Hmm not sure on Temperatures

[hoopytortoise]

My new sulcata, Rocket, seems to only wants to be on the cool side of his enclosure. Which is right now a comfortable 76° F. The other side of his enclosure is in the 80s right under the heat lamp it is 94. Do some just prefer cooler temps? He doesn't even sit under his uvb light unless he is eating (I feed him there ) or getting a soak which I also place under the lamp because I was worrying he isn't getting enough uvb. My husband is in the works building an outdoor table with top. Until then... I'm just curious if this is normal?

 

[Gillian M]

My new sulcata, Rocket, seems to only wants to be on the cool side of his enclosure. Which is right now a comfortable 76° F. The other side of his enclosure is in the 80s right under the heat lamp it is 94. Do some just prefer cooler temps? He doesn't even sit under his uvb light unless he is eating (I feed him there ) or getting a soak which I also place under the lamp because I was worrying he isn't getting enough uvb. My husband is in the works building an outdoor table with top. Until then... I'm just curious if this is normal?

Please post pics of your tort and his enclosure.

Have you read the "Beginners Mistakes" Thread? If not then please do so. There is a lot of helpful info there.

And a very warm welcome to the forum.

 

[hoopytortoise]

Thank you. I did read the common mistakes for beginners. Here is my enclosure and tort.

 

[Gillian M]

Thank you. I did read the common mistakes for beginners. Here is my enclosure and tort.

Oh......he's so sweet! GOD bless.

 

[hoopytortoise]

Thank you

 

[Speedy-1]

I would bump those temps up a bit , as in 80 on the cool side ! With a hatchling , you risk a chance for respiratory infection and / or an inability to digest their food at temps below 80. A good rule of thumb is hot and humid is good ! Cool and humid is bad ! Hope that helps !

 

[Tom]

My new sulcata, Rocket, seems to only wants to be on the cool side of his enclosure. Which is right now a comfortable 76° F. The other side of his enclosure is in the 80s right under the heat lamp it is 94. Do some just prefer cooler temps? He doesn't even sit under his uvb light unless he is eating (I feed him there ) or getting a soak which I also place under the lamp because I was worrying he isn't getting enough uvb. My husband is in the works building an outdoor table with top. Until then... I'm just curious if this is normal?

In the wild, everywhere is always the right temperature. Also in the wild, there are dozens of predators that all want to eat baby tortoises. It is in their best interest to stay hidden and anywhere they find to hide will have the "correct" temperatures.

In your enclosure, there is not much cover over on the "sunny" side and all the good hiding areas are over on the cool side. Tortoises don't use "logic". They use instinct. Instinct tells your baby that not being eaten alive is a more pressing concern than being warm enough to function properly. Your enclosure should somewhat mimic the outdoor environment where they come from. There should be two temperatures: Hot. And hotter. The "cool" side should not drop below 80 and I let my ambient creep up into the 90s during summer time. At night, no part of the enclosure should drop below 80.

It looks like you need a CHE set on a thermostat to maintain ambient temps.

What type of UV bulb are you using? If its the coil type, those sometimes burn their eyes, and the pain might make him avoid that side of the enclosure. This could also be a factor.

 

[hoopytortoise]

In the wild, everywhere is always the right temperature. Also in the wild, there are dozens of predators that all want to eat baby tortoises. It is in their best interest to stay hidden and anywhere they find to hide will have the "correct" temperatures.

In your enclosure, there is not much cover over on the "sunny" side and all the good hiding areas are over on the cool side. Tortoises don't use "logic". They use instinct. Instinct tells your baby that not being eaten alive is a more pressing concern than being warm enough to function properly. Your enclosure should somewhat mimic the outdoor environment where they come from. There should be two temperatures: Hot. And hotter. The "cool" side should not drop below 80 and I let my ambient creep up into the 90s during summer time. At night, no part of the enclosure should drop below 80.

It looks like you need a CHE set on a thermostat to maintain ambient temps.

What type of UV bulb are you using? If its the coil type, those sometimes burn their eyes, and the pain might make him avoid that side of the enclosure. This could also be a factor.

Fantastic advice thank you! It is a coil bulb but I ordered a long bulb from amazon it should arrive tomorrow. I have since put a towel over the top and the enclosure is now 84 on the cool side. My tort has also been much more active since doing that. I am having my husband build me a lid. Should I get plants to act as a hiding area in the hotter side?

 

[hoopytortoise]

Also in the middle of the enclosure you see a flat spot. That'd actually a take out dish that I cut an opening and buried it to make a burrow. He slept in there all last night.

 

[Tom]

Fantastic advice thank you! It is a coil bulb but I ordered a long bulb from amazon it should arrive tomorrow. I have since put a towel over the top and the enclosure is now 84 on the cool side. My tort has also been much more active since doing that. I am having my husband build me a lid. Should I get plants to act as a hiding area in the hotter side?

You mentioned the Beginner Mistakes thread, but have you seen these too:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

Please don't take this the wrong way. I'm just curious about how things happen sometimes and I'm wondering what went on in your case. In the Beginner Mistakes thread it says not to use the coil bulbs. There is a whole paragraph on it. But you were using it anyway. I'm curious about whether or not my message in that thread didn't reach you, or you missed that part, or you just thought otherwise, etc… My goal here is to help people avoid problems, but I failed to reach my goal in your case, and if I learn why I failed, I can do better next time. Would you mind helping me out?

 

[hoopytortoise]

You mentioned the Beginner Mistakes thread, but have you seen these too:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

Please don't take this the wrong way. I'm just curious about how things happen sometimes and I'm wondering what went on in your case. In the Beginner Mistakes thread it says not to use the coil bulbs. There is a whole paragraph on it. But you were using it anyway. I'm curious about whether or not my message in that thread didn't reach you, or you missed that part, or you just thought otherwise, etc… My goal here is to help people avoid problems, but I failed to reach my goal in your case, and if I learn why I failed, I can do better next time. Would you mind helping me out?

I read the thread when I joined the forum. Which was just the other day. I had already bought the bulbs I have at that point. I got amazon the same day I read I needed the other bulbs and ordered one. It arrives tomorrow. My tort is brand new. He arrived yesterday. So, yeah .. order of events..
Built my enclosure (from online cate sheets and reading)
Joined this forum... started trying to adjust my enclosure accordingly ordered new bulb
Tortoise arrived!! Yay!
Tomorrow bulb arrives.

 

[hoopytortoise]

I just didn't discover this forum until after I had already started the process of owning my sulcata. I purchase everything from amazon where I can read reviews.

 

[hoopytortoise]

@Tom you definitely didn't fail. It was just the timing I found this forum in. i am working really hard to improve my sulcata enviroment. I appreciate this forum more then you can believe. I am always given educated answers and swift replies. ☺

 

[Tom]

@Tom you definitely didn't fail. It was just the timing I found this forum in. i am working really hard to improve my sulcata enviroment. I appreciate this forum more then you can believe. I am always given educated answers and swift replies. ☺

Ok thank you. I'm glad you find our little community helpful!

 

[saginawhxc]

My order of events was.

Read online care sheets. (Not from here.)

Acquire tortoise.

Go out and buy everything I think I need and set up what I think is an appropriate set up.

Discover this forum. Replace everything and cry.

Watch my tortoise grow up healthy.

Don't sweat that you started out slightly off. It sounds like you are really attempting to do things right. You are doing the right thing listening to the advice of this forum.

Enjoy your tortoise and good luck.

 

[Tom]

My order of events was.

Read online care sheets. (Not from here.)

Acquire tortoise.

Go out and buy everything I think I need and set up what I think is an appropriate set up.

Discover this forum. Replace everything and cry.

Watch my tortoise grow up healthy.

Don't sweat that you started out slightly off. It sounds like you are really attempting to do things right. You are doing the right thing listening to the advice of this forum.

Enjoy your tortoise and good luck.

This was an awesome post. If there was a prize, you would win for the day!

 

[saginawhxc]

I love winning.

 

[Pearly]

Looks like you've got a baby here. I'm raising the Redfooted species so not sure about yours but it seems I recall reading here that all babies, regardless of species should be kept warm, meaning the cool side should never get below 80F especially if you keep them humid. High humidity+lower temps=respiratory infections. Again, that's how I understood that. I'm keeping my babies at 80F in "cool" (darker) end and 85-86F in warmer. At night my temps never drop below 80. It's usually 80-81F throughout the terrarium. I measure temps at the substrate level bcs that's were my babies spend their time. Use temp gun or digital therm/hygrometer to monitor inside of the hides. Also my humidity has always been well over 80%, so I really have to be sure the temps don't fall below 80F. Last winter during cool spell here in TX our temps dropped to low 30's and the house was cooler, I recall couple of nights when the tank started dropping to 79-78F. It felt really cool on when I stuck my face there. At one point I noticed one of their breathing being audible (like making little soft hissing sound. I started soaking twice a day under a warming lamp to keep them warm in their bath and ended up adding a low wattage black bulb to my CHE to keep things warm for them. That did the trick for me. I tell ya, it's been work that first year, trying to figure things out. By now I got them over their first year and they seem to be pretty robust after the first few months of "growing pains". About your baby enclosure temps I'd feel better if we got things from the Experts. @Tom and @Yvonne G, would you Guys mind chiming in?

 

[Pearly]

Ok thank you. I'm glad you find our little community helpful!

Oops! Sorry for my alert to you, I don't know how I missed your posts... Feeling like such a doofus now

 

[Pearly]

Your tortie is very cute btw