how wet is too wet :/

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BrinnANDTorts

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My Torti a six inch red foot was kept in too wet substrate (pretty much standing water) and she got shell rot :( I killed the fungus and not her shell is juat healing but I am scared to mist her and her enclosure too and then her get shell rot again. She has a newly completely covered enclosure. I was thinking of misting 4 to 5 times a day with really warm water ... Is that good or too much

Also is there anything I can do to make her shell heal more quickly where she had shell rot ? More calcium and D3 than usual ?

Also is there anything I can do to make her shell heal more quickly where she had shell rot ? More calcium and D3 than usual ?
 

Zamric

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You have a Redfoot too? I thought you only had Gupta!

While studying up on Redfoots (Thinking of getting one myself)I read that they cant get too wet... but standing water might be a bit much. Think idealy a redfoot lives most of its life like a baby Sully. Lots -o - humidity but good drainage.
 

BrinnANDTorts

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Zamric said:
You have a Redfoot too? I thought you only had Gupta!

While studying up on Redfoots (Thinking of getting one myself)I read that they cant get too wet... but standing water might be a bit much. Think idealy a redfoot lives most of its life like a baby Sully. Lots -o - humidity but good drainage.

Technically Torti is my sisters but I take care of her the most. I think i am just going to mist with warm water lots a day and never have standing water and just see how it goes. Hopefully no more shell rot, redfoot r very prone to shell rot
 

terryo

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The same thing happened to me when I first got my CH. The vivarium was dripping wet. After I healed the shell rot, I did things differently. I only water the plants right in their little pot which they are planted in. Also I only mist them when they come out to eat. The only part that is kept totally humid is the hide. It's filled with moss which I wet with hot water and squeeze out and fluff up once a week. The humidity stays in the high 70's which is fine for me. I keep the substrate dry, and only mist the plants and the tort when they come out.
 

Kristina

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I realize Manouria and Redfoots are not the same, but here is my experience.

In my Manouria enclosure, they have a mud wallow. There is some standing water. (They have a water dish also that I keep filled with clean water for drinking.)

These little guys squirrel themselves down in the mud so that the only thing sticking out is their nostrils. You can't even see their eyes. In fact, they sleep like this a lot of the time. They have access to hides that are varying degrees of humid and wet, and dry areas as well, but they choose to sleep in the mud.

They have no shell rot nor have they ever had shell rot. The thing with shell rot is that it is a fungus. I firmly believe that shell rot is more perpetuated by an unclean enclosure than by the humidity and moisture itself. The humid environment allows the fungus to thrive, but it is the presence of the fungus spores and old food and feces that really causes the shell rot.

I keep all of my tortoises in very humid and wet enclosures. My baby Sulcatas also have mud wallows - again, no shell rot. I have one that likes to sleep in the water dish with his little head laying on the rim, all sprawled out in the water - no shell rot.

As long as you keep the enclosure clean and allow for some fresh air exchange (but not enough to dry out the enclosure,) then I do not believe that you will have any issues. Keep it humid and mist several times a day. Just keep an eye on the problem areas and be prepared to act if there is an issue in the future.
 

BrinnANDTorts

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So if I put a little fan in the enclosure to circulate the air in the enclosure it would help prevent fungus and stuff from become present ?
I make sure to take out uneaten food and poop.
It's not really that wet in there. The substrate is just a little moist and the humidity right now Is at 74%
 

terryo

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I think that hatchlings need a more humid environment than older torts. My vivarium was very clean and well planted when Pio was small and she still got the shell rot, because of a wet substrate. I have read someplace that RF are more prone to shell fungus when being constantly on a wet substrate. When I changed it to a drier substrate she was fine and still grew very smooth. I really don't know anything about other kinds of torts, as I only have Cherry Heads.
 

BrinnANDTorts

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The substrate is moist not really wet, wet and I have one side of the enclosure hinged open a little for air Exchange. Hopefully she doesn't get another case of shell rot. I guess we can only wait and see :/
 

Redstrike

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I do exactly what Terry does. I agree that Redfoots are especially susceptible to shell rot. I keep my enclosure clean - removing feces on a daily basis - but my two developed very mild cases when I had their substrate wet regularly. I now mist the two only 1-2 times/day when they come out of their hide(s), keep my potted plants watered, and pour water into the substrate in one spot only, which is near my "under-substrate" heat ropes. This allows it to spread out into the soil (beneath the cypress mulch) on its own, keeping the top layer of cypress dry.
 

BrinnANDTorts

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its hasn't been that long but i am keeping her in 70% humidity , usually more, and only squirting down the enclosure maybe three times a day. sometimes less , so far she hasn't gotten anything which i hope is a good sign.
 

Redstrike

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BrinnANDGupta said:
its hasn't been that long but i am keeping her in 70% humidity , usually more, and only squirting down the enclosure maybe three times a day. sometimes less , so far she hasn't gotten anything which i hope is a good sign.

I guess I'd keep doing that until something changes. If or when it does, then cut back on spraying the entire enclosure down and find an alternative method to keeping high humidity.
 

BrinnANDTorts

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what are other ways to increase humidity without getting the substrate moist ? because the substrate really is barely moist then i am going to have to find some way to keep humidity levels high while having pretty dry substrate. Shell rot is a pain
 

Redstrike

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BrinnANDGupta said:
what are other ways to increase humidity without getting the substrate moist ? because the substrate really is barely moist then i am going to have to find some way to keep humidity levels high while having pretty dry substrate. Shell rot is a pain

First thing I would recommend, especially if you're in a temperate climate, is to seal your enclosure. Once you top the enclosure, Terry outlined a great way above, keep potted plants within the enclosure and place a water dish near an overhead heat source (light or CHE).

I have a heat rope running under about 1/2 of my enclosure. This is placed under ~2 inches of organic topsoil, which is quite moist. Above the topsoil I have ~2 inches of cypress mulch, the top inch or so remains rather dry, but the bottom portion is moist as well. About twice per week, I dig a small pit into the mulch and pour about 500 mL of water into the soil. I don't pour it all over the substrate, it spreads through the soil on its own, thus I don't wet the top layer of cypress. The heat rope warms the water and releases it as humidity from the soil/cypress.

I also spray my torts 1-2 times/day when they are not in their hides, that's it!. Humidity remains between 65-80%, depending on whether or not the MVB is running, etc.

Here's the heat rope:
http://www.bigappleherp.com/Big-Apple-Flexible-Heat-Ropes

Mark has some great info on this within his site in multiple places. I provided the "humidity" link below, be sure to look through the "substrates" section as well, it might provide you with other, and possibly more practical/feasible, options.
https://sites.google.com/site/tortoiselibrary/the-work-shop/humidity-1

Last thing you could do is make (see Marks page, scroll down toward the bottom) or buy a humidifier:

https://sites.google.com/site/tortoiselibrary/the-work-shop/humidity
 

BrinnANDTorts

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Redstrike said:
First thing I would recommend, especially if you're in a temperate climate, is to seal your enclosure. Once you top the enclosure, Terry outlined a great way above, keep potted plants within the enclosure and place a water dish near an overhead heat source (light or CHE).

I have a heat rope running under about 1/2 of my enclosure. This is placed under ~2 inches of organic topsoil, which is quite moist. Above the topsoil I have ~2 inches of cypress mulch, the top inch or so remains rather dry, but the bottom portion is moist as well. About twice per week, I dig a small pit into the mulch and pour about 500 mL of water into the soil. I don't pour it all over the substrate, it spreads through the soil on its own (gotta love cohesion!), thus I don't wet the top layer of cypress. The heat rope warms the water and releases it as humidity from the soil/cypress.

I also spray my torts 1-2 times/day when they are not in their hides, that's it!. Humidity remains between 65-80%, depending on whether or not the MVB is running, etc.

Here's the heat rope:
http://www.bigappleherp.com/Big-Apple-Flexible-Heat-Ropes

Mark has some great info on this within his site in multiple places. Check out this and the "substrates" section, it might provide you with other, and possibly more practical/feasible, options.
https://sites.google.com/site/tortoiselibrary/the-work-shop/humidity-1

awwwwwww thank you so much !!! Great ideas and thankfully I have all of those things lol
 

Redstrike

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I wouldn't recommend a nebulizer/fogger, they pump water vapor around and can cool things down considerably. Some have success with this, but I wouldn't risk it, personally. I don't have any hard evidence, but I'd guess these could also lead to respiratory infections if bacteria get into the water storage tank, tubing, etc.
 

BrinnANDTorts

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i keep my sulcata Gupta's cage like a steam box, 90% humidity or more and i run a humidifier sometimes in his cage. Its very wet and humid in his enclosure and it stays extremely warm. This does work very well for me with Gupta but I don't think it would work well for a red foot at all lol.
This is my sisters red foot but she is busy a lot so I help her out . i am not good with red foots , we only have this one in the house but I find it a big big challenge to raise her.
 
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