CHE needed?

[Whiteshizzle]

Hello forum,

Just a quick question, do i need to have a CHE for my baby tort? Or is it fine to leave the UVB on all the time? I also have a tube light which is used to give the tort energy am i right?

Sorry for the silly questions.

Many thanks!

 

[DoctorCosmonaut]

CHE needed in my opinion

 

[Yvonne G]

Tortoises need a day/night cycle. If your house gets too cold at night, then a CHE is in order.

And no question is considered "silly" if you don't know the answer. How else are you going to learn?

 

[chadk]

First you need to know the temps in your torts enclosure. Day temps, night temps. hot side, cool side, basking temp, etc. Pics help a TON.

If your room stays above 65 at night, no need for extra heat, as a night drop in temps in normal and healthy.

Tell us more about your tube and UVB lights...?

 

[N2TORTS]

Tortoises need a day/night cycle. If your house gets too cold at night, then a CHE is in order.

And no question is considered "silly" if you don't know the answer. How else are you going to learn?

I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU~ on Both !

 

[Maggie Cummings]

You need to use your UVB light like it's the sun. You want it on for 12 hours and off for 12 or a couple of hours either way. But what I am trying to say is you want to use the light as if it's the sun so you want to turn it off at night. Your tortoise wants to sleep in the dark just like you do.

 

[tortoisenerd]

For a baby Sulcata if the ambient temperature at night is below 65 F I'd want to bump it up to stay about 65-70, if it is at least 65 then you are fine and just leave the light off and no heat. For adults above 60 for night is my opinion. Actually check the temperature in the enclosure as it will vary from your thermostat. In my opinion you need a temp gun to do this accurately and quickly (PE1 is about $25). Best wishes.

 

[Whiteshizzle]

Thank you for all the helpful replies! At about 02:00am it sits around 60 F with nothing on in my sitting room. I think i will see how it goes and if the temp goes down any lower i will go out and buy a CHE.

Thanks again!

 

[N2TORTS]

Thank you for all the helpful replies! At about 02:00am it sits around 60 F with nothing on in my sitting room. I think i will see how it goes and if the temp goes down any lower i will go out and buy a CHE.

Thanks again!

60 is too COLD! Raise the temp or your little guy will not get better!

 

[Whiteshizzle]

Thank you for all the helpful replies! At about 02:00am it sits around 60 F with nothing on in my sitting room. I think i will see how it goes and if the temp goes down any lower i will go out and buy a CHE.

Thanks again!

60 is too COLD! Raise the temp or your little guy will not get better!

Hmm, Maybe i could raise the room temp. instead of getting a CHE.

 

[chadk]

You should be measuring the temps in the tank. Did you do that, or is the 60 degrees the room temp? And yes, if you raise the room temps, i will help, but does not change the fact that you need to measure in the tank - could still be too cold depending on where it is located in the room.

Also, remember that humidity and substrate along with good temps and diet, are critical for your little tort.

 

[Whiteshizzle]

You should be measuring the temps in the tank. Did you do that, or is the 60 degrees the room temp? And yes, if you raise the room temps, i will help, but does not change the fact that you need to measure in the tank - could still be too cold depending on where it is located in the room.

Also, remember that humidity and substrate along with good temps and diet, are critical for your little tort.

I will measure it late tonight. Last night it was 62F with room heating on low. I have turned up the heating and will see the temp then

 

[Stephanie Logan]

As you get your new Sulcata hatchling today, please remember that even very experienced tortoise keepers often lose hatchlings because they are such fragile babies. If you want to optimize your odds for raising this baby to an adult, you need to do A LOT of research. You can start right here on TFO, browsing through the "Sulcata Central", "Enclosures", and "Food and Diet" sections. There is a link to an African Tortoise care sheet that is often recommended on here that someone should post soon on this thread, or you can PM emysemys or maggie3fan to get one. You should also PM Roachman26 to get some excellent recommendations for Sulcata care.

I know you have every good intention for purchasing this cute little baby tortoise, but if you want him to outlive you, or to even live through the next year, you will need to embark on a course of study to understand and be able to meet the needs of these high-maintenance creatures so that he may pay you back with years of healthy, happy life.

 

[FWishbringer]

I'm a newbie, but agree, based on my extensive research over the last month of sulcata ownership, a lot of information differs, but one thing everyone says is 65F (18.3C) _minimum_ on cold side during 'night time' for hatchling and juvenile sulcatas (first few years). Adults can go lower, but with hatchlings (first year) especially, they can develop many problems.

You could try a garden shop, to see if they have a seedling warmer, which are low powered heat mats. I use one to make sure the hot side doesn't drop below 70F (21.1C), and as it only raises between 5-10F (~2-5C), it would help keep your cold side at 'just right'. The mat I got was 1/3rd the cost of a CHE around here. Mine is very low powered and said it was safe for plastic, and it hasn't warped the container it sits under at all.

 

[Tom]

There IS a lot of conflicting advice out there. This is because people live in different areas with greatly differing climates and weather AND because knowledge of tortoise care changes and evolves as time passes. For example, we only learned in 2007 that torts of desert species, like sulcatas, need humidity as babies to prevent pyramiding. Even this is not widely known out in the pet world. There are lots of things like this. Some of the info out there on the web is from the early nineties. The info exchanged on this forum is as up to date as any I've ever found. You should take advantage of lessons that other people learned the hard way.

One thing that most everyone will agree on is that 60-62 is too cold for a baby. I like to start babies at 75 at night for a while. Once they get some size and age on them 60-65 will be fine ASSUMING you let them get good and hot during the day, every day. I'm talking 2 or 3 years here. You are just asking for trouble if you don't warm that little guy up at night. He might survive it for a while, but eventually he will get sick, fail to thrive and possibly die. Nobody wants to see that happen and that's why several people before me have urged you to increase those night temps. You don't have to buy an expensive CHE. There are other ways. You could use an inexpensive red or blue incandescent light from a hardware store. Buy two in case one burns out after the store is closed for the night. I always like to keep extras around just in case.

Please don't wait to do this. He should have warmth by tonight. Move him somewhere warmer, temporarily if you have to.

 

[Yvonne G]

I'm sensing that you are hesitant to spend the money to buy a CHE. A 100 watt CHE costs around $25. The cost to warm up your whole room, or run the heater to heat the room would be much more than $25 in the long run (Gas & Electric bill).

A black light bulb or a red bulb to heat at night costs around $3 apiece and you can just screw them into the day fixture for night time. A seed warming strip costs around $25.

If you are spending money to buy your little sulcata, then you MUST spend the $$$ to buy what he needs to thrive. Otherwise your original tortoise costs will be lost when he dies.

 

[tortoisenerd]

Agree with Yvonne! Having adjustable heat in the enclosure (a bulb you can move up and down as the room temperature changes) is much more efficient than heating your whole house. A black light in a cage fixture that clamps to the enclosure is likely your cheapest option. I would buy from a local store so you can exchange for a different wattage if needed. Do set it up such that you can move the bulb around because what you want to do is maintain a specific temperature as your room temperature changes (and it does with the season and humidity, even if you have your thermostat always set the same). I also assume that in the dead of winter your house is even colder. Having that baby have some heat at night is very important and in my opinion being a responsible pet owner means you will be needing to both spend significant money as well as have money put aside for emergencies like vet bills. Best wishes.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Also a heat mat is not a good idea for a baby. They don't have a thermostat and that increases the chance your baby could get burned. Also there is a bigger chance that the plastron can get deformed. I always recommend that a tortoise be over 20 pounds before you can use a heat mat with him.
You must above all remember this is a BABY and he needs to be treated like a baby. I have a black light bulb over the babies I have now, and I keep it on 24/7. You can get the bulb and the fixture for less then $15 at Kmart...

 

[FWishbringer]

Maggie, what's your take on the under-container mats? I am using one that warms the substrate a bit, its actually a few inches from the tort. Even at plastic level, its less than 85F.. but I have 2 inches of dirt over it, so its significantly less.

 

[Yvonne G]

I'm not Maggie, but I'll give you MY opinion on the subject. I use a seed warming strip for my babies. Its a strip of mylar about 8" x 20" with heat coils embedded inside it. It sits on the table and the plastic tub sits on top of it. I have it positioned so that the warming strip is under the end where the babies' hide is. I have enough substrate in there so that they have to dig down a bit to feel the warmth from the strip. The directions on the box the strip came in said it provides about 10 to 15 degrees heat higher than the ambient temperature, but doesn't get above 85 degrees. So, if its 75 in the house, the strip usually gets up to around 80-85 degrees. I like it. Before I discovered the seed heat strip I didn't use any bottom heat for my babies. Didn't trust it.