Someone cleaned up the thread...
You're right of course, I should have focused on his lights, no pun intended.
As for rude, I clearly underestimated the sensitivity. My apologies.
OK. Back to being serious. Am I missing something or what. Glitch is saying that putting coconut oil on stops the intense hot spot from a bulb, this in turn stops uneven growth of the carapace. i.e pyramiding. Am I right up to now? Some keepers require a basking spot, right. So if a tort for example requires 100f basking spot we provide a hot area with a spot bulb. This gives the effect of the sun but creates a hot spot on the carapace. So we need an even temperature around the tort of 100f. I think this can not be achieved with a bulb for heat and light. The light source needs to be uvb but no heat and the heat source needs to be as far away from the tort as possible to create an ambiant at 100f and no light. And not a hot spot. Alternatively lots of smaller watt heat sources closer but spaced out. My CHE gives an ambient of 90f with no hot spot at one end for my reds, and my uvb provides the light. Time will tell if it works. Although I'm sure there are many other things to take into account for smooth growth. Humidity,diet,exercise,natural sun. Etc. @glitch2000. I take my hat off to you for your commitment, and I hope you prove something good for torts out of this. If just 1 little thing comes out if this it will have been worth it. .
Hi glitch. I lost track of your experiment way back, Did you ever do the experiment whilst spreading the wattage load with more smaller wattage bulbs instead of 1 intense bulb. Like 10x20watt instead of 2x100watt. Then thermal gun the tort.
I know it wasn't. I would suggest that this person try a fixture that spreads out the heat and the light more than the ones that they have. Maybe something like this, 11 inches wide
View attachment 139610
Very easy upgrade to make, using this fixture may change the results of some of the tests they are doing, I suggest they try it.
I am glad that you are passionate about tortoise care. I have not read this entire thread and to end in quite a while. I think many tortoise enclosures are too dark. Especially if you have a big one like is recommended. That is where I think a long fluorescent tube type UVB helps. I think mercury vapor bulbs should be used in large fixtures, like the ones from the feed store, they cost $10 and are 11 to 12 inches wide. This helps spread out the UVB and heat and light in a way that I'm sure you can explain better than I can. I have experience with Russian tortoises basically. So that is where my first-hand experience comes from, that and box turtles. They are two very different species that need different things so I'm going to focus on Russians because that is what you have.
I am a little concerned that your enclosure might be too warm. Do you keep it 85° at night also? How far away from the top of your tortoise is your bowl? How wide are the fixtures? And how big is your enclosure?
I think that maybe you are causing some of the problems that you were actually trying to prevent. Please don't be defensive about that statement. I don't know for sure that's why I asked the above questions. So let's have constructive discussions now. Not taking sides but sharing information and ideas.
Yup. Censorship at it's finest. I don't understand why though. As far as I can tell no forum rules were broken. And if there was any broken I would like to know which ones. The moderator out there who did this want to explain this???
I like the fact that your habitat is light. I agree that dark enclosures are not good. I'm glad you let the temps drop at night. Somebody made a comment earlier that they thought your entire habitat was way too hot. Maybe because it looks in the picture like the lights are relatively close to the tortoises. How high above the top of the tortoises she'll are your bulbs?Haha ill explain a little better how its set up. Both tortoises are kept in habitats that ambiently reach 85 f. If you look at my habitat pic of nibbles that whole habiat is kept between 82 and 85f (depends on day). My basking is about 92- 97f (depends on day), the hides that are accessible which are plentiful go down to about 75f and are kept humid and the substrate always moist for microclimate. At night my temps drop between 68 and 71 all over the habitat. On occasion it might drop to like 65 but no lower then that. (They are in my room and habitats are covered at night with blankets, i like the cold ).
I am very not a fan of a single heating lamp and one uvb lamp at all.. I found my 2 lamp system to work well. Even though my next made habiatas will allow me to inrease wattage and increase basking "zones" by upping the distance of the lamp and allowing my friend and i lamp filter to be installed.. But make no mistake about it, this does not take away the localized heating and any thermal imaging camera will show that across any tortoise housed under all tyoes of artificial lamps that are not filtreed accordingly. IE {CHE, Incandescent , mercury vapor, halogen , metal halide)
And they are dark for a reason. Because the lighting scheme is wrong. They should never be in the dark unless its night time and they are headed to bed. During the daytime outside its not dark anyhere but a shelter. If its dark in a habitat the tortoise is going to want to sleep. IF I HAD A PENNY FOR EVERY TIME I HEARD ALL MY TORT DOES IS SLEEP.. i would be a millionaire. Because a quick look at their lighting scheme shows one lamp in a huge habitat with one corner lit by a UVB bulb.. ITS LIKE DUHH!!! no wonder he wants to sleep all the time.... and the funniest thing is the people who listened to me .. miraculously had super active awake tortoises. (I have my own FB group now.) and people actually listen and i see excellent results.
I'll be interested to see the results. Yes it will still give off hot spots. To not have a hot spot you need the heat source further away to create an ambient. I look forward to seeing your invention. I hope it works and is practical. Something to clip on an everyday shade that reflects the heat into different directions would be practical for all. A simple cone shape below the bulb would absorb and reflect the hot spot. Trouble is with coconut oil, its not practical for all. By the time you would have coconuted a heard of sulcata it would be bed time. I believe the answer is to have the heat source further away and treat the light as a different source from the heat. BTW. What is the thermal equipment called that you are using. Is it expensive. I have simple thermal guns for work. Can these be linked to software to get the images.No it does not "stop" hot spots... my theory and idea is that it allows it to be spread out more evenly instead of localized.. coconut oil acts as a matrix between the harmful rays and the tortoise. It has refraction properties. I would bet 100$ you would see the worst hot spots from a CHE, as a CHE is emitting HIGH levels of IR-B and IR-C. and very little IR-A. This is not good. I will do some imaging of it and show you.. And ill show how bad localized heating is from a Ceramic emitter. If a tortoise is basking under a ceramic emitter my theory is that it is creating the worst of the localized heating because the way IR-B,C penetrates is very very poor. and super heating the top layers of the keratin is the probelm because you are breaking the bonds that hold the structure of the shell together at a biological level.
Argumentative posts in the Debatable Topics section? What, exactly is the problem?
As for being off topic, unless the OP has a problem with it, why do you?
Answer if you wish, I'll consider them rhetorical.
Endgame via moderator. Again.
The posts that were removed were argumentative and off topic.
Coconut oil does contain antimicrobial, anti-viral, ant-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. The anti-microbial actions kills harmful microbes in the infected area and helps it heal faster without infection. If you simmer some coconut oil with a garlic clove it acts as an antibacterial oil in sensitive areas like the nose, mouth and ear and helps heal the infection Coconut oil is filled with fatty acids, 50% of which are Lauric Acid. When it’s digested, it forms monoglyceride known as monolaurin. Both of these kill harmful pathogens including bacteria, fungi and viruses.
One I'm very familiar with ...Coconut oil can dramatically reduce seizures.This is how it works..... The fatty acids in coconut oil are turned into ketones, which are being applied to epilepsy treatments. Many epileptic patients are put on a special diet on which they consume very little carbs and a lot of fat because this creates increased amounts of ketone bodies in blood. According to Authority Nutrition, “Because the MCTs in coconut oil get shipped to the liver and turned into ketone bodies, they are often used in epileptic patients to induce ketosis while allowing for a bit more carbs in the diet.”