Hatchlings in a greenhouse

[Gordon]

As last summer was not that good what i was wondering was would my babies get to hot on a table in the greenhouse.
The greenhouse is 12 foot by 8 foot and is in the sun most of the day.
The table will be about 4 foot off the ground and be 8x3 in size with a little hole in the glass to an outside table.
The last thing i want is to cook them if i am out all day and the sun comes out.

[Catwoman63]

You could always put a canopy type thing over the top of half of the table to shade them, in the greenhouse side of the table. It sounds like there will be air flowing through anyway so its not as if they will be shut up in the greenhouse....or are they while your out? x

[Pussygalore]

couldn't you consider using the floor, I have done that a couple of times by simply putting soil/plants etc straight on the floor, a couple of combined bulbs hanging from the gh shelves. With such a large area you can give a lovely variety of substrates, plant a weed area give a shallow pond and use bigger plants for shade etc it makes a great area that you can landscape we had large rocks made rock caves etc. If you can make a small exit to an outside area all the better and you'd still have your shelves for more weeds, hubby made a wooden framed wire door to put in the doorway so the door could be open on hot days.

[Gordon]

Originally Posted by Pussygalore

couldn't you consider using the floor, I have done that a couple of times by simply putting soil/plants etc straight on the floor, a couple of combined bulbs hanging from the gh shelves. With such a large area you can give a lovely variety of substrates, plant a weed area give a shallow pond and use bigger plants for shade etc it makes a great area that you can landscape we had large rocks made rock caves etc. If you can make a small exit to an outside area all the better and you'd still have your shelves for more weeds, hubby made a wooden framed wire door to put in the doorway so the door could be open on hot days.

There will be no room on the floor as i will be divided up for all the adults that's why i was thinking of a table

[Gordon]

Originally Posted by Catwoman63

You could always put a canopy type thing over the top of half of the table to shade them, in the greenhouse side of the table. It sounds like there will be air flowing through anyway so its not as if they will be shut up in the greenhouse....or are they while your out? x

My worries are if it gets to hot while im at work i can open the doors and windows

[snowdrop]

You can buy automatic vent openers which will open the roof vents when it starts to get too warm. They work on a bar that expands and contracts opening and closing the roof vent as temperatures dictate. Also if you can fit side vents, you can leave them open and help circulate the airflow. Just a thought......,.

[Pussygalore]

our greenhouse did get to hot even with all the windows and door open but as they were on the floor which had a good foot of diggable soil they simply buried themselves. Plus the plants, rocks etc created shady damp spots as the floor was always well watered at least in places where the plants were. The weed area grew well and was a good foot or so tall and they loved to hide in there, that was always cooler again because the weeds were well watered. Having said that in a heat wave we did have to resort to putting shading over the gh, a gh can very quickly reach over 100f so you do have to be very carefull. I'm not sure that tables will work if they are higher up and heat rises, don't forget that uv can't pass through glass so unless they have outdoor space you'll need to either supplement or provide uv.

[Suze65]

What a dilemma , it would be awful if you came home and they had cooked

Not sure I would risk it!

[Pussygalore]

I suppose it depends on where in the country you are and the positioning of the gh, we were in Kent and the gh in the full sun but as it was there already couldn't really move it, plus it was a big one. Mind you our conservatory was the same and would soon reach unbearable temps, again it faced the sun and had no shade. They are very usefull but not as the only housing in the summer or at least not when its hot. Ours only worked as we could put down enough substrate, we laid paving slabs for a path and the rest was for the torts, finding them though could be a several hours job when they buried down. We eventually moved them into the side garden with an insulated shed that worked far better.

[tortydat]

I think it would be too hot and have heard horror stories of people losing all their hatchlings from overheating. Far better they are too cold than too hot IMO.
Mary