gravel under substrate?

[Teodora'sDAD]

just thinking out loud. But has anyone ever put several layers of stone down in a closed chambor enclosure, then top it off with cypress mulch? So the water is in the rocks instead of the mulch? Would the humidity stay high?
just curious.

 

[Tom]

Not me.

 

[Teodora'sDAD]

LOL- thanks Tom. I see alot of views but no responses yet.

 

[alysciaingram]

I have an outdoor burrow like that, but its more of a back up just in case it does flood into the hide. I couldn't tell you what the humidity is, though, since I live in FL and it's always humid.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Remember, humidity is the water vapor in the air NOT how soggy the ground is.
I can see where this line of thought (rocks underneath) came from but it isn't applicable.

Sent from my VS840 4G using TortForum mobile app

 

[lynnedit]

Have you seen Madkins007's posts about using waterproof heat cable attached to a wire grid, over 1/3 to 1/2 of the enclosure base, with cypress mulch over it? On a thermostat.
If the moist mulch heats up, you will have increased humidity.

 

[WillTort2]

I wonder if mold would be a problem?

The rocks would need to be large enough to prevent your tort from swallowing them.

I could see trying it for box turtles or some varieties of water turtles and have a wet end and then have mid size rocks along the shore and the coco coir up the hill for the basking area. It seems like I've seen something like this on the web.

I don't think I would try it with a Sulcata.

 

[redsn8k]

They make clay pellets for this to use in enclosures. They act kind of like a filter for the water. Rocks will grow mildew. LLL sells them and I have used them in other humid enclosures I have built. They are the size of a blueberry so they could be too small for a tortoise enclosure where burrowing occurs.