Will this pass for a closed chamber?

[kelogz08]

hello,

I am new to taking care of sulcatas. Unfortunately, the sulcatas that i bought were 3-4 months old from a seller in craigslist. It's my fault that i did not research on the proper care of the babies before buying them. But i am trying to make up for the little guys. I have two babies in a 40 gallon fish tank ( i know it is too small but i will upgrade once i have space), i use a 50w basking spot lamp which gives out agood 95-100 degrees temp directly under the bulb, i use a incandescent night bulb which keeps the temps between 80-85 degrees at night. i use a zoomed uvb 10.0 reptisun compact flourescent (not the coil type) turned on at the same time as the basking bulb (which is 12 hours). I use coco coir for substrate. I have 3 small cacti inside the enclosure for landscaping. I use 3 pcs of plywood wrapped in shrink wrap (a very small gap in between the boards for air flow).

Will this pass for a closed enclosure? Or am i missing something out?

I would really appreciate any input

 

[kelogz08]

hello,

I am new to taking care of sulcatas. Unfortunately, the sulcatas that i bought were 3-4 months old from a seller in craigslist. It's my fault that i did not research on the proper care of the babies before buying them. But i am trying to make up for the little guys. I have two babies in a 40 gallon fish tank ( i know it is too small but i will upgrade once i have space), i use a 50w basking spot lamp which gives out agood 95-100 degrees temp directly under the bulb, i use a incandescent night bulb which keeps the temps between 80-85 degrees at night. i use a zoomed uvb 10.0 reptisun compact flourescent (not the coil type) turned on at the same time as the basking bulb (which is 12 hours). I use coco coir for substrate. I have 3 small cacti inside the enclosure for landscaping. I use 3 pcs of plywood wrapped in shrink wrap (a very small gap in between the boards for air flow).

Will this pass for a closed enclosure? Or am i missing something out?

I would really appreciate any input

 

[Jodie]

This is not bad at all. Good job. As you know they grow fast, so bigger sooner than later. Pairs are not a good idea. I recommend separate enclosures.

 

[kelogz08]

thanks, but i hope that they can make it. one of them doesn't open his eyes not even eat. and both sleep all the time. but i continue to give daily warm bath with 100% carrot juice and water. the other guy takes a few bites off a romaine lettuce leaf and still open his eyes after the warm bath.

 

[leigti]

Make sure they're getting calcium. Are you using a mercury vapor bulb?

 

[kelogz08]

i used to have a MVB in the enclosure but it raised the temp too high. so i ended up using the reptisun compact flourescent and a basking bulb. i mix in some powdered repticalcium in their warm baths

 

[leigti]

That is still considered a bulb that might hurt your tortoises eyes. You can get a mercury vapor bulb and put it in a large fixture on top of the tank. Don't use a clamp because they can fail. Use a lamp stand or I have even used a wire cooling rack. Put it across the top of the tank and the lamp on top. The holes are really large so it doesn't block much UVB. Then you can cover the rest of the top with tinfoil. Aquariums make good close chambers.

 

[Gillian M]

Welcome to the forum.

I suggest a non-transparent enclosure, as torts do not understand the concept of glass and keep trying to get out. My tort does that when I leave him to roam around the flat: he keeps trying to get to the balcony, with the windows totally shut! LOL.

 

[Jodie]

Can we see a pic of the UVB? Leigti is right unless it is a straight tube.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

The compact florescent bulbs have been known to cause SERIOUS issues with tortoises eyes. Please post a photo of the light
Otherwise I like what you have done there!

 

[kelogz08]

uh oh. i have a feeling i bought the wrong one. here is the pic. what is weird is, only one of them keeps his eyes closed. the other one opens his eyes after the warm bath

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

In general CFLs make too bright a single spot of light without regard to other considerations.

Consider that a 24 watt coil bulb puts out the same amount of light as a 24 watt T5 HO tube. The T5 HO bulb does this along a 22 inch length, the coil bulb in a 2 inch diameter circle.

Those other considerations are the ballast is as cheap as possible, it's a throwaway with the bulb, and the balance of light seems to allow some aspects of the visible or invisible spectrum to cause irritation to the eyes of animals. When used in your home to light yourself the bulbs are often covered with a shade or a few feet above your head in a 'hat' in which case the light is dispersed in a room. When we use them for our pets we are seeking to get as much UV as possible for the D3 synthesis and so have them very close. Blindingly close.

Even the best most perfect manufactured coil type bulbs are too intense for how they are intended to be used to illuminate and provide critical parts of the visible and invisible spectrum for pets. Straight tubes are better.

You might try sprouting and growing grass and weeds right in the substrate. Those growing plants make maintaining humidity so much easier. If you are worried about the soil souring, you can mix a small amount of activated carbon (fish tank filter media) into the substrate. Little black specs do not seem to arose neonate tortoise curiosity like little white specks.

If you find they try to walk through the glass, then any simple visual barrier will work, it only needs to be there height and a little bit more. Even sharpie green grass drawn on the outside works.

https://www.facebook.com/KapidoloFarms

 

[kelogz08]

i see. thanks for all the inputs. i'll buy the tube uvb ASAP. would anybody recommend T5 or T8?

 

[Tom]

I think you've done a good job with the enclosure, but I fear that cfl bulb may have done some damage.

If your tortoise get sun for an hour or so, a few times a week, you will never need indoor UV. Its fine to skip a few weeks at a time in winter.

Also, I wouldn't use the colored bulb for night time. Tortoises see colors better than we do, so if you can see it, they can see it, and this messes with there day/night cycles. I prefer to use ceramic heating elements set on a thermostat.

Have you seen all of these yet?
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

Just thought I'd link them in case you haven't seen them.

 

[tortoise5643]

Really good besides the fact that i have read those bulbs will burn baby tortoises eyes.

 

[kelogz08]

hi tom, yes i did check the links out. thank you. i just bought a ceramic heater from amazon just waiting for its arrival

 

[kelogz08]

question, this enclosure always have moisture on the glass wall. Is it too much humidity?