georgietort
Guest
Hi all,
I am not new to the tortoise world as I owned a sulcata and a redfoot in the past (though not at the same time). I rehomed my sulcata about a year after acquiring it back in 2010 because I was one of those who purchased on a whim without realizing how big it will get. I am from NYC and lived in an apartment. Afterwards, about a year later, I acquired a redfoot only to rehome it as well four years later. As you can tell, my lack of living space and wrong decisions got the worst of me as a tort owner. Though I feel ashamed of having been an unsuccessful tort owner in the past, I never gave up the thought (dream) of being a proud tortoise owner someday. And that someday has come.
Last year I moved to PA to a house in the country with about 3 acres of yard space. This time I am resolved to be a 'proud' owner of a tortoise. As far as living space, I guess half of my problems are resolved. Now, my three favorites have always been sulcata, redfoot and leo. All these years from the time I rehomed my previous torts to now, I have done extensive research on tortoise husbandry and thought I'd acquire a tortoise I have not yet owned...a leopard tortoise. And I just acquired a hatching.
That was my "brief intro". Now on with the questions, at least two for now. I used to house my previous two torts in a large/long underbed storage container (36"L x 16"W x 6½"H). This time, upon reading and catching up on new information that has surfaced, I intend to keep my new baby in high humidity and nice and warm. He is currently housed in a large closed terrarium/aquarium with light and heat source: 80W ZooMed's Powersun bulb & 100W Zilla's Night Black Heat bulb. They are on dimmers so I can control heat and light. For humidity's sake, I've placed dampened sphagnum moss over coconut coir (Eco Earth), both amounting to about 3 inches high. My two questions are:
1) From the photos I have attached here, how is my set-up?
2) Is the heat source better placed on the inside of the tank (at the top) or better placed under the tank to heat up from the bottom? (I've tried both ways and the humidity is relatively the same (appx 80% at wherever the heat source is coming from). Heat is always 90°-95°F on one end and 80°F on the other side (I guess in the middle should be about 85°F). At night the heat around the baby's hide is appx 85°F; humidity level is about 80%.
Thank you all in advance for your insightful comments and advice.
-- George
I am not new to the tortoise world as I owned a sulcata and a redfoot in the past (though not at the same time). I rehomed my sulcata about a year after acquiring it back in 2010 because I was one of those who purchased on a whim without realizing how big it will get. I am from NYC and lived in an apartment. Afterwards, about a year later, I acquired a redfoot only to rehome it as well four years later. As you can tell, my lack of living space and wrong decisions got the worst of me as a tort owner. Though I feel ashamed of having been an unsuccessful tort owner in the past, I never gave up the thought (dream) of being a proud tortoise owner someday. And that someday has come.
Last year I moved to PA to a house in the country with about 3 acres of yard space. This time I am resolved to be a 'proud' owner of a tortoise. As far as living space, I guess half of my problems are resolved. Now, my three favorites have always been sulcata, redfoot and leo. All these years from the time I rehomed my previous torts to now, I have done extensive research on tortoise husbandry and thought I'd acquire a tortoise I have not yet owned...a leopard tortoise. And I just acquired a hatching.
That was my "brief intro". Now on with the questions, at least two for now. I used to house my previous two torts in a large/long underbed storage container (36"L x 16"W x 6½"H). This time, upon reading and catching up on new information that has surfaced, I intend to keep my new baby in high humidity and nice and warm. He is currently housed in a large closed terrarium/aquarium with light and heat source: 80W ZooMed's Powersun bulb & 100W Zilla's Night Black Heat bulb. They are on dimmers so I can control heat and light. For humidity's sake, I've placed dampened sphagnum moss over coconut coir (Eco Earth), both amounting to about 3 inches high. My two questions are:
1) From the photos I have attached here, how is my set-up?
2) Is the heat source better placed on the inside of the tank (at the top) or better placed under the tank to heat up from the bottom? (I've tried both ways and the humidity is relatively the same (appx 80% at wherever the heat source is coming from). Heat is always 90°-95°F on one end and 80°F on the other side (I guess in the middle should be about 85°F). At night the heat around the baby's hide is appx 85°F; humidity level is about 80%.
Thank you all in advance for your insightful comments and advice.
-- George
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