Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey I just got a new hatchling. I have him housed in a rubbermaid/kitty litter type contaner. Aspen bedding with a hide on the cool end filled with orchard grass, feeding both orchard, bermuda and tortoise food. Using an Active Uv heat mercury bulb 100 watts about 10 inches away. How does this setup sound? Am I missing anything? Ive read all of the care sheets out there. Also if I put a heat pad should it go under the bedding or under the rubbermaid container.

any help is apreciated thanks Baruchi

>>Hey I just got a new hatchling. I have him housed in a rubbermaid/kitty litter type contaner. Aspen bedding with a hide on the cool end filled with orchard grass, feeding both orchard, bermuda and tortoise food. Using an Active Uv heat mercury bulb 100 watts about 10 inches away. How does this setup sound? Am I missing anything? Ive read all of the care sheets out there. Also if I put a heat pad should it go under the bedding or under the rubbermaid container.
>>
>>any help is apreciated thanks Baruchi

100 watts only 10 inches away sounds like it may be too hot. Do you have a thermometer to make sure it's not too hot?

As for the heat pad.. it depends on what brand you buy where it should go. What brand & type do you have?

When I use a plastic container as a home I use Dragon's Lair heat mats which are made to go under plastic on the outside. I have them only on one end of the tub so there's a warm side & a cool side.. I assume you already know about creating different heat gradients.

My vet has 4 baby sulcata right now.. which by a mistake her tort is the father of, mine is the mother.
She keeps them in a plastic container with hay substrate & feeds them only natural foods.. so far so good.
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PHRatz

Hey thanks for the reply, you are correct about the temp. I took a reading and it went passed 110. As far as the heating pad i didnt purchase one yet, any recomendations? I would prefer to put it under the bedding. thanks Baruchi

>>Hey thanks for the reply, you are correct about the temp. I took a reading and it went passed 110. As far as the heating pad i didnt purchase one yet, any recomendations? I would prefer to put it under the bedding. thanks Baruchi

I would reccomend under the tub because you will learn shortly that these guys love to dig, if its too hot they tend to burn themselves. You prob will not need a heat pad if you have a 100 mv bulb, they give off plenty of heat (i would reccomend 12-14 inches) Also, you must make sure that your tort is not ingesting any of the aspen bedding, it can be a problem if they do. Coconut husk (bed-a-beast) works great, you can mix it with sand or soil or both.

In that case should I only use the heat pad at night? I tends to get cold in my house in the summer with the a/c and all and I dont wanna put him outside until he is a lttle bigger.

>>In that case should I only use the heat pad at night? I tends to get cold in my house in the summer with the a/c and all and I dont wanna put him outside until he is a lttle bigger.

If you're going to stick with a plastic enclosure I'd go with that Dragon's Lair heat mat because that's what they are made for, sitting under a plastic tub. The ZooMed under tank heaters are nice but they will melt plastic so I use them only under glass tanks. The Dragon's Lairs are paper thin & are an infra-red heat source, don't cost a whole lot & I've been using my first one for 2 years, it's still working.
I have 3 now, 2 of them are less an a year old but working fine. I bought them from Big Apple.. I am not sure if anyone else sells them.. I bought them there only because that's where I found them. Not touting a particular business
I use them year round for my small indoor box turtles because we have the same thing going on.. a/c keeps the house too cool for them. I put it on only one end that way they can sit over it or not- it's their choice. Even in summer they will sit over that heat pad when they want to.

For the sulcata who lives outdoors I use a Kane heat mat aka pig blanket. Since I bought that one I've heard that there's another brand called Osbourne or Osborne & people say it's a great heat mat too. I'd already bought mine for 100 plus bucks so I wasn't going to change. lol
My Kane is now 5 years old & still working just great.
Look around there are a lot of different and good heat sources for you out there.
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PHRatz