help with humidity

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mightyclyde

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Leopold hates humidity, misting, being damp/wet/or slightly moist in any way. He is a yearling that I've had for two weeks now. He has a hide box that I've placed moistened coconut coir in, but he bolts from it. Humidity in the outer enclosure is 20%. Any suggestions? What % humidity would be best in/out of the hide box for a little guy? I will post a picture when I figure out how... you can already see that he has ridges and slight pyramiding starting.
 

Tom

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I'm hesitant to advise on Leopards anymore as I have not personally raised one with high humidity yet. Its in the works, but not yet. All the ones I raised were bone dry and pyramided, but very healthy otherwise. SOME people have had trouble with respiratory problems and humidity while others do just fine. I would suggest you ask someone with LOADS of experience in this matter. Richard Fife knows more than anyone else I know about this and he is a very kind and generous man with his time, as well. You can reach him through his website and I'm sure he wouldn't mind helping.

http://ivorytortoise.com/
 

tortoisenerd

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Are you ensuring that any moisture is also warm? Could the moist hide and the misting have been too cold for him? Otherwise, I would do a more gradual change, such as first switching the entire enclosure to what you want to use for a substrate (Cyprus, orchid bark, coconut coir, etc), then adding moisture to the substrate over time until you reach the desired level. If you want to provide him with humidity and he won't use the hide or tolerate misting, then you will need to have the whole enclosure have a moist (but not wet) substrate, and ensure it remains the proper temperature gradient. When you add humidity you will also need to add a but more heat, such as lowering your bulbs.

This is more general advice than specific. I don't know the specific percent humidity to use, but this is what I would do in your scenario. I also agree with Tom that whenever you can get expert advice that is the way to go.
 

mightyclyde

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I'm not into bumping my own threads, but I just wanted to pass this along. I followed Kate's advice and warmed the mist considerably. I temped it at 115 degrees F, which is hot for water, but just pleasantly warm when misted. Leopold loves the warm mist, and will stretch out his tiny back legs after I'm done misting him now. Yeah, I think that means he likes it ;)
 

purpod

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Hiya Mighty Clyde ~

Glad to find that you were able to get a good answer on the humidity issue. Thanx for passing on the answer you received.

You know, I had never given consideration to humidity when I got my first Leopard (about 20 years ago). We moved from So Cal to North Carolina, my tort was about 4 then. The high humidity there was just too much for my "Sheldon" & (very) sadly, he died from a respiratory infection.

Needless to say, since then I have been very 'sparing' on my humidity levels. And thankfully, I've had no problems with pyramiding! It's great to hear of someone taking the proper steps in order to get the situation as optimal for your tort as possible; good for you!

Again, thanx for your post,
Purpod
 
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