When I 1st built a tortoise table I had a covered part that was 2x4ft, In this part of the enclosure I had a large tray that had soil and water in it creating a marsh for my redfoots to bathe in. At 1st to get the humidity and temperature up I used a 100watt spot bulb, problem was where the bulbs beam of light hit the marsh it got it that hot the marsh steamed and I could only just touch the marsh because of the heat spot. So to get around this a replaced the 100watt bulb with two 50watt bulbs at about 30" apart . I maintaned the same heat, humidity reading actually got higher and there was no hot spot on the marsh. An ambient temperature was achieved with no hot spots, instead of an ambient temperature with a hot spot. Hot spots reduce humidity in the area of the heated spot. i.e the top of the torts carapace. mmm. My brain is in overdrive now. So does the hot spot dry the carapace and contribute to pyramiding. Maybe. There are other things to take into account aswell. But 1st thing is to do your experiment.That is excellent idea. I was thinking of buying a like 6 to 8 of low wattage sockets for some low wattage bulbs, combine the sockets into rows using a piece of nice wood, wire them up to an audio control unit [multi-port power box] that has a plug to the wall for power. Then use thermal house siding that has 99.7 uv and ir reflectivity to line the outside of the sockets creating depth[not touching of course] to create a deep dome effect to better direct heat.
Like you said instead of having one powerful 100 watt bulb as a basking light that creates localized hot spots, why not try many small incandescent bulbs rigged together to create a huge basking zone over a more spaced out area... hmmmm.....then we can change distance and add or subtract sockets if needed for achieving the heated zone that I want without creating such localized heating...
hmm ponder ponder ponder.. then I'll need to rent that thermal imaging camera again and run the tests using my invention and comparing it to the heating of a single 100 watt incandescent bulb.. interesting...
I'll see what I can rig togher. I already have an idea. Basic wood box with slits for ventilation to accommodate up to 8 small wattage sockets, 8 small wattage bulbs, line the box with thermal paneling to help create dome effect, all wired up to my power box that can be plugged in which will have a fuse to prevent shorting it all out.
This box can be adjusted easily by proving a sliding mechanism since I'll attach it to a sturdy wood frame so we can achieve the depth for the experiment.
I'll get to work.
I like your commitment.
I have found a major problem with your coconut cream method. It would take me a month to cream all the torts I'm going to end up with. lol