Do you keep your night box humid?

[BowDownBowser]

I have just completed my night box and right now I am testing everything to make sure it is safe before moving my Sulcata in. One question I have though is should it be kept humid like a closed chamber or just kept warm? If you keep it humid how do you do it? Mine is 4x4x2 so limited space to put a humidifier. I have a shelf that I built in and right now I just have a bowl filled with water hoping that once my heaters get the temp up it will help keep it humid.

 

[Tom]

I don't think you need to do this in FL. Watch his new growth after he moves outside and see how it goes. If it starts looking rough, then you can add humidity to the night box. I would not use a humidifier. A few tubs of water would get it done if you need to do it. Because of how wet and humid it is there all the time, it might be good to have a drier place for him to retreat to. I have the opposite problem here. You literally get more rain in one day there than we get here in an entire year. Some years you get A LOT more in one day than our whole year. People in dry climates do need to add humidity to their heated night boxes.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Living in SoCal and now Oregon, yes I keep my leopard's night box moderately humid.
I lined the bottom of the box with vinyl flooring and keep damp coco coir and coco husk as a substrate. Works beautifully.
I always recommend it.

Let us know what you work out

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

I have found that some sort of bedding/litter for the adult Manouria encourages the use of the box (if it wasn't just a transitional getting familiar with it as a new thing). The bedding holds their urine and increase humidity as well. I don't know which makes the box more enticing, the humidity or the bedding, but acceptance has gone up. Every weekend I open the box up let a much greater air exchange happen and remove all the feces and urine messed bedding, and replace with more. The bedding I use is fallen leaves and pines needles (pine straw). These items also ad humidity. @Tom shows some of his night boxes with a shelf for water, and some without (maybe added later after the image was taken?).

Humidity at a level below where the walls sweat or form condensation is desirable. I don't have an exact recipe that would be as simple as a dish pan surface of water for every 8 cubic feet of air space inside. You'd have to get some sort of Relative Humidity indicator ( how much water the air can hold versus how much it is holding). Target above 60 but below 80% RH should keep the air from desiccating the tortoise but not allowing condensation from forming on the walls. That condensation can also form on the tortoise chilling it with evaporative cooling. A stable night house temp will help you find and target safe RH level.

 

[BowDownBowser]

I have found that some sort of bedding/litter for the adult Manouria encourages the use of the box (if it wasn't just a transitional getting familiar with it as a new thing). The bedding holds their urine and increase humidity as well. I don't know which makes the box more enticing, the humidity or the bedding, but acceptance has gone up. Every weekend I open the box up let a much greater air exchange happen and remove all the feces and urine messed bedding, and replace with more. The bedding I use is fallen leaves and pines needles (pine straw). These items also ad humidity. @Tom shows some of his night boxes with a shelf for water, and some without (maybe added later after the image was taken?).

Humidity at a level below where the walls sweat or form condensation is desirable. I don't have an exact recipe that would be as simple as a dish pan surface of water for every 8 cubic feet of air space inside. You'd have to get some sort of Relative Humidity indicator ( how much water the air can hold versus how much it is holding). Target above 60 but below 80% RH should keep the air from desiccating the tortoise but not allowing condensation from forming on the walls. That condensation can also form on the tortoise chilling it with evaporative cooling. A stable night house temp will help you find and target safe RH level.

Thank you for your input. My biggest concern with putting down some sort of bedding is that I am using a KANE heat mat as one of my heat sources and there are multiple warnings not to cover the heat mat with any sort of bedding or blanket. I know i wouldn't put it on it, but the tortoise may move around a lot dragging the bedding with it. Any suggestions on using a bedding and keeping it off of the mat?

 

[Jodie]

I Put my Kane mats on a raised floor, then put substrate on the rest. They drag some on, but I just brush it off.

 

[BowDownBowser]

I just saw this I guess I skipped over it. That sounds like a good idea I've been watching the humidity inside the box and it goes between 60 and 80 percent depending on the weather so I think Itll be good. Even if the temp gets down to the 40s and its dry out it stays in the mid 60% range for humidity. Now the biggest issue I have is getting the tortoise to know to go in when its cold. I leave the door/ramp open during the day and every evening when the temp starts to drop I find it slightly dug in under the ramp. Is there a way to get it to want to go on at night? When I open it in the morning he comes out on his own when he's ready. Sometimes he stays in til the temp warms up or if its warm he comes out right away. Any suggestions?

I don't think you need to do this in FL. Watch his new growth after he moves outside and see how it goes. If it starts looking rough, then you can add humidity to the night box. I would not use a humidifier. A few tubs of water would get it done if you need to do it. Because of how wet and humid it is there all the time, it might be good to have a drier place for him to retreat to. I have the opposite problem here. You literally get more rain in one day there than we get here in an entire year. Some years you get A LOT more in one day than our whole year. People in dry climates do need to add humidity to their heated night boxes.

 

[Tom]

Start by putting him on the ramp, half way in, in the afternoon, and let him walk the rest of the way in on his own. Each day back him up a little until he's doing it on his own.

 

[BowDownBowser]

Start by putting him on the ramp, half way in, in the afternoon, and let him walk the rest of the way in on his own. Each day back him up a little until he's doing it on his own.

Thanks will do