Temperature questions...

[XxDarkEuphoriaxX]

OK. I have read that redfoots live in both (edge of) rainforest and scrubland type conditions. Would it be safe to assume that that in the grassland and dry scrubland (per wiki) type conditions the temperature drops down at night somewhat significantly compared to the day? say its in the 80's in the day or 90's, wouldn't it be safe to assume that it drops down in the 70's possibly 60's at night? So what is this talk of creating a "constant" temperature in the red-foot enclosure. Wouldn't some heating elements during the day and none at night be sufficient? Just trying to get some things straightened out...as long as the humidity to an extent is there, should this temp. issue be a issue?

Thanks

 

[jackrat]

It just depends on how low the temps drop at night.If it gets in the 60's at night,it should be in the 70's the following day.Not to say it should be this way all the time.Mid 80's are ideal,not absolutly required.It's usually just easier to keep a constant temp using a CHE.I have read about redfoots being grassland tortoises,but what I experienced while working in the oilfeild in South America was something very different.I saw very few redfoots in dry grassland/scrubland.Some,but not many. Most of them I found were in the thick jungle,where there was a lot of leaf litter and undergrowth.Some form of water was usually close by,be it a stream or mudhole.

 

[XxDarkEuphoriaxX]

Did the air feel humid where the redfoots were residing? What is a CHE, ceramic heat emitter? I had one of those once and it randomly fell apart, still don't know why. Should the CHE be on at all times? I had a 250watt one, expensive and probably expensive to run all the time also. If I had (which I am planning on having) a 6 foot enclosure, wouldn't that mean that I would need like 3 CHE's just to constantly keep the temp constant, plus *some* form of UVB, and *some* form of lighting in addition? (And I realize the UVB could also be the light, if anything I am going to buy a mercury vapor bulb per research.)
I don't know about running (3) 250 watt CHE's that is like ... 750 watts all the time. The table is going to be 32" wide, would 250 watt CHE's be overkill?

 

[jackrat]

Humid ain't the word for it.You could cut it with a knife! I don't have any experiance with tables.I just keep the room in the mid 80's.

 

[Balboa]

Cool Jack,
I hadn't heard before that you actually got to see red foots in the wild, that's gold. The whole grassland/forest/rainforest aspect is something Mark and I have debated about a few times.

personally I suspect "grassland" redfoots always live near water, in the little microforest that grows along streams, etc, but I have no proof for my theory, just third hand anecdotes.