Continued from previous post:

After three days of no heat at all and nightly temps in the low 60's. I transferred them to 9" x 6" x 3" plastic tubs. A 2" x 4" section was cut out of the lid on one side and replaced with screening. ~ 1-inch of washed and heat-sterilized playsand and a handful of gently moistened, but not wet, sphagnum moss at the end opposite of the vent to create a humidity gradient. This maintains high humidity, repels growth of molds and creates small droplets of condensation on the walls of the tub that they can drink from should they choose.

The tubs then went into a 58-degree thermoelectric wine cooler with a digital control. Since then, I have dropped the temp gradually down to 53-degrees. The advantage of the wine cooler (to me) is that along with a cooling the environment, it can heat it as well. We get some cold overnight temps in my area, so the ability to cool and heat seemed ideal. I cut 1-inch sections out of the door seal at the top and bottom so convection will draw in fresh air. I also added a Sper Scientific thermometer/hygrometer with current and min/max for both temps and humidity - this is a great gadget and I highly recommend it to everyone.

So far the cooler is holding within two degrees of the set temperature and humidity is between 80-95%. I hope the high humidity will keep them from dehydrating, but I also hope it doesn't cause any respiratory problems, which was the impetus for my original question.

I have checked on them since. My female is simply asleep and hasn't really moved and the male moves around some and seems more groggy than asleep. When I check on him, he'll open his eyes to look at me and hiss when and back away when I offer him water with a dropper, so I think it's best if I disturb them as little as possible to prevent any unnecessary stress and energy expenditure.

Thanks again for the response.

Cheers,

Rob

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