“Humid hide” looking for advice

[Bwatts86]

Hi all, I’m new to the forum and hope I’m posting this thread in the right place.

I have a young Sulcata around 6 months old that I keep in a vivarium. My daytime temperatures are under control and I use a CHE which is located in the centre to keep the evening temperature at 85f.

My tortoise has always favoured one end of the vivarium and this is where I have placed its hide. Although the ambient temperature overnight is 85f throughout the vivarium, the temperature inside the hide is falling a bit low at around 77-78f. I’m just a bit concerned it may be getting a bit too cold in the hide overnight and wondering if anyone could advise? Thanks in advance

 

[Tim Carlisle]

Can you post a pic of the viv?

 

[wellington]

Either add another che on a thermostat or move the one you are using a little closer to that end.

 

[Bwatts86]

Can you post a pic of the viv?

 

[Tim Carlisle]

View attachment 364830

I remember having a similar problem with mine years ago. You could try as @wellington suggested. What ultimately worked for mine was to place a small fan in the enclosure to circulate the heat. I just used a small fan that came out of an old desktop computer. That solved it for me without having to move or add any heat sources.

 

[Bwatts86]

Either add another che on a thermostat or move the one you are using a little closer to that end.

Thanks for the reply, I did have the CHE above the hide and found the temp inside the hide itself to remain just under 80. I’ll look into potentially adding and extra CHE and maybe also changing my hide as the one I’m using is quite thick could also be a reason the heat isn’t getting inside ?

 

[Bwatts86]

I remember having a similar problem with mine years ago. You could try as @wellington suggested. What ultimately worked for mine was to place a small fan in the enclosure to circulate the heat. I just used a small fan that came out of an old desktop computer. That solved it for me without having to move or add any heat sources.

Thanks Tim, will definitely look into the fan

 

[Tom]

Hi all, I’m new to the forum and hope I’m posting this thread in the right place.

I have a young Sulcata around 6 months old that I keep in a vivarium. My daytime temperatures are under control and I use a CHE which is located in the centre to keep the evening temperature at 85f.

My tortoise has always favoured one end of the vivarium and this is where I have placed its hide. Although the ambient temperature overnight is 85f throughout the vivarium, the temperature inside the hide is falling a bit low at around 77-78f. I’m just a bit concerned it may be getting a bit too cold in the hide overnight and wondering if anyone could advise? Thanks in advance

You've gotten good advice from everyone else so far, so I just wanted to say hello and welcome to the forum.

 

[Bwatts86]

You've gotten good advice from everyone else so far, so I just wanted to say hello and welcome to the forum.

Thanks Tom

 

[Bwatts86]

I’ve managed to sort the temperature 😳 feeling slightly stupid 🤣🤣

I had the sensor for the CHE in the centre of the tank, I’ve moved the probe to beside the side of the hide and it’s now giving me an internal reading of above 80f.

Thanks for your replies, I really appreciate it.

 

[wellington]

One thing you do need to change though is that disc temp gauge. They are not reliable. Replace with a digital and put at tortoise level.
It also looks very dry in the enclosure. They whole enclosure should be 80% humidity. A humid hide is good for an adult.

 

[Bwatts86]

One thing you do need to change though is that disc temp gauge. They are not reliable. Replace with a digital and put at tortoise level.
It also looks very dry in the enclosure. They whole enclosure should be 80% humidity. A humid hide is good for an adult.

One thing you do need to change though is that disc temp gauge. They are not reliable. Replace with a digital and put at tortoise level.
It also looks very dry in the enclosure. The whole enclosure should be 80% humidity. A humid hide is good for an adult.

Tbh I don’t use the disc for any readings, it came with the vivarium and I just popped it on. I have 3 x Bluetooth thermometers/hydrometers throughout various parts of the enclosure which gives me more accurate readings and allows me to gain humidity of above 80% by misting with warm water throughout the day. I tried a fogger in there however to achieve over 80% I felt there was just too much fog for the little one and found misting gave a higher more consistent reading from the hydrometers. It does look a bit dry on the pic but the hide and cool end are still up over 80%, the basking area is currently at 74% however it’ll not leave its hide till the morning now so will be re sprayed then 😁

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Just a small note: if your pour some water in the corners to wet lower substrate layers this should give more sustainable humidity level for some days (usually around a week).

 

[Bwatts86]

Just a small note: if your pour some water in the corners to wet lower substrate layers this should give more sustainable humidity level for some days (usually around a week).

Thanks 😁

 

[Pák]

Hi!

You need to watch closely you vivarium if you want to raise the humidity during colder months. The condensating water quickly deforms the wood, and causes irreversible damage. It depends on your room temp:
With similar room and vivarium temp everithing is fine, because the water wont condensate. The problem starts at ~70F and below roomtemp. First the glass get wet and below tht the walls as well. The water gathers in the glass holder channels and makes its way to the endpoints, where the wood suck the water in like a sponge and starts to expand.
Do you have a foil under the substrate? If not, i recommend to use it, before you start to moisten the substrate.
After that its possible with daily spraying to maintain the correct humidity levels,, just need to watch for the condensation, and give the vivarium enough ventillation aswell.

https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/sulcata-indoor-enclosure.208843/ this is mine