I have a qeustion about lighting and soil.

[infernalis]

Those ingredients sound like dirt. Just a note on the use of the word "organic"

People need to be careful, if you want to get technical, Gasoline is organic.. Fossilized hydrocarbons of once living things, carbon based...

That is just one example of a whole host of things that can be called "organic" that may not necessarily jive with what we first think of.

I could legally get away with growing food in a pile of decomposing bodies and call it "organic" and the public would immediately think rainbows and unicorns because we have been conditioned to believe that "organic" means that barefoot hippies in sun dresses grow stuff on unspoiled lands...

Tricky use of common adjectives for marketing purposes has been around forever.

It's still up to us the animal keeper to understand what we are looking at when deciding on these things. Google each ingredient, understand what is in there and it's purpose.

Having a million acres of old forest at my disposal, I just simply dug up the good stuff, fresh forest floor dirt. I guess I take this privilege for grated.

[B_Aller]

op- Don't bother buying dirt in bags at lowes, waste of time and money, go to a landscaping material yard ask for sifted dirt and washed play sand mixed or buy a 1/4 yard of each and mix yourself. Buying dirt in bags is not the way to go.
You will spend way less and get way more at a landscape yard.
I use fly ash in my concrete sculptures to achieve a certain detailed look and increase strength, don't think it would be worth it to add to dirt though as it is basically dust.
Here's some detail I get with fly ash

[batmanjosh5000]

Hahaha ya that's a good point. Organic poison would definitely not be healthy lol! And I think I'll just buy bags of dirt and sand at lowes since I want to move him into the new enclosure fast.


Also I tested the basking lights. The three flood lights together would only get 130f if there really close to the platform. Would I need more lights or can they be really close to the basking platform? Or maybe it will make a difference once I put the dirt in.

[murrindindi]

Originally Posted by batmanjosh5000

Hahaha ya that's a good point. Organic poison would definitely not be healthy lol! And I think I'll just buy bags of dirt and sand at lowes since I want to move him into the new enclosure fast.


Also I tested the basking lights. The three flood lights together would only get 130f if there really close to the platform. Would I need more lights or can they be really close to the basking platform? Or maybe it will make a difference once I put the dirt in.

Hi, how close are the halogens to the basking object? You also need to take into consideration the animal`s body will be that much closer to the bulbs/heat.

[batmanjosh5000]

last night i made them 10inch and 3/4 (ten inches and three quarters) above the platform, turned them on, came back 40 minutes later and it read 115f. Would it maybe take longer to fully heat? Or maybe the wood with polyurethane doesn't absorb heat so well?

[murrindindi]

Originally Posted by batmanjosh5000

last night i made them 10inch and 3/4 (ten inches and three quarters) above the platform, turned them on, came back 40 minutes later and it read 115f. Would it maybe take longer to fully heat? Or maybe the wood with polyurethane doesn't absorb heat so well?

The polyurethane sealant will not effect the heat absorption/retention, and I personally wouldn`t move the bulbs any closer, maybe swap one of them for a higher wattage (65w)?
Tile/slate do hold the heat longer, you could always try that and see what you get.

[batmanjosh5000]

Originally Posted by murrindindi

The polyurethane sealant will not effect the heat absorption/retention, and I personally wouldn`t move the bulbs any closer, maybe swap one of them for a higher wattage (65w)?
Tile/slate do hold the heat longer, you could always try that and see what you get.

That's a good idea, i would probably raise the wattage in the middle one. But i was thing maybe i should have to adjacent rows of lights. Like if i would have a row of three and in front of it have a row of 2

[murrindindi]

Originally Posted by batmanjosh5000

That's a good idea, i would probably raise the wattage in the middle one. But i was thing maybe i should have to adjacent rows of lights. Like if i would have a row of three and in front of it have a row of 2

If you have two rows there may be more heat than is needed (ambient air, too), you also have to consider that the more heat the less humidity.
Try one higher wattage in the middle, also a piece of slate/stone, leave them on for a couple of hours and see what the surface temps are, anything over 50c (120f) is fine.

[batmanjosh5000]

Originally Posted by murrindindi

If you have two rows there may be more heat than is needed (ambient air, too), you also have to consider that the more heat the less humidity.
Try one higher wattage in the middle, also a piece of slate/stone, leave them on for a couple of hours and see what the surface temps are, anything over 50c (120f) is fine.

O ya that's a good call. So ill give it another try for a couple of hours and if it doesn't raise ill get the higher watt and a piece of stone.

[batmanjosh5000]

Originally Posted by B_Aller

op- Don't bother buying dirt in bags at lowes, waste of time and money, go to a landscaping material yard ask for sifted dirt and washed play sand mixed or buy a 1/4 yard of each and mix yourself. Buying dirt in bags is not the way to go.
You will spend way less and get way more at a landscape yard.
I use fly ash in my concrete sculptures to achieve a certain detailed look and increase strength, don't think it would be worth it to add to dirt though as it is basically dust.
Here's some detail I get with fly ash

Actually getting it from a landscaping material yard is a MUCH better idea! i just saw the price difference and the soil at lowes is very over priced. So i think i'll get it from a landscaping yard. But on a website i found they have different types of soil and sand. Which ones should i get?

SOILS
1.Topsoil (screened)
2.Compost
3.Topsoil\Compost Mix

SANDS
1.Mason / Pool Sand
2.Concrete Sand (i have a feeling i shouldn't be getting concrete sand)


and how much of each do you think i would need?

[infernalis]

Screened topsoil... Perfect.

Play sand is best, about 3 dollars a bag. You only need 2 or 3 bags.

[batmanjosh5000]

Originally Posted by infernalis

Screened topsoil... Perfect.

Play sand is best, about 3 dollars a bag. You only need 2 or 3 bags.

Awesome then ill get the screened. but would i be able to just get sand from a beach? because i was thinking that then i could do a 50/50 mix and would be able to save money on soil if i get more sand free

[B_Aller]

Originally Posted by batmanjosh5000

Actually getting it from a landscaping material yard is a MUCH better idea! i just saw the price difference and the soil at lowes is very over priced. So i think i'll get it from a landscaping yard. But on a website i found they have different types of soil and sand. Which ones should i get?

SOILS
1.Topsoil (screened)
2.Compost
3.Topsoil\Compost Mix

SANDS
1.Mason / Pool Sand
2.Concrete Sand (i have a feeling i shouldn't be getting concrete sand)


and how much of each do you think i would need?

Cool! Glad you found a material yard close by, I always try and steer people away from bagged dirt.
Like Wayne said, get the screened topsoil.
If you can get beach sand go for it, free is nice plus the whole idea with the sand is to have many different sized grains, this helps with keeping it diggable but still able to hold a burrow, that's why I recommend play sand because it's just the one most likely to have multiple sized grains. Beach sand by nature will have lots of different sizes. Concrete sand is fine, it's just sand that has been sorted by grain size, when using concrete sand you want to use different grits or mix play sand with concrete sand....probably TMI just spent years messing with it, now I have a huge natural source for amazing dirt, I let nature do all the mixing and sorting
Best.

[batmanjosh5000]

Originally Posted by B_Aller

Cool! Glad you found a material yard close by, I always try and steer people away from bagged dirt.
Like Wayne said, get the screened topsoil.
If you can get beach sand go for it, free is nice plus the whole idea with the sand is to have many different sized grains, this helps with keeping it diggable but still able to hold a burrow, that's why I recommend play sand because it's just the one most likely to have multiple sized grains. Beach sand by nature will have lots of different sizes. Concrete sand is fine, it's just sand that has been sorted by grain size, when using concrete sand you want to use different grits or mix play sand with concrete sand....probably TMI just spent years messing with it, now I have a huge natural source for amazing dirt, I let nature do all the mixing and sorting
Best.

That's awesome! i hope it's not illegal to take from the beach... but i geuss ill find out if someone stops me.
But would it be harmful to the monitor if there was like a piece of glass in the sand? I dont think there would be a lot of glass but im sure sometimes people smash glass near sand, or litter their bottle caps in the sand. I could also try to sift that stuff out somehow.

[infernalis]

take an old (wide mesh) window screen, still in it's frame and pass the sand through it.

Play sand is beach sand, it's just washed and cleaned..