Hatchling Setup

[Meg90]

I really wanted a new set of shelves for my bday (which is today, but did stuff for it last night)

And my mom bought me some! I was very happy! LOL (I even put them together all by myself. And its sturdy! it was fun I guess, and not very hard. Only took about 20 mins)

But anyways, it gave me an excuse to put Anouk's enclosure back on display...I had it covered and under the bed to help with all the pining ...But since I put it up last night, I have had fun visualizing her in there!

I made one teensy little update to her housing...by taking the black paper off of the front side. The glass is frosted enough, and there are so many plants and visual barriers on the front side, I don't think I will have a problem. If I do see stress behavior, I will put it back up....But I like the looks of it off.

Here is my set of shelves: (I'm buying lamp stands with the rest of my birthday monies too lol, and new bulbs for everybody) The painting peeking in the top corner is an original done by myself...

And after seeing this pic, I am going to bump up the depth of her substrate (will be doing that now) I just wanted to get a pic up, before all the hassle of removing every piece of furniture in there, and adding more aspen!

 

[Isa]

HAPPY B-DAY MEG
Really nice shelves .

 

[terryo]

Before you buy any lighting be sure to read this and take precautions. I don't remember if any one mentioned this before but if they did just ignore this post.
Everything really looks great. I love the shelving too.

http://www.uvguide.co.uk/phototherapyphosphor.htm

 

[Meg90]

Thanks Terry! Its setup about three feet to the right of my computer, so it will be a joy to be able to be on here, and still see her!

For lighting I am planning on getting two 100 watt self ballasted reptile UV bulbs (reptileuv.com)...(they were backordered, which is why I haven't gotten them yet) I've heard that they have the best UV output. I have not heard any bad reviews on them...I know that Kate (tortoisenerd) recommended them to me too. She uses one on her russian hatching...

 

[Yvonne G]

Happy Birthday, Meg!!! Hope it was a great day for you.

Yvonne

 

[tortoisenerd]

Terry-Thanks for that article. It's quite scary with what can happen with the wrong type of bulb! I've heard of this happening way too often on several message boards.

Meg-Cool shelves! Storage under the habitat comes in handy. Lifting up my little guy's tort table from the floor where it ended up at first got it warmer as well. I've already filled up most of my cabinet since I have a 45 lb bag of aspen in there (2 more in the garage), extra Mega Ray bulb, bathtub cat pan, pots and seeds I want to start, calcium, TNT, Mazuri, timothy hay, thermometers, humidity gage, pooper scooper, aspen scooper, gram scale, etc. Glad we bought the thing or else I have no idea where all Trevor's accessories would have gone! I love having Trevor in the middle of the house because we check on him any time we go between the kitchen and living room.

The only bad things I've ever heard about Mega Ray bulbs is that 1) they are expensive (price has gone down and considering less fixtures and long life it's actually a good deal now), and 2) that the bulbs are very strong...some people believe it could be too much, but it actually just more accurately mimics nature. If you compare the output of traditional bulbs vs. Mega Ray vs. natural sun, the traditional bulbs are actually several times lower in output of UVB, and the Mega Ray is very close to midday sun. They may indeed be too strong for some species though, so some research is recommended! I think the personal accounts of how someone had an animal that wasn't very active but suddenly got better with the Mega Ray is really cool.

---

Happy Birthday!

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Hey Meg...Happy Berfday!!!

 

[galvinkaos]

looks good. Anouk should be very happy. and Happy Bday!

Dawna

 

[Meg90]

I've done some rearranging....her setup is on a coffee table like Nigel's is now....The bulb was visible to me and my bf when she was so high up, which was a headache, literally, and also, I like that at the new, lower height, I will be able to see her more easily.

Only a few more weeks till she's home....

annnnd just for fun, here is my newest critter. A creamy yellow male crested gecko. I was thinking about making a thread for him too...

 

[BigBiscuit]

I haven't seen too many geckos, but that one is awfully cute.

I really like your table that you put the new enclosure on.


Evan

 

[tortoisenerd]

I love how aesthetically pleasing Anouk's enclosure is...I bet she'll love it! The countdown begins.

 

[Yvonne G]

Meg: Its good to see you back posting. I love what you did with your habitat and I'm sure the little one is going to love it too.

Yvonne

 

[terryo]

Hurry and post some pic's when you get her..him...so exciting!

 

[Meg90]

I am so excited! I almost had her this week Tuesday, but at the last minute, the weather turned on us. so Danny and I didn't chance it....It would kill me if something happened to her!

I added a clay pot today, and I think I might make two out of the three hides in there humid, just in case...pyramiding in something that really is stressing me out....I worry about it constantly and she's not even here yet!

I'm interested to see if she uses that plot of grass in the corner to hide in. If not, I'm going to take it out so she has more space, but I hope she uses it, that would be neat!

Thanks for the compliments everybody, I love that its like a little garden in there.......

 

[Isa]

Wow Meg, you must be so excited I am sure she is going to love her new home!

 

[jdub]

I was wondering how do you keep your humidity up? I've experimented with hay which gives the best results in cleanliness but on the other hand it gets kind of dry. I just placed in a 70/30 bed a beast along with play sand and the tortoises seem like they might like it? Not exactly sure what all the pacing around is about. But it definitely seemed like they were more comfortable with the hay. Any advice? Current humidity floats around 30% not sure if that's too low for a sulcata.

Thanks,
Jason

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Sorry that we've hijacked Meg's hatchling thread...

Hey Jason, 30% humidity is too low for Sulcata. It needs to be around 70 to 80%. Humidity is crucial in preventing pyramiding. They needs lots of exercise, UVB lighting, a varied diet and high humidity. All of those have to be in place to raise a healthy tort.
In changing from hay to eco earth your Sulcata notice that something is different. All of a sudden their home is not recognized by them, so they will need some time to adjust, but they will so don't fret about it. Changing away from the hay as a substrate is an excellent thing to do.

Meg, you hatchling set up is beautiful and you are quite talented...I could never create something that good...

 

[Meg90]

aww thanks! She might be here on tuesday, so I will see if she likes it! I'm make sure to post pics....I am VERY excited that the big day is almost here!

 

[murdocjunior]

That's a cool setup