Care during hot and dry summer???

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abclements

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Hi All,

I'm starting to gear up for summer even though its still a ways away. I live in Eastern Washington and unlike Seattle it is very dry here. The temps are just fine, lots of days in the 80's some into the 90's but rarely ever comes close to breaking 100.

What i'm more worried about it the humidity. It is extremely dry most days and I really would like to keep him outside if at all possible because it's sooooo much better for him. But my question is, how do I keep him from pyramiding in such a dry heat? If there is enough humidity in his hides, the dirt stays damp and a soaking bowl is that enough?

P.S. he'll be about a year old come June and right now he's just under 3 inches long.
 

lynnedit

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Do you have a partially shaded area in your yard for an enclosure?
Add a lot of plants, like hosta.
The best way to keep things humid is to set up a drip system on a timer. It can come off of a hose outlet (use a splitter if you need to have a hose attached).
Have it come on for 10-15 minutes twice per day (adjust this based on the temps, how quickly the soil dries out, etc.
Create a nice soaking area/shallow pond.
 

abclements

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I unfortunately live in a yardless apartment (college student) :( So I have constructed an enclosure out of a kiddie pool that stays on my balcony. I will be purchasing plants and other things to keep it shaded, but those will live in the pool.
 

bigred

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abclements said:
I unfortunately live in a yardless apartment (college student) :( So I have constructed an enclosure out of a kiddie pool that stays on my balcony. I will be purchasing plants and other things to keep it shaded, but those will live in the pool.

Make the substrate deep enough to hold the moisture for awhile. Wet it a couple times a day
 

abclements

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So something like 2-3 inches of Topsoil, that was almost muddy and then another 2-3 inches of coco coir?
 

RedfootsRule

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Like others have said, put a nice muddy base of dirt on it, and then cover that in nice moist mulch. If you can, make the enclosure shaded as much as you can, and then give him a hide filled with damp spaghum moss that stays nice and humid, in deep shade. All of these things combined should keep a decent humidity.
Also, you could set up a mister or humidifier that just keeps going off on a timer every 15-30 minutes. Make sure its not in a windy area however, or all of the humid air will be blown away.
 
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