How can i keep the humidity up?

[Kevinmk]

I have a 4 inch red footed tortoise. Currently i keep her in a tank with a heat and uv lamp and a night lamp. I mist the tank throughout the day with a spray bottle with water in it. But it doesnt se to remain at a humidity very long at all. Theres bark in the tank on the ground but i cant keep humidity up. What can i do?

 

[tortadise]

Seal the top will help a lot.

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

Seal the top will help a lot.

I agree. You need to cover the top of the enclosure this will also maintain heat better.

 

[Kevinmk]

But will that make it get to hot in there for her? If i sealed it with like plexiglass?

 

[BeeBee*BeeLeaves]

Put a lid on it! Hot-humid-hydrated = happy! Woo hoo! ; )

 

[Madkins007]

The trick is to balance the air flow, heat, and available water.

1. Add a few inches of something like cypress mulch, then water it so the bottom inch is wet and the top is relatively dry.
2. Cover the top almost completely- plexiglass, aluminum foil, whatever. Arrange it so the heat and light is INSIDE the box. If needed, build the cover as a sort of box on top of the habitat.
3. Adjust the temps so the overall daytime temp is mid-80's and a little cooler at night. Depending on the set-up, you may want to go with a couple small to medium CHE's and a thermostatic controller.
4. Use a low-level, low-wattage straight fluorescent bulb for UVB.

If this is not enough (very dry or cool room, usually), try adding some sort of heating in the wet stuff at the bottom of the tank, like Big Apple Herp's Heat Ropes.

I know misting is a common recommendation, but it really doesn't do much if the air is dry in your area or in the house.

 

[m5oo6]

my enclosure looks like this...how can I change it so the top is covered in order to get the humidity up?

 

[lisa127]

What I do is I cover the entire screen top with heavy duty aluminum foil.....but I cut out holes for the lamp fixtures. An 8 inch circle for my heat lamp and about a 5 inch strip for the fluorescent strip light. the entire rest of the top is covered with foil. Yes, that does hold the heat in more as well which I like. It means I don't have to worry about the soaking water getting too cold if it's chilly in my house because the covered top is holding some heat in. It also means I can use a much lower wattage heat bulb. For a 40 gallon breeder tank all I have to use is a regular 60 watt incandescent. I put it on a dimmer switch. When I first add moisture to the substrate or mist the enclosure it is set on high. As the enclosure begins to dry a little I usually dial it down to medium. I use the low setting during the night in the wintertime.

 

[m5oo6]

Or just get the humidity up in general

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Okay great thank you! That sounds like it'll definitely work for me, I'll give it a try

 

[lisa127]

I would also get an infrared temperature gun if I were you. It's the most accurate way to measure surface temps, I wouldn't be without one.

 

[Alan RF]

I've added a good proportion of sphagnum moss to my orchid bark substrate which has increased the humidity and kept it to a good level

 

[jerbs]

This solved my humidity problems-- cut a lid (storage bin top) to cover 3/4 of the top of the enclosure. Put your lamps and a house humidifier that's rigged to go in to the enclosure in the open end. Get an outlet timer for the humidifier and you're set.

This isn't my video, but I used this exact set-up with the elephant humidifier:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayeHllUaQjs

I had to get a thermostat for the CHE because, since the mist is cool, the heat has to turn on to balance out the temps when the humidifier goes on. It all works very well for me.

 

[InvertaHerp]

This solved my humidity problems-- cut a lid (storage bin top) to cover 3/4 of the top of the enclosure. Put your lamps and a house humidifier that's rigged to go in to the enclosure in the open end. Get an outlet timer for the humidifier and you're set.

This isn't my video, but I used this exact set-up with the elephant humidifier:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayeHllUaQjs

I had to get a thermostat for the CHE because, since the mist is cool, the heat has to turn on to balance out the temps when the humidifier goes on. It all works very well for me.

So, how exactly would I build that and what do you make the tube out of? Also, how do you limit the time it puts out mist for?

 

[jerbs]

You can get the tubing and a piece to connect it to the humidifier at a hardware store. I think 1 1/4" tubing worked. The rubber connector shown in the video works well.

Get an outlet timer. I had mine go on low for 45mins and off for 30mins during the dry winter months (in Minnesota...). Now that it's warming up, that cycle makes it too humid. 10-15mins every hour is all it needs now. You'll have to experiment.

Of course the type of substrate you use, whether at least some of the enclosure is covered, etc, will make a big difference.