Added humidifier, now he burrows

[Greektortnamedleo]

Hello All!

I have added a warm air humidifier to my bedroom to help with my dry skin and noticed that now Leo burrows just outside his basking area. His temps during the day where he prefers to be (just so happens to be under his therm/hygrometer) is between 85 and 90 with 30-50% humidity. At night he is around 65 with 50-60% humidity. My wonder is if this humidity is causing his burrowing whereas before he was at 16% with a daily mist to bring him to 45%. I have chosen not to hibernate him as I have not been able to accurately weigh him or have him examined by a vet.

He stayed like this for 3 days before I woke him to eat

After I woke him to eat, he didn't bask and immediately returned to this position. Sorry about the lighting, used my flashlight when I returned home to get the picture.

For comparison, this is how he slept after eating without the added humidity.

 

[WillTort2]

Try turning the humidifier off and see if he resumes sleeping above the substrate.

 

[Greektortnamedleo]

Probably a good start. I just wasn't sure if he was celebrating his new climate or if he was not enjoying it and was trying to escape it. He is an on-going experiment in trying to make his tort table the perfect environment as I can not bring him outside my condo.

 

[WillTort2]

In my experience torts celebrate by eating.

 

[Greektortnamedleo]

He still ate when I woke him. It was a bit less than usual and when I woke him he ran over to where I put his food down for him.

 

[Jlant85]

um.... i would change the substrate asap... I dont use a humidifier for my Iberas... Those wood chips dries out quick! and this is a high chance the reason why the skin is so dry... I would change it up to coco coir, soil, husk or barks.... ^_^v This way you can keep the humidity high enough and a lot easier to control... you wouldn't even need a humidifier....

---

beautiful Ibera by the way ^_^v
<<< IBERA FANATIC <<<<

 

[Greektortnamedleo]

I originally added the humidifier to help with his and my dry skin. I am glad someone else agrees he looks a bit drier than he should. I will be changing his substrate out tomorrow to the bark. Thank you for the help!

I turned off the humidifier, he is still burrowing instead of sleeping in his hide.

 

[Jlant85]

Burrowing is in their nature and they will always do this. ^_^ so need to get worried about that...

 

[littleginsu]

In my experience torts celebrate by eating.

I have nothing of value to add other than this comment made me giggle!

 

[Greektortnamedleo]

Excellent. Thank you all for the help. My only other thought on the substrate is maybe doing a 1 inch layer of organic topsoil covered by a few inches of the repti-bark so I can grow some stuff in his table with him. I think that would help with humidity control as well and also give his table some life and add variety (while the plants last) to his diet. Any thoughts on that Jlant? what do you do for your iberans?

 

[Jlant85]

Excellent. Thank you all for the help. My only other thought on the substrate is maybe doing a 1 inch layer of organic topsoil covered by a few inches of the repti-bark so I can grow some stuff in his table with him. I think that would help with humidity control as well and also give his table some life and add variety (while the plants last) to his diet. Any thoughts on that Jlant? what do you do for your iberans?

How big is the table? I love adding plants to my enclosure... only down side is... they dont grow fast enough because my Iberas demolish them once the grow! LOL... i grow mine outside... the plants i add on my enclosure are things they dont eat (but can). Things i would grow in their enclosure are grass, spider plants and lots of other things... check this website out for ideas!
thetortoisetable.org.uk
This website is my best friend when it comes to picking out my plants... ^_^v I highly suggest reading up on plants. When i take my son out for walks i usually carry a bag with me and pick out the weeds and other plants that they can eat! just make sure they dont have pesticides or other chemicals. I usually ask my neighbors if they use such things. Plantains grows really nice on enclosure! you can pick them off the ground by the roots and they recover really nicely! I would plant them on a pot first and let them recover before i place them on my enclosure. But be warned.... high chance they will disappear by the next day! LIKE MAGIC! lol...

 

[TortsNTurtles]

In my experience torts celebrate by eating.

I have nothing of value to add other than this comment made me giggle!

Me too

 

[Greektortnamedleo]

His table is 6 feet by 2 1/2 feet. He is on about 3-4 inches of the wood shavings. He has a water bowl at his disposal at all times and is fed 1-2 times a day depending on how active he is when I return from work. I am trying to get his weight up due to his previous caretaker only feeding him iceberg lettuce. He has eaten boston lettuce, bok choy, dandelion greens, collard greens, a bit of spinach, raddicio, and now he is on nature zone reptile bites and he eats them like he has never eaten before.

I will check out the tortoise table and also update with pictures when I get his substrate fully changed over and some plant boxes and pots lined up.

 

[Jlant85]

Glad to hear he is in good hands now... Yes just get the substrate change and you'll be good to go... The diet your providing sounds real good but also try to add some more weeds into his diet... their natural food... ^_^v Check this website out to learn more from them...

Thetortoisetable.org.uk

I use this website a lot!

 

[gtc]

Excellent. Thank you all for the help. My only other thought on the substrate is maybe doing a 1 inch layer of organic topsoil covered by a few inches of the repti-bark so I can grow some stuff in his table with him. I think that would help with humidity control as well and also give his table some life and add variety (while the plants last) to his diet. Any thoughts on that Jlant? what do you do for your iberans?

repti-bark can mold i think. Orgain top soil is ok, but why not do it simple and just use coco coir? In my opinion its the best substrate. It keeps the humidity up well and never molds. Good for burrowing too (much better than repti-bark).

 

[Greektortnamedleo]

I will look into the coco coir then. I didn't realize the repti-bark molded.

 

[Jlant85]

Barks won't really mold if the temperature is kept right. I haven't had any issues at all what so ever.

 

[Greektortnamedleo]

What are your temps and humidity like? I am trying to offer the best environment for this awesome little chelonian (testudine depending on who you ask)

 

[Jlant85]

90-95 (up to 100 on hotter days!) on basking spot... that area dries out quickly! cooler end at 75-80.... humidity is at 50-70... depending on how wet the substrate is...

 

[Aspirerite]

Maybe the tort thinks it needs a place to hibernate? In the wild humidity would rise and temperatures start to fall around the time they need to start to wind down and dig in for the cold snap