ilovekitty666
New Member
Hey everybody I'm Nick, the handy half of the ilovekitty team. First off, Id really like to just thank everybody on the forum here, without you guys i would probably be telling Katlyyn to just go throw them in the fish tank. Thankfully though I found you guys and i am now working on giving our baby sulcatas/pastas (Linguine,Tortellini,Ravioli) a safe and healthy living environment.
The enclosure is 8'x3'x3', it is built and just got its 2nd coat of drylok now.
The plan is to slap a cheap counter top on it like this.
And do the lattice cap and plexiglass set up seen in tom's inspirational growth experiment thread.
https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/2015-growth-experiment.119874/#post-1109504
This is not mine, all credit for this photo and most of the ideas on here to @Tom.
Materials were not counted the greatest but here is what I can remember buying:
2 - 1 gallon cans on drylock
15ish - 2" x 3"x 8' studs
1 - 2" x 6"x 8' stud
4 - sheets plywood (Had the home depot guy run it thru the ripper to the sizes i needed and still have a bunch of scrap left over to use to build them a cool ramp or flower pot or something)
2 - boxes screws (forgot sizes)
Here are some photos of what we have completed already and yes i know we are in no way up to par to compete with toms build. In our defense Jack Daniels was our helper on the build and we spent a lot of time laughing, smiling, and bonding more then I would have thought possible that night. I really recommend building something with your wife guys, I had a blast. Okay here are the photos:
So here are the things i am looking for feedback on.
1.Heating and lighting. RHP, CHE, MVB, Florescent tubes, ect. what is the best combo gonna be for this? The best height for the lights? Also does anyone have recommendations on specific controllers we can use to control the temps and lighting. A product that could control everything in one would be cool. We keep the house between 72 and 78 at pretty much all times including night and the humidity seems to stay between 30% to 50% sometimes even 60%.
I was thinking of doing a combination of the RHPs same as mentioned in the tom thread above but with adding MVB and CHE in basking areas. I am just unsure of how many of them to get or what sizes or wattage's. Here are some photos and links to the product i've been looking at:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DJCVN2X/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DZW3NZB/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20
CHE and MVB in a combo fixture above the basking rocks:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003F6XW56/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20
2. I did not think about this until now but would cutting the holes and adding the vents now negatively affect the drylok?
3. We are not sure if we should apply the caulk now between coats of the drylok or at the end after we have finished. It almost seems like it will seal up with another coat or two.
4. We have 3 sulcatas and i was wondering if we set up 3 identical environments (same humid hide, basking rock, food plate, water dish, and basking light) inside this one enclosure would that help combat bullying? Two are from the same local breeder and about two weeks apart ravioli is 2.5 months & 40g and tortellini is 3 months & 47g and the older one is about 5 months according to pet store &66g.
5. Does anyone have a good source to order the right types of grasses and food for these guys at a reasonable price? What is everyone's opinion on Mazuri? This is a temporary solution until i set up the planter I wanna build with a large assortment of sulcata treats. I will make a thread for that one too.
6. Substrate still hasn't been decided and even though we live in a already very humid climate we do think we should keep it about 7-8in deep to keep the humidity up. Opinions on this and any suggestions about how often to change it would be helpful too.
Again thank you for any feedback as it is greatly appreciated by us. I promise to keep up with updates on my decisions and upload photos as we continue thru this habitat building adventure!
The enclosure is 8'x3'x3', it is built and just got its 2nd coat of drylok now.
The plan is to slap a cheap counter top on it like this.
And do the lattice cap and plexiglass set up seen in tom's inspirational growth experiment thread.
https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/2015-growth-experiment.119874/#post-1109504
This is not mine, all credit for this photo and most of the ideas on here to @Tom.
Materials were not counted the greatest but here is what I can remember buying:
2 - 1 gallon cans on drylock
15ish - 2" x 3"x 8' studs
1 - 2" x 6"x 8' stud
4 - sheets plywood (Had the home depot guy run it thru the ripper to the sizes i needed and still have a bunch of scrap left over to use to build them a cool ramp or flower pot or something)
2 - boxes screws (forgot sizes)
Here are some photos of what we have completed already and yes i know we are in no way up to par to compete with toms build. In our defense Jack Daniels was our helper on the build and we spent a lot of time laughing, smiling, and bonding more then I would have thought possible that night. I really recommend building something with your wife guys, I had a blast. Okay here are the photos:
So here are the things i am looking for feedback on.
1.Heating and lighting. RHP, CHE, MVB, Florescent tubes, ect. what is the best combo gonna be for this? The best height for the lights? Also does anyone have recommendations on specific controllers we can use to control the temps and lighting. A product that could control everything in one would be cool. We keep the house between 72 and 78 at pretty much all times including night and the humidity seems to stay between 30% to 50% sometimes even 60%.
I was thinking of doing a combination of the RHPs same as mentioned in the tom thread above but with adding MVB and CHE in basking areas. I am just unsure of how many of them to get or what sizes or wattage's. Here are some photos and links to the product i've been looking at:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DJCVN2X/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DZW3NZB/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20
CHE and MVB in a combo fixture above the basking rocks:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003F6XW56/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20
2. I did not think about this until now but would cutting the holes and adding the vents now negatively affect the drylok?
3. We are not sure if we should apply the caulk now between coats of the drylok or at the end after we have finished. It almost seems like it will seal up with another coat or two.
4. We have 3 sulcatas and i was wondering if we set up 3 identical environments (same humid hide, basking rock, food plate, water dish, and basking light) inside this one enclosure would that help combat bullying? Two are from the same local breeder and about two weeks apart ravioli is 2.5 months & 40g and tortellini is 3 months & 47g and the older one is about 5 months according to pet store &66g.
5. Does anyone have a good source to order the right types of grasses and food for these guys at a reasonable price? What is everyone's opinion on Mazuri? This is a temporary solution until i set up the planter I wanna build with a large assortment of sulcata treats. I will make a thread for that one too.
6. Substrate still hasn't been decided and even though we live in a already very humid climate we do think we should keep it about 7-8in deep to keep the humidity up. Opinions on this and any suggestions about how often to change it would be helpful too.
Again thank you for any feedback as it is greatly appreciated by us. I promise to keep up with updates on my decisions and upload photos as we continue thru this habitat building adventure!