How do I get more humidity?

[Destiny]

Because it has been cold outside in FL I have my "new to me" but 12 yr old Yellow foot ( ELeanor) inside in the spare bedroom in a turtle table. I have a 160W clamp lamp in one corner and her hide is on the other side. There is Peat moss covered with Cypress mulch and then after I was told last night I changed the hay in her hide to just the peat moss. There seems to be low humidity in her room, how do I raise the humidity??

Also last night when I checked on her before doing to bed she was out and about. Is that a normal thing for them to be out at night? It looked like she had been eating. SHould I take her food out when I turn off lights aournd 7pm?

Sorry for all of the questions! I just want to make sure I do this right, I know I don't know anything, but I am very willing to learn.

I know I need to change her water tub and will be going to get e new one today... We will be building a new habitat this weekend!

Her lamp is in the corner I just don't think it seems to warm things up, but maybe its just me? I think it seems to be too close, or is it okay?

 

[Tom]

I'll leave the behavioral questions to someone with more yellowfoot experience than me.

To increase humidity you can do any or all of the following: Add an ultrasonic room humidifier. Cover part of the top of the enclosure. Use a humidity friendly substrate and really wet it down. Mist the enclosure several times a day. Get one of those Zoo-Med repti-foggers (I have one and it works great). Get an 18x18" Kane heat mat and put a big shallow water bowl on top of it. (I do this in my iguana's enclosure, works great).

A couple of other things, I noticed in the pics. The walls of that enclosure are not tall enough for that tortoise. She COULD climb out and fall. Just because she never has, doesn't mean that one day she won't.

If she starts climbing those walls and hits the clamp that holds your bulb, it could fall in and burn her or start a fire. Your light should be securely mounted from overhead, not clamped to the side. It will be much more effective too, if it is pointing straight down instead of at an angle like that.

Welcome to the forum and keep those questions coming. We're all happy to help.

 

[llamas55]

I'll leave the behavioral questions to someone with more yellowfoot experience than me.

To increase humidity you can do any or all of the following: Add an ultrasonic room humidifier. Cover part of the top of the enclosure. Use a humidity friendly substrate and really wet it down. Mist the enclosure several times a day. Get one of those Zoo-Med repti-foggers (I have one and it works great). Get an 18x18" Kane heat mat and put a big shallow water bowl on top of it. (I do this in my iguana's enclosure, works great).

A couple of other things, I noticed in the pics. The walls of that enclosure are not tall enough for that tortoise. She COULD climb out and fall. Just because she never has, doesn't mean that one day she won't.

If she starts climbing those walls and hits the clamp that holds your bulb, it could fall in and burn her or start a fire. Your light should be securely mounted from overhead, not clamped to the side. It will be much more effective too, if it is pointing straight down instead of at an angle like that.

Welcome to the forum and keep those questions coming. We're all happy to help.

yeah, Emysemys says the height of the walls should be as if another tort is on the back of yours
I used for humidity, and am happy with, a Sunbeam warm air humidifier from Walmart. I do have to fill it twice a day, but it keeps things at 80% when the habitat is covered with a clear shower curtain draped over the whole thing (from high up)

 

[Redfoot NERD]

Destiny the walls of the table should be taller than your tortoise is long.. that's universal for all tortoises.

Again I doubt that ELeanor is 12 yrs. old.. what is her length? Will you get us a pic looking straight down on the rear of her belly ( plastron ) toward the back half please?

Like so..

Not to confuse the issue.. do you now have 'peat' moss [ almost like dirt ] or sphagnum moss [ long strands and 'fluffy' when pulled apart ] as a substrate?

A heat emitter is also [ almost always used as ] a heat source.. which doesn't give off light. I've also found that the heat emitter works well almost directly over the hide - where "forest tortoises" spend most of their time. They like it warm and humid. The moss in the hide should be "fluffed-up" and moist so your yellowfoot can crawl 'into' it.

Take a look at these guidelines that we use for our redfoots.. especially the heat-emitter configuration in the link.. yellowfoots are virtually the same ( deeper in the Amazon forest ) - http://www.turtletary.com/redfootcare.htm

Keep us posted with pics please...

Terry K

 

[Destiny]

Here is the pic you asked for.

She is almost 12 inches long. How old do you think she is? I'm just going on what they told me at Incredible Pets.

To answer the other question...I have peat moss like dirt. We are going to build her another table tonight and make the walls higher. What can I use for a water tub that she will like? I want one that it's easy for her to get in and out of.

I have read through the care sheet. Thanks so much for all your help. Like someone said it's alot to remember so I am going to print it out tomorrow. She is up and awake now she just got down into her water tub and she is now under the lamp just relaxing. But is it bad that she seems to have her days and nights mixed up? I turn on the lamp in the morning and off at night. I usually turn it off right about now but I'm gonna let her get some warmth...

 

[fhintz]

I'm in Florida too, and it certainly has been crazy weatherwise. I've had to keep my Redfoot inside more than I would've liked. I've had my Redfoot, Themistocles, for about 9 months now, so I'm certainly not as well versed as some of the other tort owners, but here are my opinions/observations. When I first got her, I was using lamps and she hid all day and I learned from Terry and other folks here that I had way too much light for her. I switched to a ceramic heat emitter for keeping the heat up in the mid 80s and I just use natural light. She got a lot more active when I did that. So, maybe yours is hiding from the lamp light during the day and coming out to eat at night? Mine eats in the morning and then pokes around during daylight.

I have a plastic water dish for her, that she likes to sit in. It has a ramp to get in and out, but silly Themistocles likes to climb out over the sides instead:

http://www.petco.com/product/14367/...-8381-DE11-B7F3-0019B9C043EB&mr:referralID=NA

(not sure how to set that as a link). Might be too small for yours, but maybe you can use any plastic dish and find a flat rock to serve as a ramp.

For humidity, Sphagnum moss has worked pretty well for me. You can get it moist and it holds the moisture pretty well. I've supplemented that with hanging wet towels over parts of her enclosure. Humidity was definitely a challenge with the unusual need for running my heat. In the fall, just having a window open during the rain kept the humidity up well. I'll certainly be happy when we return to normal Florida weather.

Just my few thoughts. Grats on your new girl. She's a nice looking tortoise for sure. I'm sure you'll get set up and into a good routine with her soon enough. Welcome to the forum

Frank

 

[Candy]

She's beautiful. Wow what a nice smooth shell she has. From the ruler shot she actually looks like she's 10 inches and not 12, you don't measure their head out only the shell from end to end. Roachman gave you great advice on the humidity. I always spray Dale and Ruby's enclosure at least once a day and about twice a week I pour some water straight onto the substrate. I do have my heat emitter like Terry said before right over their hides and make sure there is moss for them to hide in that's moist...not wet. Good luck and post more pictures when you make the new enclosure. Those walls do look too short.

 

[Redfoot NERD]

Destiny IN the forest means "dappled" light.. which means imagine the light you would get at the ground level of a jungle with plants and foliage(sp?)and trees creating a canopy 100' overhead! That's why your yellowfoot comes out when you turn the lights out.

She is a she and is a WC ( wild caught ) maybe 10-12 years old. They get to be twice that size after 35-40 years or so.

I like the plastic flower pot bottoms with the flared edges for water dishes. Get the largest one they have.. 12-14" I think is what they call them.

What size table do you plan to build? I would make it as large as you can since you have the room for Eleanor!

Terry K

 

[Destiny]

Destiny IN the forest means "dappled" light.. which means imagine the light you would get at the ground level of a jungle with plants and foliage(sp?)and trees creating a canopy 100' overhead! That's why your yellowfoot comes out when you turn the lights out.

She is a she and is a WC ( wild caught ) maybe 10-12 years old. They get to be twice that size after 35-40 years or so.

I like the plastic flower pot bottoms with the flared edges for water dishes. Get the largest one they have.. 12-14" I think is what they call them.

What size table do you plan to build? I would make it as large as you can since you have the room for Eleanor!

Terry K

My husband wanted to know how you can tell she is WC? Just for curiousity's sake.

We are still trying to decide whether to start entirely over with the inside enclosure or wait a couple weeks unitl she will be outside the whole time and start on that enclosure. We have raised the walls and my husband built a hanging fixture for the lamp to go on. We are building her a different hide this afternoon, one with hinges on top and the CHE can go inside.

I woudl like some help deciding where to build her outside enclosure, I will take a picture of the two options and add a thread.

Thanks so much again for your help and patience!

 

[Redfoot NERD]

My husband wanted to know how you can tell she is WC? Just for curiousity's sake.

The perfectly 'smooth' carapace.. and most pet stores buy from dealers that supply petstores with their tortoises they 'import'! Seldom will you see a captive raised yellowfoot that size.

Terry K