Easy red foot enclosure .

mike taylor

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This is how I do it . This small setup will keep a few hatchlings for the first year or so . I paid a little over one hundred dollars for everything .
One t5 5.0 uvb/ uva fixture.
One ceramic Dome fixture.
One thermostat.
One timer.
Two terracotta bowls.
One hide.
One digital thermometer.
One 50 watt ceramic heat emitter.
One plastic box with lid.
Set timer to five hours for the uvb fixture .Set thermostat for 80/85 degrees Fahrenheit . Add mulch and Coco chor bedding. Run the setup for a few days to dial everything in. The hole for the plugs will give the setup the right air flow to hold humidity without over wetting the substrate.IMG_20171112_163002774_HDR.jpgIMG_20171112_160945196_HDR.jpgIMG_20171112_160908444_HDR.jpgIMG_20171112_160852992_HDR.jpgIMG_20171112_160845186_HDR.jpg
 

Yvonne G

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I like it. Does the lid get very hot around the ceramic base of that light? It may be a matter of personal preference, but I prefer a large 10" dome on my lights.
 

Anyfoot

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I think it's spot on except I'm not seeing any moist moss and dried leaves in the hide.
 

mike taylor

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Yeah no moss yet due to the ceramic heat emitter not being in from Amazon yet . Should be here tomorrow . I'll get everything up and running . Then repost updated photos.
 

mike taylor

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I like it. Does the lid get very hot around the ceramic base of that light? It may be a matter of personal preference, but I prefer a large 10" dome on my lights.
No not really . That's not a light it's where the ceramic heat emitter goes. I may have to change that . But it was the last fixture I had on hand . Never used the small dome on this kind of setup before . So I'll have to install the 50 watt ceramic heat emitter to see how the small dome works . The others I've built went with hatchlings as I rehomed them . But they all were working great . When you build them this enclosure it ensures the hatchlings to be healthy for the first year or until they out grow the setup . I sell this ,but give away the tortioses to people I know . Or I make them buy everything and help them setup the enclosure .
 
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Anyfoot

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No not really . That's not a light it's where the ceramic heat emitter goes. I may have to change that . But it was the last fixture I had on hand . Never used the small dome on this kind of setup before . So I'll have to install the 50 watt ceramic heat emitter to see how the small dome works . The others I've built went with hatchlings as I rehomed them . But they all were working great . When you build them this enclosure it ensures the hatchlings to be healthy for the first year or until they out grow the setup . I sell this ,but give away the tortioses to people I know . Or I make them buy everything and help them setup the enclosure .
Your a good man Mike. That's exactly what I'm thinking of doing to make sure the babies get the right start in life.
 

mike taylor

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Man ,you get your money back . Cost of the setup then mark everything up 30% . To cover the time it took you to build it . After you build the first one it only takes like a hour to build . That's just because the wait time for the bedding bricks to soak up the water .
 

Anyfoot

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Man ,you get your money back . Cost of the setup then mark everything up 30% . To cover the time it took you to build it . After you build the first one it only takes like a hour to build . That's just because the wait time for the bedding bricks to soak up the water .
Your not a good man your all about money.
Just nearly fell off my chair laughing :D
 

mike taylor

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Dude ,if I get my other four reds laying maybe .lol I'm supposed to pickup two more adult reds this weekend . They were supposed to meet Saturday but rescheduled the meet to this coming Saturday . But in all reality I'm not making any money . Last year I got 1 red . This year I got 8 . I have 6 eggs incubating . But you know how that goes . It's a crap shoot . I just let my tortioses do their thing . If I get baby tortioses cool if not who cares . If you count the cost of food and housing you'll have to mass produce them to make any kind of money .
 

Anyfoot

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How high is this enclosure Mike. Will the CHE be too close to the torts is what I'm thinking.
 

mike taylor

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No,the che is at the perfect location . Right off the top of my head I don't remember the hight ,but I think it's 14" high . If you can see the thermocouple from the thermostat in the picture . It is placed close to the che to shut it off at the 85 degree mark . The last few I built were perfect . Had no problems what so ever . Just took a bit to get the thermostat set just right . You can spend a little more cash to get a better thermostat . I use ones from Grainger that I wire myself . But most people can't do electrical work so I try to make it easier .
 

mike taylor

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But , you're right I need to put the plastic box dimensions on this post .
 

mike taylor

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Ok the enclosure has been running with no problems .
1- the temperature right under che is 87.6 °f.
2- the temperature around food bowls and in hide is at 81 ° f.
3- this boxes size is 14" high ,30" long,16" wide
Here are a few more pictures . I put the tortioses in the water to soak .IMG_20171115_181911555_LL.jpgIMG_20171115_181859182.jpg
 

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