09-03-2008, 04:17 PM | #1 |
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Egg
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Louth, Lincs
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DOUBLE SUN TUNNEL
Just bought a double sun tunnel from B&Q for £6.69 and my two spur-thighed are now basking in the garden. Maybe wouldn't be much good if windy but could be nailed to a wooden base to provide shelter. Husband is as we speak putting together one of the 1/2 price cold frames mentioned on forum. Bargain !!!
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09-03-2008, 04:48 PM | #2 |
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Any chance of a picture of the tunnel please?
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09-03-2008, 05:30 PM | #3 |
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Egg
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I was just thinking about asking for a photo Sandy lol!
can you post a photo of the coldframe too? pleeeease. xx
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09-03-2008, 06:10 PM | #4 |
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Egg
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Location: Manchester
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I have just been and bought a double sun tunnel too, I posted on the mini greenhouse thread from Ikea about these but wasn't sure what they were as I just spotted them on my way out last week.
I am covering my tortoise table with mine but wanted to pick peoples brains with a few questions if anyone can help me. Can uv penetrate through clear plastic or will I have to cut a hole in the top for my lamp to hang over? I was going to put my heat mat down the centre of the tunnel but does anybody know about ceramic heat emitters, would it be better to hang one of these in the tunnel,I think it would warm it up nicely as my tortoise always burrows right down to the heat mat to get warm but I don't like him being directly on it incase of burns although it doesn't feel hot enough to burn but you never know and I always wonder if heat mats make the shells soft. Will it get hot inside the sun tunnel without a heater anyway if it is indoors? Can anybody explain what a cold frame is? Any replies gratefully recieved. |
09-03-2008, 07:07 PM | #5 | |
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Quote:
UVB cannot penetrate through ordinary plastic or glass. Please don't use a heatmat, as these can be very dangerous to tortoises (when they are sitting on them the heat can build up and they can get burned). Tortoises like their heat from above too, so another disadvantage of heat mats. Ceramic heat emitters are good for heat, and they last forever -- but of course your tortoise needs light too, and these don't emit light. Is you table outdoors or indoors? If indoors then you don't need the sun tunnel, and if outdoors then you can use the sun tunnel as a cold frame (nail it to some thick planks of wood -- so it won't blow away -- and then leave a gap so the tortoise can get out to a secure pen and get the benefit of the natural sun. A cold frame is just a sturdier version of your sun tunnel - a sort of glass or plastic box, usually within a wood or metal frame. |
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10-03-2008, 12:35 AM | #6 |
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Egg
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Manchester
Posts: 74
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Thanks Nina,
My table is indoors but the room temperature sometimes drops to 18-20c, my tortoise is a redfoot so needs a warm ambient room temperature as he doesn't bask to get warm, he does have a combined uv/heat lamp. I thought the tunnel would create a tropical enviroment if I could heat up the inside of it, my red just stays on the warm area where the heat mat is and only comes out of his hide when I get him out. There is still enough room at the end of the tunnel to hang the uv lamp and I was hoping that the tunnel would keep him warm enough to be active enough to wander round then he could come out of the tunnel for food at the same end his lamp is. I know heat mats aren't good for tortoises but it seems that everything is reversed for tropical species, I was advised to use the heat mat under seed trays which I did but the heat didn't get through the trays and substrate to make it warm. |
10-03-2008, 02:04 PM | #7 |
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Egg
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Louth, Lincs
Posts: 28
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I, here the picture and website of the cold frame and also a picture of a sun tunnel. This is not an exact picture as the one purchased from B&Q was a double tunnel so bit bigger. Emailing this in lunch break so can't actually take picture of one at home.
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Mum to 2 x Turkish Spur Thighed, 2 x Tunisian Spur Thighed, 2 x Mini Dachshund, 1 x Cat, Stick Insects, 1 x Son and 1 x Husband |
10-03-2008, 02:30 PM | #8 |
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My table is indoors but the room temperature sometimes drops to 18-20c,
hi what temps are you getting at substrate level |
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