constant humid vs. soaking and spraying??

[blastoise91]

Sounds good and thanks alot. Ill finish set up tomorrow and hopfully he can be in the table in a coue of days after i eye temps. Ill post pics of the the table wen its done ill leave humidifier on all day as u said. But make sure it dont get too hot in there before he goes in.

 

[Tom]

How much you run the humidifier depends on several factors. If the room and climate are dry and the top is completely open, you'd probably need to run it all day. If the top is mostly closed in, but still a big hole for a heat lamp, you will lose a surprising amount of humidity with those rising air currents created by the hot air under the lamp. In this case you'd need to run it less than a completely open top, but more than a closed chamber. In a closed chamber, you'd only need to run it a few times a day for a few minutes. My leopard enclosure is like this. My humidifier comes on 6 times a day for 5 minutes each time.

I just want to mention that humidifiers are not a requirement. They can be a useful tool in managing one's environmental parameters for some situations, but I just don't want folks to think they have to have one and run it all the time. For some situations they are not needed. For most situations, I think they do no harm as long as temps are kept up. And the last part of this disclaimer: Remember, we are just talking about hatchlings and babies. Once they are a little older and bigger, all this humidity is a lot less critical.

 

[wellington]

What age range do you still consider them babies and needing the high humidity?Tatum is 10 months. When you consider them no longer babies, do you still keep some humidity? What %. Do we then lower our temps from the constant 80-85?

Sorry to intrude on your thread. I just figured you would be intested in the answers as much as I am

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How much you run the humidifier depends on several factors. If the room and climate are dry and the top is completely open, you'd probably need to run it all day. If the top is mostly closed in, but still a big hole for a heat lamp, you will lose a surprising amount of humidity with those rising air currents created by the hot air under the lamp. In this case you'd need to run it less than a completely open top, but more than a closed chamber. In a closed chamber, you'd only need to run it a few times a day for a few minutes. My leopard enclosure is like this. My humidifier comes on 6 times a day for 5 minutes each time.

I just want to mention that humidifiers are not a requirement. They can be a useful tool in managing one's environmental parameters for some situations, but I just don't want folks to think they have to have one and run it all the time. For some situations they are not needed. For most situations, I think they do no harm as long as temps are kept up. And the last part of this disclaimer: Remember, we are just talking about hatchlings and babies. Once they are a little older and bigger, all this humidity is a lot less critical.

Sorry if I made it sound like you needed a humidifier. It is what works the best for me and my situation. Same as the amount of time I keep mine on. It may be different for you. Always take into account the differences in location and set-ups and tweak yours to suit your situation.
Thanks Tom for elaborating.. I don't like to carry on too much, but I should have said something like that.

 

[blastoise91]

Oh yes. I know its not needed. Its just to keep it humid easier. I plan on plastic roof of some sort with holes for lights. Its the only way i can think to have lights in the enclosure with roofing.

No harn done by asking questions its not just "my" thread lol. I know they arent needed for everyone. Just getting advice for my specific circumstance. I hope noone read this and thought they are absolutely needed or anything of the sort. I really appreciate all the advice.

I know everyone is different. Just getting basic ideas to base around. Makes my set up tweak faster and get this going for the little guy. I know he cant like being in that box lol

So comfortable humidity for leos is between 70 and 90%?? Do i have that correct? Im talking about under a year old to be more specific.

And if my hatchling is in the dry aired room out of the enclosure for exercise would that be fine? Or will the sudden change hurt? I know ill have to dry him cause my house is around 70. So he wont get sick.

 

[Tom]

For sulcatas, I consider them out of the woods once they are around 6-8" Once they have reached this size, I think it would be pretty difficult to change the pattern of growth to make a smooth one start to pyramid. I speculate that the number for leopards must be somewhere near there. In a dryer enclosure with a larger tortoise, yes I do think it is safe to let temps drop a bit. I think room temp (70ish) is fine over night for a 10" leopard on dry substrate.

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So comfortable humidity for leos is between 70 and 90%?? Do i have that correct? Im talking about under a year old to be more specific.

And if my hatchling is in the dry aired room out of the enclosure for exercise would that be fine? Or will the sudden change hurt? I know ill have to dry him cause my house is around 70. So he wont get sick.

I have heard the number 80% that was the magic number in the Austrian sulcata study too. Personally, I don't worry too much about the numbers. I just use damp substrate, a covered top, a big shallow water bowl, and provide a humid hide box. All of that coupled with soaking and shell spraying does the trick for me.

My hatchling leopards and sulcatas come out of their humid enclosures in the reptile room and go straight outside into the single digit humidity for sunning, and then come right back in after a couple of hours. This has never been a problem for me.

 

[blastoise91]

Awesome!! Thanks so much tom. And everyone else. Now i dont have to be worried about taking him out of the brooder so he can exercise. And im not so worried about the humidity being too high or low. I appreciate all the hints and tips. Ive learned so much from all of you. This forum saves lives!! Lol

And thanks for the age/temp explanation. Didnt ask but i would have eventually haha.

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Awesome!! Thanks so much tom. And everyone else. Now i dont have to be worried about taking him out of the brooder so he can exercise. And im not so worried about the humidity being too high or low. I appreciate all the hints and tips. Ive learned so much from all of you. This forum saves lives!! Lol

And thanks for the age/temp explanation. Didnt ask but i would have eventually haha.

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I have 2 humid holding areas he can go, a huge for him water dish, i spray him directly a few a day and soak him 15-30 a day or everyother day. I learned all i know from this site and mostly your threads, tom. I think ive got this tort care under wraps finally lol. So much for a newbie to learn.

 

[Neal]

Hey im a new owner of a hatchling leo. Hes not in his table yet due to age and health (read other started threads if interested and/or for details).

First u must know i live in nv where humid is very low.
My question this time is if i dont enclose my table to hold humid up would a few sprays a day and a good soaking everyday be enough for the little guy? He has a nice rock water bowl thats easily accessable also. And if that isnt going to be enough in your opinion does anyone know of a really good pet safe waterproof coat i would be able to waterproof my walls and roof with if i need to make it more enclosed?? Thank you everyone for your help! I couldnt have dont it (right) without you

I believe our humidity levels here in AZ are similar to you in NV.

In my opinion what you are doing is enough to keep the carapace from pyramiding. It is similar to what we do, but I would recommend a designated humid hide. You can do this by using a plastic container with a hole cut out of one of the sides towards the top of the container, then place the plastic container upside down in your enclosure so the hole you cut out is accessible to the tortoise. We try to maintain our humid hides at around 80%, sometimes it fluctuates a bit, but we don't allow it to go below 50%. The remainder of the enclosures are whatever the ambient level is inside the house (between 0 and 20% depending on the weather).

 

[blastoise91]

Thanks neal. Im sure its very similar. Always good to have more backup in what im doing

 

[wellington]

Thank you Tom for always answering. It is greatly appreciated. Because of you and this forum and other members, Tatums new growth is growing smooth. Wished I had found TFO sooner. Good luck blastoise91. Hope you enjoy yours as much as I enjoy mine

 

[blastoise91]

I have pretty big cypis wood chips in my table under a soil mix from lowes. If i mix them up would it be dangerous for my little guy?? I dont want any chances of him getting stabbed or anything.

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My mix seems like if i spray it to make it damp it will make it stick to everything

 

[wellington]

I had wood chips and didn't like them. Too dry and I didn't like how it was sharp and could stick him in the eye. I changed all of mine to coir. I think it is more what you like. I don't think it is dangerous other then what my concern is, but I might just be overly protective. I am sure they have sticks, etc. In the wild they have to deal with

 

[blastoise91]

Yes yes im sure. Just making sure. Its good youve had no bad experiences though. Ill upgrade wen i get paid to be safe.

Carboard roofing is a failure lol. Triangled the roof with plastic over it and hung down lights in beween plastics. Humidifier made it soggy and collapsed lol. Talk about a fail.

 

[wellington]

Sorry it didn't work. It was a little funny though lol, sorry

 

[blastoise91]

Thats why i had to share lol. So hes back in the 'brooder' for now.