Brian Alvarado
New Member
Would they have any of those at a pet store as in petsmart or petsco ? I have changed their substrate put Plexiglas's and took the uv bulb off and I won't need the heat bulb if I get the powersun
Sulcat Habitat Fix
- Thread starter Brian Alvarado
- Start date
They might have the Powersuns, but they will be very expensive that way. You could save a lot of money if you ordered it online instead. Your tortoise will be fine without a UV source for two or three weeks.
Brian Alvarado
New Member
That is the correct coco coir.
Where are you located? I'm asking because we can recommend stores and nurseries that offer better deals than pet stores.
Where are you located? I'm asking because we can recommend stores and nurseries that offer better deals than pet stores.
Brian Alvarado
New Member
In arizona tempe 85281 and do I need to keep them in humidity?
That is coco coir, but I wouldn't use that for a sulcata. Too messy. Orchid bark works best.
Yes. Go back and read the threads I linked for you in post #4 on page one of this thread. It explains how to house them correctly.
Brian Alvarado
New Member
I have read it multiple times just to be sure haha but I dont get how to add humidity
GRohr
Member
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- Sep 22, 2015
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- 89
When you moisten the substrate (just by mixing water with it) and use the plexiglass to cover the top you will get the humidity you need. I am not sure if you mentioned this or if I missed it but make sure they don't get too cold at night or else the high humidity will give them a cold. I don't have any sulcatas so I am not completely sure about the night temps but I would assume 80 F would keep them happy but I am sure Tom will steer you right. Good luck!
Paragraph 2 from the care sheet:
"It must be noted that we now know sulcatas babies hatch during the start of the rainy season in Africa. It is hot, humid, rainy, and marshy in some areas. Yes the area is dry for 8-9 months out of the year, but it is a swamp during hatching season. During the dry season, sulcatas spend the vast majority of their time underground in warm, humid burrows. Keeping your hatchling in a dry, desert-like enclosure, is a big mistake and an invitation to disaster. It is also very un-natural for these animals. Imagine what would happen to an earthworm in a hot, dry enclosure with dry substrate. The same thing happens to the INSIDE of a baby tortoise. Your enclosure should be maintained such that an earthworm could live in it just as well as a hatchling tortoise. A damp substrate, a water bowl, and a humid hide should all be pre-requisites. Along with this, warm temps day and night are necessary. Sulcatas and leopards are NOT prone to shell rot at all, and they do not get respiratory infections in these damp conditions as long as temps are kept up. I shoot for no lower than 80 degrees day or night year round. Adults can tolerate colder temps in some circumstances, but this care sheet is for hatchlings and babies and is aimed at helping them thrive, not just survive."
Paragraph 5:
"The Actual Enclosure:
I have not been able to make any open topped enclosure work to my satisfaction. Low sided open topped enclosures like tortoise tables and sweater boxes are the worst. No amount of covering, or attempts to slow heat and humidity loss have worked well for me. There is just no way to keep the warm humid air where you want it. For about the last year and a half, I have only been using closed chambers for any tropical species of tortoise, and I couldn't be happier with them. Temperate species of tortoises that require drier conditions or a bigger night time temperature drop might fare better in the typical tortoise table set up. I will leave that for someone more experienced with those species to tell you in THEIR care sheet. Maintaining whatever temperature and humidity you want is easy and efficient in a closed chamber. They use a lot less electricity because all of your heat and humidity is trapped with nowhere to go. It also makes maintaining warm night temps a snap. Open tops allow all your warm humid air to escape up and into the room where your enclosure sits. Even if you cover most of the top, the heat lamps create a chimney effect and draw your heat and humidity up and out. Having the heat lamps outside, or on top of, the enclosure also lets the majority of the electricity you are using to produce heat float up up and away... A closed chamber can be made by covering the top of a tub or tank and minimizing ventilation, but its not easy and you burn more electricity. It works best if all the heating and lighting equipment is INSIDE the enclosure with the tortoise. Maintaining a small open topped box at 80 degrees with 80% humidity in a regular sized room that is 70 degrees and 20% humidity is VERY difficult, if not impossible in a practical sense. A closed chamber makes it easy.
Here is an older thread I did on closed chambers:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-32333.html"
Brian Alvarado
New Member
Ok I got it now haha and last thing I need is and explanation of the 4 temperatures I know theirs 4 Basking Area ,Cool Side , Warm Side , Overnight Low I know I need a temperature gun but I don't know where these temperatures are ?
Basking area is directly under the basking lamp.
Warm side is the warmer half of the enclosure, over where the basking lamp is mounted.
Cool side is the side farthest from the basking lamp area.
Overnight low would be the coldest temp anywhere in the enclosure over night when the basking lamp is off.
For baby sulcatas, no part of the enclosure should ever drop below 80 day or night. That is why we recommend ceramic heating elements set on a thermostat to maintain ambient temps at 80 or above day and night. It is very difficult to achieve the correct conditions in an open topped enclosure in any normal room in a North American home.
Brian Alvarado
New Member
Ok thank you and I put plexiglass over it so it should keep some of the temperatures in right and the coco coir do you have to change often ?
Brian Alvarado
New Member
Not 100% finished yet but this is what I have so far I still need to change their food plate (its the ramp plate ) but its just temporary add the other piece of plexiglass and get a Powersun and get myself a Thermometer infared Gun and that should do I think what do you guys think so far?
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Brian Alvarado
New Member
Is it bad if they eat the coco coir and would they suffacate if they dig into it because they stick their heads into it
my baby Donny is 2 months now and i thought the warm side was same as basking light side??? and do babies this young hibernate? and do i need to get a higher watt bulb to keep him warmer at night? because the temps are really low by the time i wake up in the morning .. hope this helps you too Brian
im in 85395 Goodyear
getting chilly at night even in the house.
