OMG, I went out tonight to put Tito in his enclosure and found he went in by himself!!!!! It's so coincidental that the day you ask if he goes in by himself he ends up going in by himself ............ WOW!!!!!First I want to say my wife is from Michigan (Bay City) and we are thinking about retiring in Traverse City!! We are going to Traverse City in July to look at property and houses, retirement is not for another 5-8 years but trying to plan ahead. I live in the Dallas Texas area now and the temps have been in the 90's since I completed the night box so I don't think the heaters have been coming on much if any.
Question #1: RHP is a 160watt panel from Reptile Basics ($119.99) and is controlled by the Vivarium Electronics VE-300 ($139.99) which is set to 81 degrees. I have the heat lamp connected to a timer that will turn it on and off during the day and night (have not set this up to turn on and off yet). The Kane heat mat I have is the 27" X 36" double mat that is controller by the Kane thermostat, which is set to 80 degrees. I have a oil filled radiator, Costway oil filled radiator heater ($40.99, Amazon) but not sure if I'll need it or not. I bought it just in case I need it, for the winter, if the RHP can not do the job. So to answer your question they are all on controllers.
Question #2: The humidifier is a Evergreen pet supplies reptile humidifier/reptile fogger ($53.99, Amazon) which is controlled by the Inkbird AC 110V Digital prewired outlet dual stage humidifier controller w/ sensor ($36.99, Amazon). I also have the Zoomed Hygrotherm Humidity and temp controller on my indoor enclosure and it works great also, it controls heater and humidifier ($69.32, Amazon). The controller is set to 77% humidity, I mainly added it for the winter months when it gets super dry.
Question #3: I was actually thinking about putting it on casters but since it's on my patio I figured once I get it in place I wouldn't move it much anyway (this thing is very heavy and would require some heavy duty casters). Plus we have black widow and brown recluse spiders here and did not want them to take up residence under it or any other critter.
Question #4: At this point he has not gone in on his own, has came out on his own. I think this is due to the fact that he was kept in an indoor enclosure up to this point and I would take him in and out to go outside. So I think it's something that he will learn over time. So the answer is I put him in at night and lock the door and in the morning I unlock the door so he can come out when he wants.
Hope this helps!! If you have anymore questions please ask, I will be happy to answer if I can!!!
Sulcata Night Box And Great Way To Monitor Temp & Humidity
- Thread starter Johnkoch
- Start date
OMG, I went out tonight to put Tito in his enclosure and found he went in by himself!!!!! It's so coincidental that the day you ask if he goes in by himself he ends up going in by himself ............ WOW!!!!!
Doesn't that make you proud?
It does!!!
Shedon's mom
New Member
John, could you provide a picture and more details about the clear poly vinyl door flaps that you used, and how you attached them? What exactly is the material, and does your tort have any reluctance pushing in and out through those?
Also, is it ok if hay gets on the Kane mat? Not a fire issue I assume? Thanks!
Also, is it ok if hay gets on the Kane mat? Not a fire issue I assume? Thanks!
The sixth picture shows the door with the flaps installed. Do you want a specific angle or a picture from the inside? I bought the vinyl doors from a company call strip curtain https://www.strip-curtains.com/
If you go to the website you will see a box that says "Custom design your own strip door" it will ask you a few questions and bam you're ready to order. I got the 8 inch strips and cut them in half (4 inch strips). If I remember correctly they have a minimum order of $49 and my order came to about $30 so what I did was ordered extra replacement strips (enough to total $49). I kind of pushed his head through the first time (gently of course) but once he got the hang of it there was no stopping him. You know they are like bull dozers, they push thru anything LOL. If you decide to go this route and have any ordering questions please ask.
Kane states that hay or any bedding material should not get on the mat so I put the mat up higher than the main floor, built up the floor where the mat is with 2 X 4's, so the 2 X 4's raise it 3 1/2 inches and have a piece of 1/2 inch plywood on top then the thickness of the mat. So far no hay has got on the mat (well maybe a couple small pieces now and then but nothing significant). Hope this helps!! If you have anymore questions please let me know.
Shedon's mom
New Member
Thx for reply John. I was hoping for a picture from the inside showing how the strips were attached. I will check with that company for the strip curtain All of your pictures (and Tom's) have been so helpful.
We have just finished a smaller summer night box for our tort based on those plans and have installed pretty much the same heating setup (minus the oil heater for now, it is not needed during the summer as the Kane mat and radiant heater are keeping box at 85 on cool nights).
I wondered how your Kane mat was so clean of hay, didn't realize it was on a raised section in the house but now that makes sense. Right now we just have bare plywood floor in the night box (which we just finished) and hay out in his enclosure. Hopefully the bare floor in the night box is not rough on him but he does not move around in there much, just sleeps. I was worried about putting anything flammable in there.
Thanks again for all the info you have provided.
We have just finished a smaller summer night box for our tort based on those plans and have installed pretty much the same heating setup (minus the oil heater for now, it is not needed during the summer as the Kane mat and radiant heater are keeping box at 85 on cool nights).
I wondered how your Kane mat was so clean of hay, didn't realize it was on a raised section in the house but now that makes sense. Right now we just have bare plywood floor in the night box (which we just finished) and hay out in his enclosure. Hopefully the bare floor in the night box is not rough on him but he does not move around in there much, just sleeps. I was worried about putting anything flammable in there.
Thanks again for all the info you have provided.
I got my flaps from eBay, the seller that @Big Charlie used.
https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/160820/
Vladimir is happy with them [emoji16]
https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/160820/
Vladimir is happy with them [emoji16]
You are so welcome and happy to help!! I will take some pictures this weekend and post. If you order from Strip Curtain the curtain comes with the mounting hardware (you do have to provide your own screws). The bare floor should not be to rough on him, mine does not seem to mind the roughness of the Kane mat (not any softer than plywood), in fact that's were he is every time I open the box (and it's not because it's warm because it's so warm (hot, lol) here that the mat does not come on) . I think a lot of the time, we as humans, think if we don't like it or it would be uncomfortable for us than the animal won't like it or is uncomfortable. A great example is we feed our dogs a raw diet (raw meat, uncooked eggs including the shells, uncooked bones, etc.) and when we tell people this they immediately think, won't raw meat/eggs make them sick & that's gross but they absolutely love it. Sorry for getting off the subject but I really don't think the rough surfaces bothers them. The main reason for the substrate is to hold the moisture and give them something to burrow in. BTW, my tortoise does not move around in his box either, besides getting in and out.
Here is the pictures of the door from the inside. Hopefully this helps! Like I said, if you decide to order the door curtain from strip-curtain it will come with the hardware to hold the curtains and all you will need is the screws to attach the bracket. If I can be anymore help please let me know!! Sorry the picture is so dark but that's the best I could get!!
I have 2 questions. Why is the humidifier hose down in the plastic container? And...did you just attach the top of the fan to the edge of the shelf, so that it is able to circulate the air better? Thanks for sharing your outside house ideas with us!
Great questions. The reason for the hose in the container is that the humidifier produces quite a bit of condensation so the container is there to catch the water that it produces. I have the same set up in my indoor enclosure and I found out the hard way that I needed to put a container under the hose. The humidifier produced so much water condensation that it leaked thru the plywood floor of the enclosure and ended up on my house floor, what a mess, and also caused mold to start growing in the enclosure. Once the mold started growing I could not get rid of it so I ended up building a new enclosure and trashing the moldy one. As far as the fan, yes it's attached to the shelf with corner brackets and Is there for air circulation (mainly in the winter for the heat since hot air rises to the top of the enclosure) so there are no hot or cold spots. Hope this helps!!
Thank you for your prompt response! My husband built a box last summer very similar to yours! I will be adding the humidifier, humidity controller, and the fan (especially for this Texas heat!). Thanks for sharing with us!!
I was thinking of using batting insulation too to get cost down. I feel if it is sealed enough no moisture would get in and cause mold. My exterior will be ply, but I will make the insides from non toxic pallet boards. I plan to ship lap them and glue between to make sure it seals good.
I used a batting insulation that was covered in a plastic sheet. I don't think that would be a problem as long as you seal (caulk) the box so no moisture can penatrate it. I would definatly make sure you seal in between the boards, if used on the floor, real good so his/her toe nails don't get caught between the boards and hurt or cause injury.
If used for the walls I would make sure to caulk to keep it cool in the summer and warm in the winter. This is the insulation I used: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Comfort...Insulation-Roll-15-in-x-384-in-B011/301693679
Best of luck!!
Thank you. I think i will use solid ply on the bottom and top since that will be the most heat/cooling loss. I am excited to give it a go.
Also, i have a cnc machine so I will create some type of sign for the torts as well.
lighthiker
New Member
Has anyone put heavy duty wheels on these to ease moving? It must weigh a couple hundred pounds
John...I have a temp stick question. Our tortoise habitat/night box is about 250-300 ft away from our wireless router in the house. I'm assuming you have to have a wireless connection of some sort for the temp stick to work. I've tried a couple of "wireless" hygrometers, but it's just too far to reach the signal. We live in east Texas but grew up and raised kids in the Dallas area. Would love to trade ideas sometime through text or messenger! Thanks in advance for your help!
What type of thermostat was suggested?
You do need a wireless connection and I'm not sure what kind of range it has, since mine is on my back patio, but unfortunitly 250-300 ft seems like it would be to far. I would definatly like to share ideas through text or messenger, I'm always open to new ideas and suggestions!!!
@Ray--Opo I use this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01486LZ50/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20
Although a lot of people recommend this one: https://www.lllreptile.com/products/13883-zilla-1000-watt-temperature-controller
I have one and it worked well and is easier to use, but I like the nice temp display on the Inkbird ones. Hope that helps!
