Enclosure ventilation

[Bmwhit]

I have an enclosure I have made (not the prettiest) and I was wondering if I should add ventilation. I have a thermostat hygrostat with CHE and reptile fogger plugged into it. When the CHE is off my humidity climbs and hygrometer flashes HH (humidity high). I am getting conflicting info on if too high humidity can be harmful.

I included a few pictures. If there is anything blatantly wrong please let me know, I will be making adjustments this weekend.

 

[wellington]

First, remove the fogger it can make them sick.
Second, wet the substrate to keep humidity up.
Third, a leopard needs 80% humidity but higher will not hurt them as long as temps are never below 80 and basking 95-100.
You don't need ventilation. There is enough air exchange when you open the enclosure to feed, water, clean and take them out for soaks. Plus, the enclosure is not air tight
Also be very cautious of any info outside this forum, it's usually wrong outdated info.

 

[wellington]

How big is your leopard? Once they reach 10 inches straight measurement bottom shell they should be living outside in a much bigger enclosure and don't need a closed chamber. The humidity then should be in a humid hide that's heated when needed
If you don't have outdoor space then he needs a room size enclosure

 

[Bmwhit]

How big is your leopard? Once they reach 10 inches straight measurement bottom shell they should be living outside in a much bigger enclosure and don't need a closed chamber. The humidity then should be in a humid hide that's heated when needed
If you don't have outdoor space then he needs a room size enclosure

He’s a yearling, I have a large outdoor area being worked on. We have 1.5 acres in southeast Texas, he’s just too small for me to be comfortable leaving him unsupervised outdoors

 

[wellington]

Yes, he needs to be 10 inches before living outside.
At a year old, he does need to still be in the closed chamber.

 

[Tom]

He’s a yearling, I have a large outdoor area being worked on. We have 1.5 acres in southeast Texas, he’s just too small for me to be comfortable leaving him unsupervised outdoors

Here is one safe way to do the outdoors once he's large enough:


This is a 8x8 chicken coop from Tractor Supply. I put a visual barrier around the bottom, and attached a 4x4 insulated and heated box to it.

Your enclosure looks super cool, but I don't see a basking lamp. The CHE set on a thermostat is a great way to maintain ambient heat, but it needs to be in the middle of the enclosure for that. There should be an incandescent flood bulb for basking over in that socket on the side.

I agree that foggers should not be used in tortoise enclosures, and you shouldn't need it with a large closed chamber like yours. Most enclosures do have some vents on them, so that wouldn't be a bad idea, but it really depends on the conditions.

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