can longer soakings be a substitute for humidity?

[CourtneyAndCarl]

I am having trouble keeping the humidity in Carl's tank up, and it's only going to get worse in the dry winter. To keep it even at a low, but decent humidity I have to mist the dang thing once an hour which is pretty unrealistic since I have a job and go to school in the mornings. He does have a humid hide that stays pretty humid, but the rest of the tank gets VERY dry.

Carl gets soaked for about 20 minutes every morning and once a week gets soaked for an hour in a liquid vitamin/calcium soak mixture. What I was wondering is, could I soak him for an hour more often and that would kind of "replace" the lack of humidity?

 

[wellington]

To keep humidity up, the enclosure needs to be partially covered. Have you tried covering half to three quarters of it? Some do only use a humid hide. However if he doesn't use it much, it won't do any good. Some of us have also piped in a humidifier, that works really good also. What substrate are you using? Coir should last about a week, give or take a few days before needing to be moistened again, maybe try switching to that.

 

[leonardo the tmnt]

What's a vitamin/calcium soak?

 

[CourtneyAndCarl]

His substrate is 1/2 coir 1/2 top soil. He also does use his humid hide quite a bit... he didn't like the actual hide so his "humid hide" is actually just a burrow he dug lined with a bunch of soaked sphagnum moss. If he isn't eating or exploring, he's in there, so I know he's getting some humidity. I can soak the subtrate but right under the heat lamp it dries up right away, and it would be really hard for me to cover the tank since there is one really long strip light over the whole thing.

---

What's a vitamin/calcium soak?

Warm water mixed with liquid vitamins and liquid calcium... apparently they also make the water taste good because he spends quite a bit of the time trying to eat the water (not drink, eat).

 

[TortoiseBoy1999]

If you move the hydrometer to where he is at the bottom it might be more humid at the bottom too. Because in my Leopard terrarium it's very dry towards the top but I have a velcro thermometer/hydrometer and when I move it to where he actualy is at the bottom it's very humid

 

[CourtneyAndCarl]

If you move the hydrometer to where he is at the bottom it might be more humid at the bottom too. Because in my Leopard terrarium it's very dry towards the top but I have a velcro thermometer/hydrometer and when I move it to where he actualy is at the bottom it's very humid

It's very close to the bottom but also right underneath the heat source, so that may effect it.

 

[EKLC]

put the hygrometer out of the light, you'd be hard-pressed to keep a basking spot moist for any amount of time

 

[Madkins007]

1. Move the hydrometer to a more neutral location.

2. If possible, add another inch or 3 of substrate- the deeper substrate will hold a larger pool of water, even under the heat.

3. Really think about covering the habitat, even if it means making a tent over the lighting. This will also really help with heating.

4. Consider using a humidifier to humidify the entire room the habitat is in. The drier the room, the faster the habitat dries out.

 

[Tom]

Do you really feel like Carl needs all the humidity? Many people raise the Testudo sp. with just moderate humidity. I would think that damp substrate and a humid hide would be enough. I don't KNOW this, just speculating here.

PM Neal about soaks instead of humidity. He was leaving hatchling leopards outside in the hot dry AZ air all day, but soaking them every day too. He did get some favorable results, but he still called his results "mixed" last I heard. He might have some insight about your original question about replacing humidity with soaks.

GB is the man I always want to hear from regarding anything to do with hermanni or other Testudo.

 

[GBtortoises]

Soaking a tortoise should not be considered as a substitute for a dry environment. There are three elements to proper tortoise hydration that go hand in hand with each other:
Hydration-The tortoise has to have frequent or constant access to clean drinking water in order to be able to replenish body fluid when necessary.
Ambient Humidity-The humidity in the air plays an important role in how well hydrated the tortoise remains. Warm, dry air and especially moving air will be a factor in the tortoise becoming dehydrated. This is one reason that tortoises do not linger out in the sun all day, they typically seek shelter to escape the heat and dryness. To help prevent dehydration the ambient air humdity in the tortoises environment needs to be at a suitable level for the given species.
Moisture-Specifically substrate moisture. While it is true that many tortoise species come from an environment that has basically dry soil, very few seek shelter on that dry soil but instead either under it by burrowing or using other animals burrows or by finding heavily shaded areas under bushes, rock outcroppings and other similar cooler, more humid areas. In captivity indoors the best way to provide that moist area is to do so in the substrate by keeping it slightly moist either by saturation, regular spraying or both.
Soaking should be viewed as added insurance in addition to other good hydration methods. Without providing those other elements of tortoise hydration soaking by itself is not going to keep a tortoise hydrated as it should be.
Rather than looking at soaking as a replacement for overall hydration, look at the rest of the situation and determine where and why dehydration may be taking place.

 

[CourtneyAndCarl]

He definitely doesn't seem dehydrated. His little water pan is always full, and I know he spends some time in even if I've never seen him do so because there is tortoise poo in it almost every day. And like I said, he does spend a lot of his time in his humid hide.

I will try to moisten the whole substrate instead of just spraying the top 3 or 4 times a day, I suppose I haven't really tried that before, either.