Vanillukit
New Member
Hi! i have a 5 year old russian tortoise and im struggling keeping the humidity up, where should it sit at and how do i add humidity? her enclosure is half covered
How to keep tank humid
- Thread starter Vanillukit
- Start date
Hello!
For a 5 years old russian tortoise room ambient humidity is usually enough (whole enclosure can be in 30-50%) when water dish and "humid hide" are provided. What substrate do you use?
Vanillukit
New Member
coconut coir, how do i make a humid hide?
Vanillukit
New Member
also are the dial things okay for measuring humidity?
Littleredfootbigredheart
Well-Known Member
Hello and welcome!
Would you mind answering these questions? It will help advising on maintaining your humidity.
What are your temperatures like? Ie basking spot(directly under the bulb) overall day and night temps?
What kind of lighting&heating are you using specifically? Packaging pics are good if you have any!
What kind of indoor uv bulb are you using?
What sized set up do you have?
A photo of your full enclosure would be ideal! Along with one of your tort would be nice
I think you’ll find this thread below really helpful, it goes over correct equipment, levels, maintaining humidity, sizing, lots of visual examples for everything and a good diet link
tortoiseforum.org
This one is also really good to be familiar with, will help you avoid the wrong bulbs, materials etc
tortoiseforum.org
Hope they help! Give them a read and let us know if you have any more questions
Would you mind answering these questions? It will help advising on maintaining your humidity.
What are your temperatures like? Ie basking spot(directly under the bulb) overall day and night temps?
What kind of lighting&heating are you using specifically? Packaging pics are good if you have any!
What kind of indoor uv bulb are you using?
What sized set up do you have?
A photo of your full enclosure would be ideal! Along with one of your tort would be nice
no these are notoriously inaccurate, you want some digital monitoring and a temp gun ideally.
I think you’ll find this thread below really helpful, it goes over correct equipment, levels, maintaining humidity, sizing, lots of visual examples for everything and a good diet link
Housing adult Russian and Hermans indoors
Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information an example of an appropriate indoor set up for an older Herman/russian. As much as it’s encouraged to have tortoises in a safe outdoor enclosure, I understand being from the uk myself, that some climates make it difficult to...
tortoiseforum.org
This one is also really good to be familiar with, will help you avoid the wrong bulbs, materials etc
Common keeping errors
Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...
tortoiseforum.org
Hope they help! Give them a read and let us know if you have any more questions
Vanillukit
New Member
is this okay exclusively for humidity?
Littleredfootbigredheart
Well-Known Member
This will read both your temperature and humidity so looks good
1. Coco coir holds humidity well - pack it down with your hand and pour water in the corners of the enclosure (once in 1-2 weeks). Tortoise can burrow down if it needs more moisture.
2. The easiest one is an opaque plastic tub/box with an entrance cut on the side (much like igloo). However, if tortoise burrows under decor (like log or bark piece) for the night or has a favourite night hide - that's enough.
The_Four_Toed_Edward
Well-Known Member
I just cut up a hole in a plastic container (a few centimeter of the bottom) my tort can fit through and put some moist coco coir in that container. I burrowed the container so that the hole sits flush with the substrate. It is like a closed chamber my tortoise can choose to go to.
The_Four_Toed_Edward
Well-Known Member
Vanillukit
New Member
Basking is 102 f and other side is 78,Hello and welcome!
Would you mind answering these questions? It will help advising on maintaining your humidity.
What are your temperatures like? Ie basking spot(directly under the bulb) overall day and night temps?
What kind of lighting&heating are you using specifically? Packaging pics are good if you have any!
What kind of indoor uv bulb are you using?
What sized set up do you have?
A photo of your full enclosure would be ideal! Along with one of your tort would be nice
no these are notoriously inaccurate, you want some digital monitoring and a temp gun ideally.
I think you’ll find this thread below really helpful, it goes over correct equipment, levels, maintaining humidity, sizing, lots of visual examples for everything and a good diet link
Housing adult Russian and Hermans indoors
Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information an example of an appropriate indoor set up for an older Herman/russian. As much as it’s encouraged to have tortoises in a safe outdoor enclosure, I understand being from the uk myself, that some climates make it difficult to...
This one is also really good to be familiar with, will help you avoid the wrong bulbs, materials etc
Common keeping errors
Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...
Hope they help! Give them a read and let us know if you have any more questions
Littleredfootbigredheart
Well-Known Member
Those day temperatures are fine(though if you only have analogue gauges reading them, they might not be completely accurate)
However that bulb you’re using isn’t appropriate for a few reasons, coil uv bulbs can produce uv hot spots that can be damaging to your tortoises eyes, on the flip side, they’re incredibly unreliable and might not be producing enough uv which is vital to your tortoise. Any kind of compact uv bulb is focusing the uv light in quite a concentrated area, whereas as the recommended t5 tube fluorescent lights(I’ll go into them in a second) dissipates it over a larger area. Theres also the issue of having all in one heat&uv combined, for example your basking temperature directly underneath could be getting too hot, meaning you need to raise the bulb, but that would then be effecting your uvi zone. Theres also the fact that your uv technically only needs to be on 4 hours a day, but you need 12hrs on for the the basking.
For a basking light you need an incandescent floodlight, for uv a t5 tube fluorescent light, the cheap brands aren’t reliable so the recommended ones to go for are, zoo med reptisun 10.0 or Arcadia prot5 kit 12%, bare in mind the reptisun needs the reflector fitting buying separate.
I go a little more in depth for all these set up points in the thread I linked you, give it a read through, then feel free to ask any further questions, you could start looking for the bulbs/size upgrade if needed, post any items you find and people are always happy to double check them here
Vanillukit
New Member
i have a thermometer gun! i had no idea uv only needs to be on 4 hours, i’m currently saving up for a tube light. is this a better basking bulb? sorry i am aware i need upgrades. i knew about the coil lights but completely forgot the one in the tank is a coil!
Littleredfootbigredheart
Well-Known Member
Yes this one looks better, though there’s been some debate if the flukers brand is a flood or spot bulb, I’ve definitely seen them do floods but I haven’t got my hands on the packaging as I believe it’s a US brand and I’m in the UK. I don’t suppose you can find this one where you are? It’s a sure thing
Vanillukit
New Member
i can! but it’s only on sites where i’d have to pay for shipping or are not mainstream so i am worried about the sites. is there any other good ones you know of?
Littleredfootbigredheart
Well-Known Member
Awesome! 75 watt usually does the trick for most people, only your monitoring will be able to tell you, but I’d personally give that watt a go first
