Torti table

[Jyo]

When we first got our lil guy, we wanted to get him out of the aquarium so my husband built him this table fashioned after one we found on here.
We are having kind of a hard time keeping the temp and humidity where we want it so getting some plexi glass today.
I'm not sure we have the warmth/lighting right. The aquarium we were talked into getting was a zoo med bearded dragon starter kit. It came with the double dome heating lights. One 100watt heat lamp for basking and a red heat light for night time. It also came with a UVB light but we upgraded the bulb to a more powerful one per their advise. My husband put it on the second story but he doesn't go up there so, I'm not sure it's doing much good.
Does this set up seem ok for our beloved tort? I'm open to suggestions.

 

[IBeenEasy]

very nice build!

 

[Jyo]

The basking bulb keeps the heat at about 95-100 directly under it but once I set the temp gauge about 5 inches away, it does little for heat. I'm hoping the plexiglass will make the temp overall a little warmer.

 

[Yvonne G]

Your husband did a nice job on building the habitat. Some suggestions - add substrate and a hiding place to the second story; lower your dual fixture, its too high and lowering it will make the habitat warmer; add some substrate to the ramp.

You can put the tortoise up on the second story and let him find his own way down. This will teach him what to do.

I'm not a big fan of those dual fixtures. I like to have my two lights separate for over all coverage.

 

[Jyo]

Thank you for the suggestions! That was a pic before I added a half flower pot and organic dirt/sphagnum moss on the stairs and upper level. I should have noted that! He also added some tubing attached from a humidifier under the ramp for some extra moisture. It's not doing a whole lot now, but I think the plexi glass will also help that. We had the light lower, but the heat directly under the light reached 115-120. We thought that might be dangerous? Is it ok to have the heat that high in just one spot? I guess he would just avoid that area if it's too hot directly under the lamp? I will eventually get a Ceramic heat emitter bulb (the heat lamp with no light) but we have invested hundreds more than we had originally planned so that might have to wait just a bit. I've also seen a long tube type lamp in some enclosures. What is that?

 

[Yvonne G]

The tube fluorescent bulb is for UVB. UVB is necessary to work with the calcium to make the bones and shell hard. I thought that's what you have on the second story???

 

[Jyo]

It is, but mine is more of a hood shape. The ones I'm talking about are really long and skinny so I just wanted to make sure it wasn't something I'm missing.

 

[johnsonnboswell]

Try watering the substrate. Mist isn't enough. It will increase the humidity where it matters.

 

[tortoisetime565]

What a beautiful enclosure! I would for sure try it get it enclosed to help with humidity. But it looks great. I might have missed this answer, but what kind of tort do you have?

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

Lovely enclosure. I would put some subatre up top too, so he can extra incentives to go up there

 

[Jyo]

What a beautiful enclosure! I would for sure try it get it enclosed to help with humidity. But it looks great. I might have missed this answer, but what kind of tort do you have?

Red foot