TFV
New Member
Hi this is my first post, I've lurked around this forum for awhile and decided to join since I had some questions and were making me doubt my decisions a lot. Some info on my baby tort is that it is a Redfoot and around 3 months or so of age and I've had him for about a week. I live in the Central Valley of California and right now its still very warm but beginning to cool as fall approaches. I give my baby tort daily soakings for about 15-20 minutes in tub outside in half sun/shade around 12pm before it gets too hot. What I'm wondering is if this is enough sun light to exclude the need for UVB light if I do this every other day (or daily as I have been so far). Secondly many posts I've seen recommend not even using a UVA heat lamp and instead opting for CHE for the heat. I'm attaching some pictures of my current setup and was thinking of removing my heat lamp and replacing it with a 2nd CHE instead for heat control. During the day I use 5.5 heat lamp primarily for light since I dim it and for some heat. At night I have one CHE running but the ambient temp throughout the enclosure is only 78-79 which I would like to get higher actually. During the day my current setup is able to maintain 83-86 where the heat lamp is and around 79/80 where the large wooden box hide is. I added a enclosed hood to what originally was just an open tortoise table so the humidity is maintained 80-90 just fine, its just the temp and lights that worry me currently. The baby tort usually hides and sleeps in the large wooden box hide so my concern is raising its temp a little more asap. Any advise or suggestions is appreciated, thanks in advance.
