My baby leopard tortoise hasn’t been moving as much

[RyanW81969]

My two months old leopard tortoise won’t move as much with his new heat emitter. Before he had gotten that heat emitter he had no heat source. He just had a uvb light that did nothing. Also my tort will have one eye open but the other closed and at times I would see him ich his left eye time to time. The temp in the tank is 85.3 idk if I need to higher or lower the temp. View attachment 234078

 

[wellington]

Your temp is fine for all over temp. He needs an added basking spot temp of 95-100 to properly digest his food. Your link to the picture doesn't work for me says error.

 

[RyanW81969]

Your temp is fine for all over temp. He needs an added basking spot temp of 95-100 to properly digest his food. Your link to the picture doesn't work for me says error.

OK I will get the temp higher

 

[wellington]

Do you have a cover on the tank? The 95 showing is good basking temp, could be a bit higher.
What's the humidity? He needs a 80% and best way is to make it a closed chamber.

 

[RyanW81969]

Do you have a cover on the tank? The 95 showing is good basking temp, could be a bit higher.
What's the humidity? He needs a 80% and best way is to make it a closed chamber.

Yes I have a cover on the tank and also how would I create humidity? Also how do I check the humidity?

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Yes, you have a screen cover. Wellington was asking if you have a solid cover to prevent heat/moisture escape.

I have a 20gal Long tank for a ball python and covered my screen top with plexiglass. I cut out holes for the lights and have the heat sources hanging from the wall.




You could try something similar. Although for a leopard tortoise I would want something better, without the gaps. (But again this is for a snake)
Some make tents that cover the light fixtures, too.

Look into closed chambers. You'll see lots of examples!

 

[Maro2Bear]

As far as cover, I think what @wellington is referring to is a fully enclosed lid that will trap in and hold moisture and increase humidity.

Maybe not the final answer, but you could easily get tinfoil and cover the lid areas not covered by the lamps.

What I did for our Sully’s high humid enclosure was to make a wooden lid that fit over the top of the enclosure, with cutouts for the CHE, and basking lights.

Any kind of top/covering will help trap the moisture in.

Good luck!

 

[wellington]

As the other members suggested. You need to have no screen between the uvb light and the tort. The screen blocks a lot of the uvb. The cheapest way is to cover your screen lid with tin foil. Then cut a hole thru the screen and foil that is the size of the bulb, not fixture, but bulb. Then when you put the light over the hole most of the hole will be covered by the fixture and the bulb fits over the hole.

 

[Maro2Bear]

As the other members suggested. You need to have no screen between the uvb light and the tort. The screen blocks a lot of the uvb. The cheapest way is to cover your screen lid with tin foil. Then cut a hole thru the screen and foil that is the size of the bulb, not fixture, but bulb. Then when you put the light over the hole most of the hole will be covered by the fixture and the bulb fits over the hole.

Yep...

 

[RyanW81969]

As the other members suggested. You need to have no screen between the uvb light and the tort. The screen blocks a lot of the uvb. The cheapest way is to cover your screen lid with tin foil. Then cut a hole thru the screen and foil that is the size of the bulb, not fixture, but bulb. Then when you put the light over the hole most of the hole will be covered by the fixture and the bulb fits over the hole.

I have to cut the screen and the tin foil? And do you have like a pic as a reference?

 

[RyanW81969]

As the other members suggested. You need to have no screen between the uvb light and the tort. The screen blocks a lot of the uvb. The cheapest way is to cover your screen lid with tin foil. Then cut a hole thru the screen and foil that is the size of the bulb, not fixture, but bulb. Then when you put the light over the hole most of the hole will be covered by the fixture and the bulb fits over the hole.

like this?

 

[Maro2Bear]

Basically, you don’t want anything between your bulbs and your Tortoise’s shell. The rest of the top of your enclosure should be as sealed as you can make it. Tinfoil is the easiest for the type of lid you have.

 

[Maro2Bear]

View attachment 234091 like this?

Yep, that looks pretty good.

 

[wellington]

Looks good. Now get the substrate very damp. You want humidity at least 80%. However, make sure your overcall temps never go below 80 day and night.

 

[SteveW]

You’re getting some good advice, but I’m concerned about your UV source. If it’s a coil-type, it may contributing to the eye irritation you describe.

 

[RyanW81969]

You’re getting some good advice, but I’m concerned about your UV source. If it’s a coil-type, it may contributing to the eye irritation you describe.

Yeah I had a coil type light I should be getting my new one in a couple more days

 

[SteveW]

Good deal. It sounds like your getting dialed in.