High humidity at night!

[rednerite]

Hi all, this is my first post! I am first and foremost a hermit crab association member and keeper, but my first tortoise (Eastern Hermann's) is arriving this coming Tuesday!

I am having trouble with humidity getting high at night when I turn off the bulbs. Temperature is stable from 75 to 100F during the day cool to warm side, and at night is staying at about 75 to 80.

Would it be OK to leave my ceramic heat emitter on all night long to help prevent humidity from jumping? This is for a 2014 hatchling, and I am unsure what is safer; simulating temperature drops at night or leaving the temperature constant with the ceramic bulb going and maintaining humidity between 30 and 50%.

Right now at night with both bulbs turned off, humidity is jumping up to almost 75 and 80%.

I did read in another thread that higher humidity at night is important, but is 80% too high, with temps of 75F at night being too low? I live in Massachusetts and my tort is coming from AZ!

I am using a wood Tortoise Table with partial open top and enclosed wood section, coconut coir and top soil substrate. I am using an electronic Zilla thermohygrometer which seems to be pretty accurate.

Thank you for any tips!

 

[Tom]

I think the parameters you described are fine. I'd leave the CHE off at night. 80% at night is not too high and you will probably end up with a nice smooth tortoise.

 

[rednerite]

Thank you Tom! I am getting extra worried now that the tort's arrival is impending! I did just find an article about humidity being a factor in pyramiding, so am less nervous now. I thought the 80% would be much too high when most of what I was reading was saying 30-50%.

I will keep an eye on the temps at night though as I do live in New England, don't want it to get too chilly!

 

[StarSapphire22]

Is your tortoise a hatchling or adult?

 

[Tom]

Years ago, low humidity was recommended for most species. This is based on studies and observations of the conditions in the wild where they come from. The problem is, our attempts at simulating wild conditions in our artificial small captive environments have largely failed for many years. In the last few years many keepers have been exploring new ways to house our babies and we have found some interesting results. People who favor "natural" methods of keeping, often decry these higher humidity methods as "bizarre" or "unnatural". The people who actually try these methods have been thrilled and excited about their results. The bottom line is that a tank in a living room is NOT the wild. What works in captivity works. Its that simple.

 

[rednerite]

Thanks guys, yes he is a hatchling from this year, which is why I'm extra nervous about doing everything right to start off with! I am happy to go with what methods have been working best in captivity. I will not worry about the higher humidity at night, and will make sure to have a humid hide under the CHE as well for during the day if he wants it!

 

[brain covers]

Thanks, I needed the same information as rednerite. I just became the owner of 2 new Hermann hatchlings in the past month. I live in Illinois and have been keeping them inside most of the time. However, I bought a tortoise pen and used top soil and coconut coir inside the pen. Zowee & Ziggy seem to really like it. I have a feeding area, several hiding areas and a water dish inside and I have been misting the soil. They both have been digging in at night and staying buried until the sun comes up. I have it in a very secure area and have been keeping an eye on the weather, in case it gets cold or rains. Does this seem okay?