Hatchling tank

[Love4tortoises]

Hi guys!
I am trying my very hardest to give this little guy the best life possible, but I need your help... Here is a little information about my tank and my tort (chewy).

~Tank temp 90-95 (warm side), 80ish (cool side), tank doesnt drop below 80 ever.
~Humidity is kept at 80-85%
~Substrate I am using is Eco Earth, which is wet and compacted
~Chewy has a water bowl (that he can climb in and out of) and a food bowl in there at all times.
~I have a UVA/UVB bulb in there.

I have a question regarding the lights above his tank... How far away should the lights be away from the substrate? At night, to keep the temp up, I use a infrared light which he seems to like at night.

Any additions or subtractions that you think I need to make PLEASE let me know! I have been reading all of the posts already made regarding housing for these little guys, but would love any opinions on what you think mine needs or doesnt need! THANKS SO MUCH!

I thought a pic would help as well.

 

[surie_the_tortoise]

what is that your fedding him ?

 

[Dizisdalife]

The bulb manufacturer usually has some minimum distance information. I found that a temp gun was useful for setting the basking spot temperature. It is also helpful checking the other basic temps, including soaking water temp. Once the light is set up and you have it at the desired temp, watch the tortoise. If he spends all of his time under the light it is probably too cool. So, if he hangs out at the perimeter of the spot then the basking spot is too hot.

I used a ceramic heat emitter rather than the infared light.

 

[Love4tortoises]

what is that your fedding him ?

I feed him Dandilion leaves, Kale, red and green Swiss chard, & Arugula.

 

[Love4tortoises]

So my tank conditions have been SOO much better since I have had everyones help! My humidity is up up up and my temps are up as well.

The only problem Im still having, is keeping his "cool" side around 80*. It drops to the 70's on the cool side, but if I use a ceramic heater and a light then the "hot" side gets too hot... I know this is when I have to experiment and move the lights up or down to find the right position, but when I uncover the tank, I lose all of my humidity...

Any ideas would be appreciated about how I might be able to control this win lose situation!
Thanks!

 

[Tom]

Two different approaches may help.
1. Instead of the infrared bulb at night, use a ceramic heating element. Thermostats cost around $30. Run your CHE on a thermostat 24/7 and it will maintain your ambient day and night so that it never gets too cold OR too hot. Then run your basking bulb on a 12 hour timer. What are you using for UV? In MV you should have nice enough weather year round to not need any artificial UV. The links in my signature will give you some ideas for outdoor housing that can be used during fair weather. This will benefit your baby tremendously. When we have our winter cold spells and temps are too cold to go outside for a couple of weeks in a row, it's no big deal. If they get regular sunshine, they can go a few weeks with no UV. Just throwin' that out there.

2. Buy or build a closed chamber. Open topped enclosures are a never ending vicious cycle. It is soooooo easy to maintain ideal conditions year round in a closed chamber, and much more efficient energy wise too. Here's a link:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-32333.html

 

[Zamric]

a cool side in the 70's is not bad (Ground Temp) as it gives the little guy someplace to go where he can "Throw off" heat when they get too hot (sitting under the basking light too long). The ground temp of my cool side hoovers around 73* and my Basking spot hits almost 120*. I find that both of my little ones find the temps they like best and migrate back and forth to those spots through the extreme part of the enclosure.

...but in all honesty, my enclosure is 4'x4.5' and has lots of space to migrate between extremes. Heres the links for how I built it. I built it for 2 Leopards but it would work even better for a single Sulcata with a couple of minor modifications.
www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-45432.html
www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-46096.html
www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-46476.html
www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-46958.html

 

[Love4tortoises]

Two different approaches may help.
1. Instead of the infrared bulb at night, use a ceramic heating element. Thermostats cost around $30. Run your CHE on a thermostat 24/7 and it will maintain your ambient day and night so that it never gets too cold OR too hot. Then run your basking bulb on a 12 hour timer. What are you using for UV? In MV you should have nice enough weather year round to not need any artificial UV. The links in my signature will give you some ideas for outdoor housing that can be used during fair weather. This will benefit your baby tremendously. When we have our winter cold spells and temps are too cold to go outside for a couple of weeks in a row, it's no big deal. If they get regular sunshine, they can go a few weeks with no UV. Just throwin' that out there.

2. Buy or build a closed chamber. Open topped enclosures are a never ending vicious cycle. It is soooooo easy to maintain ideal conditions year round in a closed chamber, and much more efficient energy wise too. Here's a link:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-32333.html

Thank you so much for your advice! I am investing in a CHE today and also getting a thermostat. I have him in a closed chamber now. It is a tank with the screen lid, but I have completely covered it with towels to hold in the humidity and moisture. I read all of your threads and posts and have learned SO much from them! I have read the "how to raise hatchling and babies" one about 4 times. Just from the changes I made yesterday, he is already more active! If I continue down this path and fixings things here and there, I am sure he will be a VERY happy tort!!

Thanks again!

 

[Len B]

Two different approaches may help.
1. Instead of the infrared bulb at night, use a ceramic heating element. Thermostats cost around $30. Run your CHE on a thermostat 24/7 and it will maintain your ambient day and night so that it never gets too cold OR too hot. Then run your basking bulb on a 12 hour timer. What are you using for UV? In MV you should have nice enough weather year round to not need any artificial UV. The links in my signature will give you some ideas for outdoor housing that can be used during fair weather. This will benefit your baby tremendously. When we have our winter cold spells and temps are too cold to go outside for a couple of weeks in a row, it's no big deal. If they get regular sunshine, they can go a few weeks with no UV. Just throwin' that out there.

2. Buy or build a closed chamber. Open topped enclosures are a never ending vicious cycle. It is soooooo easy to maintain ideal conditions year round in a closed chamber, and much more efficient energy wise too. Here's a link:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-32333.html

Thank you so much for your advice! I am investing in a CHE today and also getting a thermostat. I have him in a closed chamber now. It is a tank with the screen lid, but I have completely covered it with towels to hold in the humidity and moisture. I read all of your threads and posts and have learned SO much from them! I have read the "how to raise hatchling and babies" one about 4 times. Just from the changes I made yesterday, he is already more active! If I continue down this path and fixings things here and there, I am sure he will be a VERY happy tort!!

Thanks again!

You can try replacing the towels with aluminum foil and see if it works better to hold the moisture in. less of a fire hazard also.

 

[TortyTom]

My tank drops to around 73 at night but I have one of those stick under the glass heating pads under his hide. The temp in his hide stays around 88 degrees at night. So I guess that's OK, being he stays in it all night. He won't come out till the timer turns on his light and the temp warms up.

 

[Tom]

To each his (or her) own, but I am not comfortable with temps in the low 70s at night with humidity. I've never had a problem at 80, but I've seen problems plenty of times with temps in the low 70s.

 

[Dizisdalife]

My lights and CHEs were above the top of the enclosure. I had to extend the hood of the light fixtures with aluminium foil (not much for looks) to meet up with the enclosure top. It was only a few inches that I had to bridge. The enclosure top was cardboard panels that were covered with foil. Once I got the temps set I didn't have to change them. I was using two CHE's on the same thermostat. The probe from the thermostat was positioned so that the cool side was 80F.

 

[Love4tortoises]

Wanted to update you all and let you know that the conditions in Chewy's tank are going great! The humidity is at a constant 80% or above and the heat has not dropped below 80. The "hot" side is about 95-100 and the "cool" side is around 78-81. I bought a CHE yesterday and used that last night as his heat source and it kept the tank warm all night! Things are looking great and he is SO much more active! I also took out the UVA/UVB bulb because he is getting sunlight very often and isnt needed anymore. Yesterday I took him out to roam around for about an hour and he LOVED it! A pic is attached .

I wanted to thank every one of you for your opinions and suggestions! They have helped me tremendously and have made Chewy a very happy tort!