 80f, far cool side 76f, and nigh time temperatures never drops below 80. Humidity stays between 70-80%. My star is 3 years old, so your baby may need slightly different parameters. Stars are beautiful and I absolutely love my guy, but they're not as "easy" as some of the other species.

 

[Alice McCarthy]

Hi thank you for your response. Ive since changed to a vivarium after reading some posts on here.

He will have a long uv bulb across the emclosure on during the day and i have a large che buld over the hot side of the enclosure. This is connected to a thermostat with the probe in the centre of the enclosure.

My thinking is set it to 85 in the day and then just over 70 at night. My logic being that there will be a temperature gradient from the centre where the probe is. I will minitor this this a thermometre.

I plan to use tortoise life substrate for the entire enclosure but will top with some sphagnum moss at the hot side to increase humidty.

Im also thinking of placing two log hides on the opposite ends so he can pick where to sleep.

 

[Tom]

Hi thank you for your response. Ive since changed to a vivarium after reading some posts on here.

He will have a long uv bulb across the emclosure on during the day and i have a large che buld over the hot side of the enclosure. This is connected to a thermostat with the probe in the centre of the enclosure.

My thinking is set it to 85 in the day and then just over 70 at night. My logic being that there will be a temperature gradient from the centre where the probe is. I will minitor this this a thermometre.

I plan to use tortoise life substrate for the entire enclosure but will top with some sphagnum moss at the hot side to increase humidty.

Im also thinking of placing two log hides on the opposite ends so he can pick where to sleep.

Stars like it warm. It should never drop below 80 at night and during the day an ambient around 90 seems to serve them very well. This will not be possible in an open topped enclosure unless the entire room is heated and humidified 24/7. Everything else that pet shop told you about tortoise care should now be suspect. I hope you are not buying your tortoise from this place.

They also need a basking area that stays around 95-100 for 12 hours a day.

Your CHE should be over the middle of the viv and set on a thermostat to maintain that minimum 80 ambient, day and night.

Its all explained in these:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
The care sheet says leopards and sulcatas, but I raise my stars identically.

 

[Alice McCarthy]

Hi tom. Aftering reading the responses i have opted for a closed top vivarium to keep heat in and will be adding sphagnum moss to increase humidity. I have purchased a metre for the humidity so could take further measures if needed.

The CHE is towards one end so as to provide a hot end and a cool end. Ill monitor both.

The thermostat is to go in the middle howver and ill ensure that the temperatures dont drop below 80.

Any advise is really appreciated. I am now starting to panic since reading these

 

[Tom]

Don't panic Alice. We will patiently explain and help you out. Keep asking for clarification until you feel like you've got what you need to do it right.

Use your basking lamp for 12 hours a day to keep a warm side and a "cool" side (but not below 80ish…). Use the CHE over the middle to maintain ambient day and night. The CHE isn't really for basking since it emits no light. You still need an incandescent or mercury vapor basking lamp.

 

[britsip]

Don't panic... although, I do tend to panic as well. One time, my star made a noise and I was convinced I was doing something wrong and he was going to die. One thing that has tremendously helped ease my worries was investing in the herpstat 2. I have one probe under the basking light hooked to the basking bulb and another probe in the center of the cage monitoring the radiant heat panel/ambient temps. The thermostat runs everything smoothly day and night. It's programmed to do night and day temperature drops and is run proportionally. I personally think it is worth the investment.

 

[Alice McCarthy]

Hi tom,

Would a seperate uva/b lamp for light (the long tubes) with a CHE bulb not be enough then?

Is a basking lamp needed to? I thought a basking lamp was just the two combined sorry. The lighting types in particular confuse me!