Hello. I just got a baby Hermann's tortoise and I'm having a little bit of trouble getting things right for him or her. I'm a little frustrated. Here are the specs to my setup:
I am currently building an 8 foot long and 3 foot high closed enclosure with venting but it won't be ready for a little while. For now I have a temporary setup that I need to make better. Made of wood with big wide glass doors that swing out (each door 36x36). I know Hermann's need some venting and I can control the 'greenhouse' effect with the doors and the venting built in.
Currently:
50 gallon rubbermade with large hole cut in lid (9 inches)
100w mercury vapour bulb is suspended above the hole
substrate of coconut coir mixed with cypress mulch, 5 inches deep
Humid hide half-buried and filled with moss that I keep moist
Large terracotta water dish surrounded by rocks (easy for tortoise to get in and out)
Lots of fake plant cover (he loves hiding in the fake plants)
Acurite thermometers but I got ones without probes. All I could find in Canada. I'll have to get new ones.
Temps.... hotspot stays at 95 under bulb. Humidity is only 30-40% under the bulb. On the other side, the temp is 67-77 and the humidity ranges from 50-77%.
You can see that I'm having issues. I'm misting 5x a day but within an hour the humidity seems to die away. I guess it's because of the bulb but that's all I have. I really don't want to add a CHE to the other side to get the ambient up because that will just eliminate my humidity.
Here are my issues:
I'm in Canada and it's pretty expensive here. I know the reptisun tube lights are good but my store doesn't have them in stock and they're expensive. $50 for the light and a lot more for the light fixture. I want to get them for my big enclosure but I don't think it would work with the rubbermade. How would I keep the lid on the rubbermade if I add a strip fixture across the top? I'd have to take the lid off and that would let all my humidity out.
I read the care sheet about the mixes of substrate but I can't find any topsoil without a whole bunch of crap in it like perlite and fertilizers. It's just the wrong season. I thought about maybe digging up some dirt from the yard but would that be safe? I don't think it would be very easy because the ground is frozen right now! When spring comes I can get some. I found an old thread on here about PC topsoil not having a bunch of crap added to it and I'll get some of that as soon as I can.
For my big enclosure I wanted strip lights. If I get this bulb:
https://www.bigalspets.ca/reptisun-10-0-t8-ho-uvb-fluorescent-lamp-32-w-48.html
Can I use it with this fixture or does it have to be a pet one? I'd just put the second one as a regular fluorescent bulb I guess. I can't find any single fixtures here.
http://www.homehardware.ca/en/rec/i...cent-Strip-Light-Fixture/_/N-ntjzv/R-I3635008
Any tips are appreciated. I want to do right by this little guy/girl. I know hatchlings are so sensitive.
I am currently building an 8 foot long and 3 foot high closed enclosure with venting but it won't be ready for a little while. For now I have a temporary setup that I need to make better. Made of wood with big wide glass doors that swing out (each door 36x36). I know Hermann's need some venting and I can control the 'greenhouse' effect with the doors and the venting built in.
Currently:
50 gallon rubbermade with large hole cut in lid (9 inches)
100w mercury vapour bulb is suspended above the hole
substrate of coconut coir mixed with cypress mulch, 5 inches deep
Humid hide half-buried and filled with moss that I keep moist
Large terracotta water dish surrounded by rocks (easy for tortoise to get in and out)
Lots of fake plant cover (he loves hiding in the fake plants)
Acurite thermometers but I got ones without probes. All I could find in Canada. I'll have to get new ones.
Temps.... hotspot stays at 95 under bulb. Humidity is only 30-40% under the bulb. On the other side, the temp is 67-77 and the humidity ranges from 50-77%.
You can see that I'm having issues. I'm misting 5x a day but within an hour the humidity seems to die away. I guess it's because of the bulb but that's all I have. I really don't want to add a CHE to the other side to get the ambient up because that will just eliminate my humidity.
Here are my issues:
I'm in Canada and it's pretty expensive here. I know the reptisun tube lights are good but my store doesn't have them in stock and they're expensive. $50 for the light and a lot more for the light fixture. I want to get them for my big enclosure but I don't think it would work with the rubbermade. How would I keep the lid on the rubbermade if I add a strip fixture across the top? I'd have to take the lid off and that would let all my humidity out.
I read the care sheet about the mixes of substrate but I can't find any topsoil without a whole bunch of crap in it like perlite and fertilizers. It's just the wrong season. I thought about maybe digging up some dirt from the yard but would that be safe? I don't think it would be very easy because the ground is frozen right now! When spring comes I can get some. I found an old thread on here about PC topsoil not having a bunch of crap added to it and I'll get some of that as soon as I can.
For my big enclosure I wanted strip lights. If I get this bulb:
https://www.bigalspets.ca/reptisun-10-0-t8-ho-uvb-fluorescent-lamp-32-w-48.html
Can I use it with this fixture or does it have to be a pet one? I'd just put the second one as a regular fluorescent bulb I guess. I can't find any single fixtures here.
http://www.homehardware.ca/en/rec/i...cent-Strip-Light-Fixture/_/N-ntjzv/R-I3635008
Any tips are appreciated. I want to do right by this little guy/girl. I know hatchlings are so sensitive.
